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Pakistan were so worried about the umpiring on their Australian tour that they completed a team investigation into contentious decisions which showed the home side was almost six times better off. “It went 29-5 against us,” Bob Woolmer, the coach, told the Brisbane Courier-Mail.Woolmer, who left Australia yesterday after three Tests and the one-day VB Series, said the players had taken the setbacks well, but there were five close calls against them in the opening one-day final, and a first-over knock-back in the second when Adam Gilchrist was “plumb”. “Quite frankly, Australia were the better side against us this summer, but some of these decisions made a huge difference,” he said. “You are talking about decisions which players’ careers rested on.”The Pakistan Cricket Board sent a letter to the ICC during the limited-overs tournament requesting two neutral umpires for one-day matches as well as Tests. One overseas and one local official stood in the VB Series, in line with ICC’s current regulations.Woolmer said Australia were very good at appealing, and that the adjudicators had pressure applied from the players and the crowd. “Umpires are not cheats,” he told the newspaper. “I would never accuse them of that. The way the Australians appeal and the way the crowd supports them creates subconscious pressure on umpires and it shows. People can say an umpire gives a decision on what he sees rather than the appeals, but I disagree. The appeal is very much a part of it. It is a very fine line.”Woolmer said he was looking at ways to improve Pakistan’s appealing. “Even if that means training at it,” he said. “Maybe we need to appeal only when we are certain it is out and appeal very strongly. There are also ways of conducting yourself when you are batting to get the message across to an umpire that an appeal against you is not out. We must look at that as well.”A fan of Hawk-Eye’s ball-tracking technology, Woolmer believes it should be used for decisions even though it is not perfect. “At the very least it is the same for both sides so you take all those other factors out of play,” he said. “I am not having a go at umpires because they get it right well over 90% of the time.”

Tasmania 5 for 148 (Di Venuto 49) and 268 trail Queensland 459 (Maher 153, Hopes 77, Hartley 76, Bichel 56) by 43 runs
Scorecard

Queensland moved into a dominant position at the end of the third day of their Pura Cup match against Tasmania at Brisbane. Queensland compiled 459 and Tasmania finished the day trailing by 43 runs in their second innings with only five wickets remaining after Australia A quick Mitchell Johnson took 3 for 6 in 20 balls.Called up to the Australia A side that recently toured Pakistan on the back of just six first-class appearances for Queensland, Johnson was watched by Australia’s chief selector Trevor Hohns. A left-handed quick, Johnson, 23, seems to have recovered from the injuries that have blighted his career since Dennis Lillee described him as a “once-in-a-lifetime” quick at the age of 16 and is in frame for a call-up to the full Australian squad to face West Indies.Jamie Cox and Michael Di Venuto started Tasmania’s reply to Queensland’s total well, seeing off Andy Bichel, who picked up six wickets in the first innings, Joe Dawes and James Hopes with ease as they reached 80. An inswinger from Andrew Symonds accounted for Di Venuto and he and Johnson worked well in tandem.Johnson found some extra pace to bounce out David Dawson and then had Cox and Birt caught in the cordon. Symonds picked up the final wicket of the day, inducing an edge off Scott Kremerskothen’s bat that was brilliantly caught at slip by Martin Love. Tasmania had lost five wickets for 59.Asked if he had thought of his international prospects, Johnson said: “No not at all. I’m just worried about playing first-class cricket at the moment. That hasn’t even popped into my head. I got on a bit of a roll [today] but that happens in cricket and it was a good feeling.”Earlier, the morning session proved crucial. With Queensland holding a lead of just five runs overninght and five wickets remaining, Tasmania needed early breakthroughs, and one came when Lachlan Stevens was removed by Adam Griffith – via the hands of captain Di Venuto – without adding to his overnight score.Tasmania’s joy was short-lived however. Queensland captain Jimmy Maher, unbeaten on 108 overnight, put on 92 with Chris Hartley before he eventually fell for 153. Next man in Andy Bichel offered no respite, adding a further 70 with Hartley as both passed their fifties. Queensland were eventually dismissed for 459, a lead of 191.

Steve Bucknor has revealed that both he and Aleem Dar received death threats on the last day of England’s final Test against South Africa at Centurion. Bucknor and Dar were the two umpires for that game.According to London’s , Bucknor stated that the threat came through a phone call made to the chief executive’s office at SuperSport Park during the final day’s play. “I was told that the threat came towards the end of the last day. I’m not sure if Aleem realised it was against him as well, but I was told that the words the caller used were ‘We are going to get rid of Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor, we are going to shoot them’,” Bucknor said. “You get lots of abuse as an umpire, but that is the first time that I have been threatened to that extent. I briefly thought about cutting short my stay and going home to the Caribbean, but I convinced myself that I am stronger than that. If umpires react to threats like that, then there will be a flood of them.”I have to say that I am not really worried about it – the words were serious, but I’m not sure whether the person who said them was serious – I’m certain it was just a hoax call,” Bucknor continued. “Also, I grew up in a part of Jamaica where threats are a daily occurrence, and I refereed football matches in Jamaica where you get threatened all the time – although it was never this extreme. Nevertheless, it’s not been a pleasant couple of days.”Bucknor has already officiated in 99 Tests, but his performance during the series came in for criticism from some of the players and the media. Michael Vaughan, the England captain, was especially vocal about the umpires’ interpretation of the playing conditions during the fourth Test at Johannesburg, while South Africa believe that plenty of decisions went against them during the recent series. Dar has returned to Pakistan after the Tests, but Bucknor is still in South Africa and will officiate in the one-day series as well.

Inzamam-ul-Haq turned up for the briefest of press conferences on the eve of the Rawalpindi Test. Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, revealed India’s playing XI, and also indicated that he and Yuvraj Singh were the contenders to open the batting.

Inzamam-ul-Haq
On the importance of the decider
Obviously the decider is extremely important. The boys have been working very hard and they are confident after the way they played at Lahore. We want a repeat performance here from them.On the pitch
The pitch looks good for bowling and it seems like it will help them throughout. Our bowlers performed well in the last match and they are confident of doing well on this wicket also.On the Pakistan squad
The only one we have omitted from the list of 17 is Abdur Rauf. We just want to keep our options open. Nothing has been confirmed yet – all the boys are working hard. Whoever performs well in practice will give themselves a chance of playing.On Mohammad Sami
His name has been announced in the squad of 16, which means that he is fit to play.On the importance of the toss
It will be a good toss to win, and I think bowling first is probably the best option given the nature of the pitch.On Sourav Ganguly’s return
He will obviously make a difference. His captaincy in the ODIs was very good, so that will help them. But he has missed a couple of matches now and might be rusty.On playing four fast bowlers
It is an option but we will confirm it tomorrow.Sourav Ganguly
On team composition
Ajit [Agarkar], Aakash [Chopra], [Murali] Kartik, Ramesh [Powar] and [Mohammad] Kaif won’t be playing.

On who will open the batting with Virender Sehwag
It’s a tough call. It will be either myself or Yuvraj. When we picked Yuvraj ahead of [Sadagoppan] Ramesh in the squad, he had agreed to open if required. This is a one-off situation, and the question is, what is best for the team. At the end of the day, I’m not an opener. But it’s also difficult shifting a guy [Yuvraj] from his position when he’s done well there. But in the long run, Yuvraj has to consider himself as an opener.On the pitch
It’s become a little browner since yesterday because of the sunshine. But if there’s a lot of grass left on it, that will help the bowlers on both sides. But it could be a lot like Lahore where there was initial movement, but it then settled down to be a good batting track. As for bowling first on winning the toss, it will depend on how much moisture there is in the pitch.On dropping Chopra
It’s hard on Aakash, but it’s also difficult to ask a batsman to sit out after he has made a Test hundred. He [Aakash] is definitely part of the team, and will get his place back. This is a one-off, and we don’t play our next Test for six months. But it was certainly among the more difficult decisions I have had to make as captain.On India’s failure to close out Test series abroad
It will be a motivation for us. We have come close on several occasions. Hopefully, we can make it here. But we have to focus on the game. It’s when you start looking too far ahead, thinking of victory and defeat, that you start taking wrong decisions.On what areas the Indians need to work on
I said before the series that how we batted would determine the result. When we batted well in Multan, we won. We didn’t bat so well in Lahore.On some of the Pakistani bowlers being unknown quantities
We played Naved [ul-Hasan] in Karachi. And anyway, I believe it’s the ball that matters, not who bowls it. You saw how Umar Gul did when he came into the side.

South Africa have won the Hong Kong Sixes title after beating Pakistan by 12 runs in the final at the Kowloon Cricket Club. Nicky Boje was the star and claimed the Man-of-the-Match award after hitting 32 off 14 balls.Boje’s innings enabled South Africa to set a target of 104 off their five eight-ball overs and despite Tahir Mughal’s 26 off 16 deliveries Pakistan could only reach 91.India, the defending champions, finished third after beating West Indies in the play-off having earlier been on the end of an amazing Pakistan batting performance in the semi-final. Pakistan smashed their way to 132 with Yasir Arafat taking five sixes off one over.The host nation, Hong Kong, produced the major upset when they beat England by 47 runs in the fifth/sixth place play-off. Despite having the likes of Dominic Cork and Darren Gough in their line-up, England struggled in the field as Hong Kong reached 92. Mal Loye then fell for a first-ball duck and they could only muster 45 in reply.

Wasim Akram has been fined by a Lahore court after failing to appear to answer changes that he hurt religious sentiments by appearing in an advertisement for an Indian liquor company.The civil court ruled against him by default as a result of his non appearance, although Wasim’s solictor later claimed that his client had never been notified of the hearing. He dismissed the claim as a "frivolous petition".The case was brought by a local individual who claimed that he had suffered as a result of the advertisement. He asked for a public apology and damages of Rs 25,000 (US$500).Wasim appeared in the advertisement last year, along with other cricketers such as Harbhajan Singh and Glenn McGrath. He previously denied the accusation, arguing he worked for the company which also manufactured sports equipments.

The England team arrived in rain-drenched Bangladesh today for their month-long tour, which includes two Tests and three one-day internationals. Officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) greeted the team at Dhaka’s Zia International Airport upon their arrival aboard an Emirates flight.England, without the injured Lancastrian duo of Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson, will face a Bangladesh team buoyed by an improved display during their recent tour of Pakistan. They put up a tough fight against Pakistan, coming within one wicket of registering their first Test victory in the third Test at Multan.Michael Vaughan, leading England on tour for the first time, told reporters on arrival that he was looking forward to a good series and will not be underestimating the home side. “In their last Tests, Bangladesh played positive cricket against top-class teams like Australia and Pakistan,” he said. “We will not take them lightly.”Bangladesh, who were granted Test status in 2000, have lost 23 of their 24 Tests to date. The only draw came in a rain-hit match against Zimbabwe. They have also gone 44 one-day internationals without recordiung a win, since their surprise victory over Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup.The Test series starts in Dhaka on Oct 21. After the Bangladesh leg of the tour, which ends on Nov 12, England go on to Sri Lanka for three more Tests and three ODIs.

Mohammad Ashraful has been omitted from a Bangladesh training camp, and is likely to miss the series against England.Ashraful shot to fame in 2001 aged just 17, when he became the youngest player to score a century on his Test debut. His subsequent scores, however, have been patchy, although he showed signs of a return to form with a gutsy 77 in the second Test against Peshawar last month.But he has been left out of a squad of 20 that began training on Wednesday, along with his fellow batsman Sanwar Hossain and the pace bowler Manjurul Islam. Fahim Muntasir, an offspinner, has been recalled after nearly a year while the slow left-armer Musaddeq Hossain is called up for the first time.”Our target is to improve individual performance,” said coach Dav Whatmore, who has overseen an impressive upturn in fortunes since taking over after the World Cup. In their most recent Test, against Pakistan at Multan, Bangladesh came within one wicket of their maiden victory.England arrive in Bangladesh on October 8 for two Tests and three one-day internationals.Bangladesh squad Khaled Mahmud (captain), Hannan Sarkar, Javed Omar, Habibul Bashar, Rajin Saleh, Alok Kapali, Mohammad Rafique, Khaled Mashud, Tapash Baisya, Mashrafe Mortaza, Alamgir Kabir, Hasibul Hossain, Fahim Muntasir, Musaddeq Hossain, Tushar Imran, Mushfiqur Rahman.

Khaled Mahmud has announced his retirement from international cricket, after being overlooked for Bangladesh’s forthcoming tour of Namibia and Zimbabwe. Mahmud, who captained Bangladesh in nine winless Tests, had been under severe pressure for several months, in particular from his home crowds who took exception to his own run of poor form.Habibul Bashar, the new captain, urged Mahmud to reconsider, saying that he was a good influence on the discipline of the team, but Mahmud claimed he had taken the decision after close consultation with his family.Usually the Bangladesh board selects a captain and then names a side, but earlier this month it announced that it would let the selectors pick the squad before naming the captain, and Bashar was deemed as the best man for the job.Bashar, 31, averages over 36 in Test matches, and has scored two Test centuries, against Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Faruq Ahmed, the chief selector, said, “We chose the best player for the captain’s job.”Dav Whatmore, the coach, added: “This is the best possible side we have now. They are confident of doing better.”The squad also included Manjurul Islam Rana, the uncapped left-arm spinner, while Shariar Hossain was recalled three years after his only Test appearance.The squad is due to tour Namibia from January 28, where they will play a three-day match and five one-dayers before moving to Zimbabwe on February 10.Squad Habibul Bashar (capt), Rajin Saleh, Khaled Mashud (wk), Tapash Baisya, Hannan Sarkar, Shariar Hossain, Mohammad Ashraful, Tareq Aziz Khan, Manjurul Islam Rana, Anwar Hossain Monir, Mushfiqur Rahman, Alok Kapali, Mohammad Rafique, Alamgir Kabir, Monjurul Islam, Al Shahriar.

MCC is pleased to announce that there will be free admission to the men’s and women’s Varsity cricket matches at Lord’s on Wednesday 2nd July.MCC President, Sir Tim Rice, said:

“Following last year’s successful trial, we want to give everyone another opportunity to enjoy, free, some high quality cricket at Lord’s. The Varsity match is one of the game’s most famous fixtures. It has given many excellent players – from Mike Atherton to ‘Plum’ Warner – their first opportunity to shine on the public stage. I hope that a large crowd will come to the home of cricket to see some stars of the future – in both the men’s and the women’s matches”.

Last year’s fixtures produced some outstanding cricket. A real highlight was the spectacular finish in the women’s game, with Cambridge winning a thrilling contest by 1 wicket.This year, on 2nd July, the women’s match will again be staged on the Nursery Ground, while the men’s match will be played, as usual, on the main ground at Lord’s.Singer & Friedlander Investment Management will be sponsoring both matches for the second successive year.Past Varsity matches have helped to bring many future Test stars to public prominence – including Oxford’s Colin Cowdrey (England), Martin Donnelly (New Zealand) and Imran Khan (Pakistan), and Cambridge’s Mike Brearley (England), Majid Khan (Pakistan) and Peter May (England).Sir Tim Rice added:

“Last month, MCC welcomed almost 9,500 schoolchildren, free, to the England v Zimbabwe Test at Lord’s.Over the last two days, we have been delighted to stage the Capital Kids Cricket Festival at the ground – to the delight of the 200 schoolchildren who have taken part.We want to maintain this momentum. In a fortnight’s time, we look forward to welcoming the largest possible number of people – including countless children – to Lord’s, for one of the most historic fixtures in world cricket.This reflects MCC’s determination to increase the number of young people who are introduced to cricket – for the long-term good of the game”.