Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores rift intensifies for England

Exit this way: Peter Moores and Kevin Pietersen rift looks set to be decided by ECB

England looked like having to decide between keeping Kevin Pietersen as captain or Peter Moores as coach after the star batsman called for an end to the duo's "unhealthy" relationship.

According to reports, there appeared "little prospect" of the pair working together on the upcoming tour of the West Indies, where England will look to gather momentum ahead of their bid to reclaim the Ashes later this year.

The News of the World said there had been a "complete breakdown in what was an already fraught relationship" while attempts by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Hugh Morris to broker a peace deal between Pietersen and Moores now had an "impossible" chance of success.

Pietersen, who broke off from a holiday in his native South Africa to hold talks with Morris on Saturday, stopped short of calling for Moores's sacking.

But the 28-year-old said: "This situation is not healthy, we have to make sure it is settled as soon as possible and certainly before we fly off to the West Indies.

"Everybody has to have the same aims and pull in the same direction for the good of the England team."

Contrary to earlier reports, the NoW said the exclusion of former England captain Michael Vaughan from the West Indies squad was not the cause of Pietersen's bust-up with Moores, insisting the pair had already fallen out.

Meanwhile, former England captain David Gower believes Pietersen will win the power struggle.

"It's a bit of a mess but I've got a feeling Kevin Pietersen will get his way," Gower said.

"I think they (the ECB) are going to have to go with their captain because their captain is a mightily important figure in what happens this year and over the next few years.

"I think they are going to have to back their captain."

However, a "dressing-room source" told the newspaper: "There is no way Pietersen and Moores can work together, they're just too far apart.

"The ECB are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they back KP, then there's massive problems among the backroom staff.

"But if they go with the coach, then the best player becomes disillusioned, they possibly lose a captain and there is a huge fracture."

Pietersen will win power struggle: Gower

London (PTI): Two former England captains David Gower and Alec Stewart have backed incumbent Kevin Pietersen in his power struggle with coach Peter Moores, saying the South Africa-born dashing batsman is an indispensable figure in the country's cricket.

Miffed at the exclusion of former captain Michael Vaughan for this month's West Indies tour, Pietersen has given the ultimatum to England and Wales Cricket Board to choose between him and Moores.

Gower believes Pietersen would come out on top if the power-brokers are forced to choose between the pair.

"It's a bit of a mess but I've got a feeling Kevin Pietersen will get his way," he told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

"Hugh Morris (ECB managing director) has an interesting task on his hands to mediate between the two if he can. I think they are going to have to go with their captain because he is a mightily important figure in what happens this year and over the next few years. He is a fantastic player, and he has the chance to be a good captain. He is still learning that trade, as we know -- he's far from being a great captain yet. I think they are going to have to back their captain."

Stewart believes a fractious relationship could seriously damage the team and said Moores will have to find out a way to work with Pietersen.

"Pietersen is a strong individual who likes to lead from the front and I have no problem with this. Moores must strike a happy medium as to who runs things where and when," Stewart said

"It is vital that a healthy working relationship between these two is in place even if socially they don't mix -- and a united front is paramount so that there is no chance of a split within the camp."

Sachin and Zaheer's presence will boost Mumbai side: Jaffer

Chennai: Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer feels the presence of Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan will give his side an edge over Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy semi-final that begins here on Sunday.

"It will make a huge difference. We also have other experienced players and most of us had played in the previous final (2006-07). And so, in a match like this, experience will be a crucial factor," said Jaffer.

Coach Pravin Amre, while welcoming Tendulkar and Zaheer back in the team, said: "It is a dream for any coach to have somebody like Tendulkar in the team. His presence is vital for us and also that of Zaheer."

However, a confident Saurashtra who registered a stirring win against Karnataka in the quarter-final, is not unduly worried.

"Obviously, their (Sachin and Zaheer) presence make Mumbai a stronger team. But we will concentrate hard and play our game rather than worry too much about our opponents. We will have to give our 200 percent," said Saurashtra captain Jayadev Shah.

"We all know that Mumbai is a top side. We will definitely put up a fight. We have a young side with quite a few talented players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja, but in the end, it is the team effort that matters," he said.

About the pitch, the Saurashtra skipper said: "A first day pitch anywhere will help the fast bowlers early on, but I think, it might offer some turn from the third day."

Reflecting on his opponents, and especially the league match in which Mumbai were forced to follow on after Saurashtra made 600-plus, Jaffer said the semi-final game was an opportunity to show that the Rajkot match was just a "one off".

"Saurashtra have played seven of their matches at home. This is a chance for us to forget the earlier game and show that it was just a one-off match," Jaffer said.

When asked about Chetehswar Pujara, who has been making waves with big scores for Saurashtra, Jaffer said: "Pujara is in good form and scoring a lot of runs and so, his wicket will be vital for us. But then, we also need to take the top six wickets."

Jaffer makes merry as Saurashtra flounders

STANDING TALL: Wasim Jaffer assumed centre-stage on a good batting pitch at Chepauk on Sunday with his unbeaten century

Chennai: Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer assumed centre-stage on a good batting pitch at Chepauk as his team progressed to a dominant 268 for one on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Saurashtra.

The Sunday began and finished well for Jaffer. He first won the toss and was unbeaten on 162 (275b, 19x4) at stumps. Standing tall to whip the ball past square-leg, the grace and the flow in his batting are unmistakable. Here, footwork combines with dexterous wrists as the gaps are found and pierced.

Jaffer and the young Ajinkya Rahane (52 batting, 154b, 2x4, 1x6) have so far added 177 runs for the second wicket in 55 overs. Jaffer and Rahane also went past 1000 runs each in the Ranji Trophy for the season. This is the first occasion in the competition’s history that two batsmen from one team have achieved the feat in the same season. Rahane also crossed 1000 runs in first class cricket for the season.

Contrasting styles

The two batsmen were a study in contrast. Jaffer eased into his strokes while Rahane struggled with his initial movement and timing. To his credit, Rahane put a price on his wicket as Jaffer collected runs off either foot. Whether creating room with deft footwork for the inside-out drives through the off-side, punching off the back-foot or walking across to force the ball on the leg-side, Jaffer was poised and balanced.

When left-arm paceman Balakrishna Jadeja attempted to frustrate him by bowling a negative line from round-the-wicket, Jaffer stepped down the track to cut down the angle. The experienced opener also used the width of the crease well.

Earlier, Jaffer put on 91 for the first wicket with the bustling wicket-keeper batsman Vinayak Samant.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja largely disappointed; he tended to push his deliveries through rather than flight them. On the odd occasion he gave the ball air, he spun it past the outside edge. But then, Jadeja did not back himself on a big day. Technically, he needs to be bowling from closer to the stumps to spin the ball away. More often than not, Jadeja released from wider points of the crease negating the away spin.

The other left-armer, Rakesh Dhruv, has a lovely, easy action but struggled with his line. He consumed Samant on the sweep though.

The left-arm pace bowling of Jobanputra was steady. Balakrishna Jadeja was no more than pedestrian. The lack of variety in the Saurashtra attack — left-armers operated for most part while sending down pace or spin — hurt the side.

Skipper Jaydev Shah’s field placements did not inspire confidence either. He switched to the defensive mode too quickly and did not have enough men in the single saving positions to build pressure.

Cricket: India vows to bring stars for NZ tour

Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar could be coming to New Zealand

Those fearing India might leave some of their stars at home when they come to New Zealand in March can breathe a little easier.

The high-profile, big-money Indian Premier League competition starts on April 10, three days after the second and final test against New Zealand concludes at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.

There had been worries forces might conspire to keep key players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Virendar Sehwag home resting up for the Twenty20 gig.

However, noises out of India in the last day from a couple of important figures, plus the cancelling of India's tour of Pakistan this month, suggest a powerful squad will be named for the two-test, five-ODI tour.

Had the Indian tour to Pakistan gone ahead - India pulled out recently, in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks last month - there might have been a stronger case for allowing some of the big names to put their feet up for a few weeks.

Now that tour won't happen, India's players are having some unexpected time off, increasing the likelihood that the hotshots will all be on the plane to New Zealand.

Then there's the pronouncement of India's chairman of selectors, Kris Srikkanth.

He has identified two targets for India - to be the world's No 1 ODI team by December, and to be the world's No 1 test team by 2010.

"This is the dream of the selection committee and the Indian board," he told the Hindu newspaper.

Srikkanth was optimistic about India's prospects in New Zealand, and pointed to their recent overseas record as support. In the last five years, India have won six away series - although three were against either Bangladesh or Zimbabwe - including Pakistan, the West Indies and England.

"We have been performing consistently well in all conditions. But for the umpiring errors in Sydney [last season] we could have won the series in Australia too.

"Our bowlers I believe have always done well outside India. Now our batting is complementing the bowling."

And Srikkanth singled out experienced No 3 batsman Rahul Dravid as having a key role in New Zealand. Dravid, who averages 52 in tests, had been out of sorts until his century against England at Mohali just before Christmas, but is one of the four batsmen, with the world's greatest test runmaker Tendulkar, the recently-retired Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman, to have formed perhaps cricket's greatest middle-order quartet.

"He's a batsman with over 10,000 runs in test cricket," Srikkanth said. "We have specific plans. During the forthcoming series in New Zealand, a player like Dravid will be very crucial for us.

"There will be bounce and movement for the pacemen there. If India are to progress to the No 1 ranking, it has to beat New Zealand in New Zealand. Dravid will be a key member of the line-up at the No 3 slot."

And throw in the thoughts of match-winning opener Sehwag.

"We have the urge and talent to be the best team for sure," he said. "But our immediate focus is to do well in New Zealand and take things from there."

Cricket-Indian board is almost $25 million down

NEW DELHI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - India's cricket board has lost almost $25 million from the scrapping of two one-day games against England and the cancellation of the 2008 Champions Trophy and this month's tour to Pakistan.

"The working committee noted there would be a reduction in revenue in the current year to the effect of 1.2 billion rupees ($24.87 million) as a result of the cancellation of two ODIs against England and India's tour to Pakistan," said Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N. Srinivasan.

"This includes the loss of revenue arising out of the postponement of ICC Champions Trophy 2008," he added in a statement.

"It is to be noted that while there will be a decrease in revenue the BCCI will still have a healthy excess of income over expenditure for the current year."

The Indian government refused permission for the tour to Pakistan due to strained bilateral ties after blaming Islamist militants based in that country for the November attacks which killed 179 people in Mumbai.

India had been scheduled to play three tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international.

Security concerns also forced the last two games of the home one-day series against England to be scrapped at the end of 2008.

The Champions Trophy has been put back to September 2009 after last year's tournament in Pakistan was postponed due to security concerns.

Clarke rescues Australia after top-order collapse

Sydney (IANS): Michael Clarke shouldered Australia to 267 for 6 after skipper Ricky Ponting got out to a golden duck and opener Matthew Hayden struggled yet again to come to terms with his batting on day one of the third and last cricket Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney on Saturday.

Clarke was still out there at stumps with a meticulous 73 after the South African pace battery had reduced the hosts to 162 for 5.

Clarke and Brad Haddin (38) then stitched together 75 runs to prevent South Africa from going for the kill. Mitchell Johnson (17) will go out to resume the inning with Clarke on the second day Sunday.

Having already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, South Africa looked determined for a rare whitewash against Australia and a top spot in Test rankings as they took the field after Ponting won his third straight toss.

The hostile pace attack, led by fiery Dale Steyn (2-71), kept the brittle Australian top-order on a tight leash, giving away nothing on a batsman-friendly wicket.

Hayden (31), under pressure to keep his place in the side, batted through the first session, but never looked like getting on top of the bowling. His sledge-hammer strokes have deserted him of late.

Simon Katich, in contrast, looked fluent and attacked the new ball bowlers with flair, racing to 47 off 52 balls. His five sweetly-timed boundaries promised much more from the left-hander but his innings came to an abrupt end as he jabbed at a sharp delivery from Jacques Kallis and the resultant edge went straight to AB de Villiers in the slips.

Ponting, who played a lone hand in a vain attempt to stop the South African from clinching the series in Melbourne, was out inside-edging Morne Morkel to Mark Boucher.

Hayden and Michael Hussey (30) tried to stem the downslide with the latter scoring the bulk of the 46 runs scored during the partnership.

Steyn bowled leaden-footed Hayden, who dragged the ball onto the stumps while going for an expansive drive. His 31 off 78 balls had four fours, mostly driven down the V.

Hussey then offered a simple catch to Kallis at slip off left-arm spinner Paul Harris as Australia slumped to 130 for four.

Debutant Andrew McDonald faced a torrid spell taking some blows on his body. A nasty Morne Morkel bouncer knocked down his helmet, but the Victorian battled it out for 54 balls before nicking an angled Makhaya Nitni delivery behind.

Brad Haddin (38) then joined Clarke and the two attacked the bowlers to break the shackles.

Haddin was particularly aggressive against Harris and dispatched him to the onside for two fours and a six. Clarke got a life when Ntini failed to pluck the ball at mid-off. The vice-captain stepped out often to drive the ball through the covers and hit nine boundaries.

But Steyn got his second wicket as he bowled Haddin. In came a resolute Mitchell Johnson and added 30 runs with Clarke for the unfinished seventh-wicket stand.

Dilshan puts his hand up

Tillakaratne Dilshan sets off for a run during his sixth Test hundred

Tillakaratne Dilshan's sixth Test hundred rescued Sri Lanka from a potentially embarrassing first day against Bangladesh in the second Test in Chittagong. Bangladesh had continued in much the same spirit of their brave last-innings chase in the first Test and had Sri Lanka reduced to 75 for 4, before Dilshan intervened.

It was some intervention as well, for defying the traditionally dour rearguard, he sped along mostly at over a run a ball, finally ending with a strike-rate just a touch under. And though it was captain Mahela Jayawardene's 100th Test, mostly overlooked was the fact that it was Dilshan's 50th. More than a present for the skipper, it was one for himself.

"It was an opportunity for someone to put a hand up and I am happy to have contributed," Dilshan said. "Every game is important for a Test cricketer. It was also my 50th Test match and very important for me also."

Sri Lanka's troubles had been caused by a slow surface, though Dilshan made it look a lot better as the day wore on. It wasn't chanceless; an innings of that much aggression rarely is but Imrul Kayes' drop at mid-on, when Dilshan was on 78, was a costly one. "That's part of the game. It gives you an opportunity to capitalise and if you get a let off you should then try and make a big score.

"The wicket is very good. It is a good Test wicket but maybe a bit on the slower side."

That chance was one of a few Bangladesh fluffed and it was the one thing they couldn't afford were they not to slip from the heights of the last Test. Enamul Haque jnr, the left-arm-spinner who came in at the expense of the seamer Mahbubul Alam, eventually dismissed Dilshan, but his return to the Test side after nearly a year wasn't a particularly memorable one.

"It [the day] could have been a lot better if we hadn't dropped three catches and missed a stumping chance," Haque said. "Still I think we are in it. The situation I should say is 50-50 after day one and if we can bowl them out early tomorrow and bat well then we should be back in the game. We just need a big effort from the batsmen.

"I think our fielding has improved a lot. Today was one of those days and there are days when we take difficult catches and miss easy ones. I am sure that if you give Imrul ten such catches he'd take each and every one of those. The misses today were just accidents."

At some point tomorrow, Bangladesh will be properly introduced to the threat of Ajantha Mendis, who is back himself in the side after an injury. The pitch will deteriorate as the Test progresses and the combined threat of Muttiah Muralitharan and Mendis, said Dilshan, will be considerable.

"I think it will turn for those two. The bounce could be a bit uneven later on and they [Bangladesh batsmen] haven't played Ajantha much. So I hope both bowlers will do well here," said Dilshan.

3 arrested for threatening Dhoni

Ranchi, Friday 02 Jan 2009: Jharkhand police have arrested 3 people in connection with the extortion demand of Rs.5 million and the threats to Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s family had received an extortion letter, demanding Rs 50 lakh, from suspected local criminals. Dhoni met police officials Wednesday, handing over the letters and discussing the security of his family members.

The arrested, identified as Ranjit, Sadiq and Parvez, are being interrogated. The police have also questioned Taslim’s family members to know his whereabouts.

Ranchi police are also seeking help of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in the investigations. Security has been tightened and personnel of Special Task Force have been deployed to guard Dhoni’s residence at Mecon Colony here.