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.

Muttiah Muralitharan recovered from a stomach upset to become the thirdbowler in history to take 500 Test wickets, during the first day’s play in the second Test against Australia. Muralitharan reached the milestone in record time, 21 matches faster than Shane Warne and 42 quicker than Courtney Walsh.Muralitharan, playing in his home town of Kandy, snapped up 4 for 48 in 15 overs, and brought up the landmark when he bowled Michael Kasprowicz with an offbreak that spun sharply back through the gate. Muralitharan’s contribution helped bowl out Australia for 120, a record low against Sri Lanka.Muralitharan will now race with Shane Warne (501 and climbing) to Courtney Walsh’s 519-wicket world record. The record may be beyond both bowlers in this series, but there is little doubt that Muralitharan will overhaul the mark sometime during Sri Lanka’s two-Test tour to Zimbabwe in April.Hashan Tillakaratne, Sri Lanka’s captain, praised Muralitharan before the second Test: “Murali is a great cricketer and a great team man. He has done Sri Lanka proud and won so many matches for us. I don’t know where we would be were it not for his bowling. He has won us so many matches.”Muralitharan, the only Tamil in the Sri Lanka team and the son of asuccessful biscuit manufacturer, first played for Sri Lanka againstAustralia in 1992, taking three wickets in his first Test. His career was later plagued by controversy after being called for throwing on tours to Australia in 1995-96 and 1998-99.But although his unique bowling still attracts suspicion in some quarters, he was cleared by the International Cricket Council after extensive, high-tech biomechanical analysis by three separate research institutes, including the University of Western Australia and the University of Hong Kong.Those studies concluded that his helicopter-wristed and locked-elbow action produced the “optical illusion” of throwing and did not contravene the game’s laws. Muralitharan has a congenital deformity that prevents him from fully straightening his arm, and a super-flexible wrist which is responsible for generating prodigious spin.

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.

West Indies Cricket Board XI 82 for 2 (Joseph 42*, Bravo 23*) v BangladeshisScorecardWith the start of the Test series only days away, the Bangladeshis once again displayed the competitive streak that had taken them close to success during the one-day series. Though more than half of the first day’s play against a West Indies Cricket Board XI was washed out, Bangladesh bowled with discipline and purpose to restrict them to 82 for 2 from 40 overs.Tapash Baisya broke through for his team first thing in the morning. He bowled Wavell Hinds before the WICB XI had put a run on the board. Not long after, Tareq Aziz dismissed Darren Smith for 11 (25 for 2). But there were no further rewards for the bowlers. Though they kept things very tight, the batsmen hung on. Sylvester Joseph, captaining the side, led the recovery, finishing the day 42 not out. Dwayne Bravo was keeping him company on 23.While a result is unlikely over the next two days, the Bangladeshis will be hoping to give their morale a further boost ahead of the two-Test series.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ashley Giles powered England to a comprehensive victory in the opening Test at Lord’s. He collected 5 for 81 – his first five-for in this country – as West Indies were bowled out for 267 in their second innings, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul again left stranded not out on 97.England secured a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series mainly thanks to Giles, who later collected the Man of the Match award. He took the crucial wicket of Brian Lara before lunch, and despite Chanderpaul’s innings, in which he fell three runs short of what would have been his second century of the match, the game was wrapped up shortly before tea when Andrew Flintoff had Fidel Edwards caught behind.West Indies had resumed at 114 for 3 following a short rain delay this morning, and they started confidently as both Chanderpaul and Lara took advantage of any bad balls they received. Lara, in particular, found that playing his natural aggressive game was the best form of defence against Stephen Harmison, slashing a wide ball behind point, and clipping the next delivery off his legs for consecutive boundaries to bring up the fifty partnership. Lara had a slice of luck in Harmison’s next over, though, as he just managed to kick the ball away from his stumps after a vicious lifter came off his ribs and bounced back towards the wicket.West Indies had another scare after the morning drinks break when a ball from Hoggard spat off a length, hit Chanderpaul painfully on the elbow, and looped to gully. England appealed for the catch, thinking the ball had come off the glove or handle of the bat, but Daryl Harper was unmoved. Chanderpaul was in some discomfort, but soldiered on after some treatment from the West Indies physio.However, England then struck the vital blow, as Giles took his 100th Test wicket with a ball that turned sharply to beat Lara’s attempted drive and cannoned into middle stump (172 for 4). Giles was in the middle of an inspired spell, and six overs later he undid Bravo with a flighted ball that he tapped back for an easy return catch (194 for 5). Ridley Jacobs survived a close shout for lbw first up, but in the next over he edged Hoggard straight to Graham Thorpe in the slips, and the England bowlers had their tails up (195 for 6).Harmison was aggressive after lunch, whizzing the ball past Omari Banks’s nose and then throwing down the stumps after Banks had tapped the ball back defensively a few deliveries later. Banks was rightly given not out, though both of his feet were in the air when the ball hit the stumps, he had already made his ground and was taking evasive action. However, Harmison made amends in his next over as he beat Banks for pace and bowled him all ends up (200 for 7).Tino Best then completely lost his head after a few words with Flintoff at first slip, and was stumped two balls later after charging down the wicket at Giles, and England were making steady progress towards the finishing line (203 for 8).

At the other end, Chanderpaul went to a heroic, but ultimately futile, half-century with consecutive boundaries off Harmison, and kept the runs flowing with three boundaries in three balls off Hoggard two overs later. He had taken a number of blows to the arms and hands in his innings, and received yet another painful hit, on the inside knee for a change, from Simon Jones that had him calling for the physio once again.But Chanderpaul had other problems, namely that he was running out of partners. Pedro Collins was out his depth against Giles as he struggled gamely for 38 deliveries, surviving a multitude of lbw shouts, a stumping, and an appeal for caught behind, before eventually becoming Giles’s fifth victim when Geraint Jones took advantage of a second stumping chance (247 for 9).Chanderpaul raced into the nineties with consecutive fours, behind point and through the covers, off Simon Jones, as the clouds rolled in over Lord’s, but Edwards, who had clung on for 24 balls, then edged Flintoff behind to Geraint Jones to signal the end of the match, and start England’s celebrations.

Stuart Law, the former Australian batsman, was today honoured by becoming one of the youngest life members of Queensland.Law, 35, now lives in England and plays for Lancashire in the English County Championship, but he spent 16 years with Queensland, in which time he led them to five Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup titles and two domestic one-day trophies, as well as becoming their most capped player and leading runscorer.At the annual Queensland Cricket general meeting today, Grant Law, Stuart’s father, accepted the award on his son’s behalf before Law himself spoke in a recorded message. “I had to ring the old man to find out the magnitude of what was bestowed upon me,” Law said. “To be recognised so soon after my retirement, well, I’ve just been blown away.”He added: “I played with my heart on my sleeve for Queensland and this will enable me to keep my foot in the door and have a say in the future of Queensland cricket. I believe we can still be the power force we’ve become over the last ten years. It’s a tremendous honour – I do still love Queensland cricket with all my heart and this will keep me close. Thank you very much.”Law retired from Australian domestic cricket at the end of last season to move to England to concentrate on playing for Lancashire. He played in 54 one-day internationals for Australia, but was selected for only one Test, against Sri Lanka in December 1995.

Sourav GangulyOn the pitch
It’s definitely a very important Test match and it’s going to be a good cricketing wicket. It’s got a bit of grass covering on it and I think it’s going to be good for everybody: the fast bowlers, the spinners and the batsmen. It will turn as the match goes on, as the surface underneath the grass is pretty dry.On Tendulkar’s return
To get a player like Sachin back would be a boost for any team. The way he batted in the nets, it did not look as though he has not played cricket for two months. And his bowling will be very useful as well.On whether there was a chance Parthiv Patel would open
NoOn the opening combination
We’ve had two specialist openers in the last two Test matches: we’ve considered Yuvraj as an opener. We will go into the third Test in similar fashion. The selectors will decide between Yuvraj and Aakash.On whether he called the curator and asked him to take the grass off the pitch
I did that before the Test from Calcutta on the 20th. I don’t think he’s done much. Our strength is the spinners. But at the end of the day the pitch is up to the curator: I can only make a request. In the last two Tests we got pitches that helped the spinners, but obviously the curator here has his own ideas.Adam GilchristOn whether Australia have the edge
We’re leading 1-0 so we’re just in front. But, like Sourav has said and I have said, there’s still a lot of cricket to be played. We saw in Chennai how quickly things can change. There’s still ten days’ cricket left.On the pitch
It’s very difficult to judge what it’s going to do. It’s totally different to what we have come across so far. It looks like a good Australian wicket which is a bit of a surprise. We don’t know how it’s going to play: we have to wait and see and make our adjustments accordingly. If indeed it does play similar to Australian conditionswe’re going to have to make adjustments too, as we have been aligning our game plan to traditional subcontinental wickets.On Tendulkar’s return
We’ve got plans about how we will approach bowling to him: we just have to execute them well. We have prepared for every Test this series as though Sachin was going to play.On the team composition
We have the same 12 as the first two Tests, with one change: Brett Lee comes in for Nathan Hauritz.On whether Australia were under less pressure than India in this Test
I think pressure comes from yourself. There’s expectations from others, but pressure comes from yourself. I don’t feel like any of us are carrying anything extra or less in this Test. There’s a temptation to feel we’re so close to achieving the goal that we set out with but we’re still a long way from that and we know it. There’s no different mind set for this Test. If we try to go negative and play for a draw, that’s not in our nature and we’ll get ourselves into trouble.

Namibia 336 for 4 (Keulder 90, Snyman 58*, Kotze 53*, L Burger 50) v Kenya
Scorecard

Namibia ended the first day of their Intercontinental Cup match against Kenya at Nairobi’s Aga Khan Club in a strong position. After being put in on a cloudy day by Hitesh Modi, Kenya’s new captain, they closed on 336 for 4, with Gerrie Snyman and Deon Kotze both unbeaten with half-centuries.Kenya’s new-look side performed admirably considering that three days ago many of them were not expecting to be playing. The arrival of several of the players who had chosen to boycott the fixture after lunch was surprising, and the fielders were hardly helped by the incessant taunting of a group of about 30 spectators who blew whistles, jeered mistakes and, in between, called for the resignation of Sharad Ghai, the Kenyan board’s chairman.The morning belonged to Namibia who lost only one wicket – JB Burger trapped leg-before by Rageb Aga for 34 – in taking their score to 107, although the Kenyan bowlers stuck to a steady line and length.Shortly after the break Lameck Onyango removed Stefaan Swanepoel for 26, courtesy of a superb diving catch by the wicketkeeper Abeed Janmohamed (115 for 2). Janmohamed, making his debut, had only arrived in Nairobi at 6.30am after an overnight flight from London.Namibia took control of almost all the remainder of the session, with Daniel Keulder (90) and Louis Burger (50) putting on 96 for the third wicket. But Kenya hit back as tea approached with two strikes in as many overs. Janmohamed completed a neat leg-side stumping off Rajesh Bhudia to remove Keulder, and then Burger was caught by Onyango off Kalpesh Patel.But in the final session Kenya flagged, and Snyman and Kotze batted Namibia into a strong position.

Western Australia 512 (Campbell 144, Rogers 95, North 70, Wates 53) and 4 for 234 dec (North 78*, Campbell 53*, marsh 68) drew with Queensland 561 (Watson 136, Symonds 126)
Scorecard

Western Australia drew their Pura Cup game with Queensland at Perth after recovering from an early wobble. Queensland went away with two points for the first-innings lead, but for a brief while it appeared as if they’d end the day with victory points as well.WA terminated Queensland’s innings for 561 early in the morning when Brad Hogg clean-bowled Joe Dawes for figures of 4 for 121. Then Dawes returned with the ball in his hand and removed both openers with 24 runs on the board. At this point WA were still 25 runs ahead. Then Andy Bichel claimed Murray Goodwin for 21 (34 for 3). A partnership worth 138 runs between James North and Shaun Marsh followed. Both were patient and played for time. North’s unbeaten 78 came off 174 balls, while Marsh’s 68 took 134 deliveries. They hauled WA out of jail and paved the way for Ryan Campbell’s attack as the match came to a close.Campbell struck a boundary-filled 53 off 62 balls with nine fours and a six. His runs came in a 66-run partnership with North that was cut short when the innings was declared at 234 for 4.

For Australia 2004 was a year of sad goodbyes, glorious hellos, welcome returns and another batch of envious records. There was also time for stirringcomebacks from a side that has grown used to beingworld champions, and often needs challenges to wakethem. Three times they faced first-innings deficits ofmore than 90 in Sri Lanka that were merely detours onthe way to a sweaty whitewash. Someone always came tothe rescue.Unfortunately, nothing could save David Hookes. Hissad, violent and needless death on January 18 broughtgloom and a respect for his career that would havebeen missing if he had passed away in a retirement home.Two weeks earlier the whole of Australia felt like part of thelounge-room furniture was going to be missing whenSteve Waugh whirled 80 against India at the SCG in hisfinal innings. Waugh enjoyed a countrywide farewelltour while Hookes was remembered through traingraffiti, newspaper tributes and a court case inNovember against the bouncer accused of hismanslaughter.Keith Miller, the former Invincible, also passed away inOctober, and new generations learned about the manytreasured deeds of Australia’s greatest allrounder.Typically for a man with film-star aura, Miller’sMelbourne funeral drew an A-list congregation, andleft only six survivors from the 1948 tour.

Australia head to England this winter still marvellingat their predecessors’ unbeaten run. And this is aside familiar with streaks. For the first time a teamwon five series in a calendar year as Australia tickedoff Sri Lanka (twice), India, New Zealand and Pakistan.It was an achievement made possible by programming andan efficient new style under Ricky Ponting’scaptaincy.With Waugh returning to his slippers and home life,Ponting was sitting on the throne tipped for him inhis teens. Despite the overall success, Pontingsuffered an induction of disruption and was aspectator for the year’s biggest thrill – Australia’sfirst series win in India for 35 years. The prizeWaugh wanted most, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, wassealed under the leadership of Adam Gilchrist.Ponting suffered a broken thumb in the Champions’Trophy semi-final loss to England and it allowedAustralia to prepare for the future. After muchdeliberation the selectors settled on Michael Clarkeinstead of Brad Hodge. It was a magnificent move asClarke, 23, gave a debut performance full of wonder,with hints of Doug Walters. He followed his 151 atBangalore with a home debut century at the Gabba, anda team with an average age in the 30s finally had ayoung pup.While Clarke was the discovery in India, Damien Martynplayed the hero with two centuries and a ninety in thesecond and third Tests. Martyn, Jason Gillespie andrain ensured a fighting draw at Chennai, and Australiasealed the series at Nagpur. The celebrations wereanimated and the hangover lasted through the year’splaying blight, a low-scoring dead-rubber loss on anawful Mumbai pitch.

New Zealand and Pakistan arrived to close the year andwere shut out. Again the cheer was all Australia’s,Justin Langer finishing 2004 with 1481 runs and Martyn with1353, while Shane Warne collected 70 wickets.Warne’s return was spectacular as he chased MuttiahMuralitharan for his world record. Ending his one-yeardrugs ban with 26 wickets in Sri Lanka, Warne equalledMurali in the drawn Test at Cairns, and finally passedhim at Chennai, where he wore red-striped spikes tocolour the moment.Another great also took his first steps after a longlay-off. Ankle operations ruled Glenn McGrath out fora year and he considered retirement before taking fivewickets against Sri Lanka at Darwin. The tentativenessstayed until he reached India but by the end of thetour he was again the attack’s leader, and his 8 for24 against Pakistan at the WACA were the second-bestfigures by an Australian.With Warne and McGrath restored as bowling saviours,Australia’s ageing side was complete. The finalfrontier had been conquered, but in 2005 they mustcover old ground. Finding new motivation may becomethis side’s greatest challenge.Top performersJustin Langer An amazing year for a batsman who can’t lose the tagof gritty grafter. His 1481 runs, including five hundreds and four fifties, were the second-most by an Australian in a calendar year and they amply made up for the relatively lean times that Hayden and Ponting had.Shane Warne A year out of the game at 34 could have forced hisretirement. Instead he landed in Sri Lanka ready tofire and broke the world record in India. His nexttarget is 600 Test wickets; his ability to bamboozleremains untarnished.Peter English is Australasian editor ofCricinfo.