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Champions League throws up tough choices

Many of the 12 teams participating in the Champions League Twenty20, starting in Bangalore on October 8, face tough choices in selecting their final squads after officials released updated tournament rules today. These regulations will force teams like Delhi Daredevils, the IPL qualifiers, to cut down on their foreign strength to minimise a payout for "away" players and Sussex to omit Murray Goodwin because of the batsman's past links with the ICL. Deccan Chargers have also decided to let Herschelle Gibbs play for Cape Cobras, his home team.

Delhi have four foreign players - Dirk Nannes, David Warner, Andrew McDonald and Farveez Maharoof - whose home teams have also qualified for the tournament. If these players choose to play for Delhi, they will end up paying $800,000 as compensation, $400,000 each to Victoria for Nannes and McDonald, and $200,000 each to New South Wales for Warner and Wayamba for Maharoof. Delhi are planning to call up only two of those four.

"Under CLT20 rules, provided a player qualifies for more than one team, all those qualifying teams can nominate that player," the tournament organisers said. "If the player then decides to play for an 'away' team rather than his 'home' team (the team from the country he is eligible to represent in international cricket), the 'away' team must pay US$200,000 compensation to the 'home' team." This process will obviously happen in consultation between the teams and the players involved.

Sussex, meanwhile, will have to do without Goodwin after it was confirmed that players who have played unofficial cricket will not be allowed to play in this edition of the tournament. "For this year's event, no person who has played in any unofficial cricket event can be named in a 2008 CLT20 squad either as a player or coach," the organisers said. "However, teams are not disqualified from the 2009 CLT20 if they played rebel players in their qualifying tournament, provided they terminated their rebel contracts before May 31."

In other words, unlike last year, when Kent were barred for having ICL players in their squad, Sussex will not be disqualified for having played Goodwin in their domestic Twenty20 tournament, which is considered as the qualifying round for the Champions League. Goodwin, the former Zimbabwe player, quit the ICL before May 31.

Amrit Mathur, the chief operating officer of Delhi, confirmed that his team will reduce its foreign strength while submitting a preliminary list of 20 players by August 24, the first deadline. This list will be further pruned to 15. "We have to maintain a balance of Indian and foreign players in the final 15," Mathur told Cricinfo. "Besides, we will also have to consider that there is a certain payment involved for fielding foreign players whose home teams have also qualified."

The case of Dwayne Smith, the West Indies allrounder, is interesting because he can play for Sussex and Deccan Chargers, both of which are not his home teams. Although the rules don't stipulate any payment in such cases, there is nothing to prevent the teams from arriving at a separate arrangement.

"Once a team names its initial squad, CLT20 will assess which players have been listed for two or more teams," Dean Kino, Champions League's governing council member and director, legal and business affairs, said. "Players who have been nominated by multiple teams will then be contacted by CLT20 to nominate their chosen team. Players will then be given 24 hours to determine which team they wish to represent."

The Champions League Twenty20, which is a multi-nation multi-club event, was set to start from December 3 last year, but was aborted after terrorists struck in Mumbai, one of the main venues, on November 26. This time, invitations have been extended to this year's domestic toppers from seven countries, including Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils (India), New South Wales Blues and Victorian Bushrangers (Australia), Cape Cobras and Diamond Eagles (South Africa), Sussex Sharks and Somerset Sabres (England), Otago Volts (New Zealand), Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies) and Wayamba (Sri Lanka).

 

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Dilshan relishing opening slot

Tillakaratne Dilshan has said he enjoyed the role of opener after hitting a blistering 92 off 72 balls, the fastest Test fifty scored by a Sri Lankan, on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand in Galle.

Opening the batting in a Test for the first time Dilshan helped Sri Lanka recover from 16 for 2 to an imposing 293 for 3 by stumps. Dilshan reached his half-century off 30 balls, one ball quicker than Arjuna Ranatunga who had done so against India at Kanpur in 1986-87.

"I was under a little bit of pressure after two early wickets went, but I knew if I played positively I could reverse the trend and put the pressure back on the opposition. I did that by playing my own game," Dilshan said. "It's much easier batting as opener as there is no pressure on me. It's not easy to bat at No. 6 and 7 because I am the last recognised batsman and I cannot play my shots but I have to play according to the situation. But opening I can go for my shots from the beginning. It's a new ball and the field is also up and runs come quickly.

"I didn't know until I came to the dressing room that I had broken a Sri Lankan batting record for the fastest Test fifty," he said. "I am proud to take the record off Arjuna Ranatunga and get my name in the record books. But I am really disappointed I couldn't get to my ninth Test hundred.

"In past two years I am batting well and I have been in good form. I want to carry on the form," he said. "The change came after I was promoted to open the batting in one-dayers. My career has changed for the better."

New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin, who gave his team a great start with two early wickets, admitted that it was difficult to bowl to a batsman in an in an aggressive frame of mind like Dilshan in the morning.

"It is not often you run in and bowl to a guy like that in Tests and find that he is driving you through the covers and hitting you over the top," Martin said. "It was a tough experience. You can be hero to zero but today he was the hero. Dilshan's innings put us under pressure early and it took a while for us to recover.

"When Mahela came in he could just relax and get his innings together and the run rate was pretty good," Martin said. "Mahela plays with very soft hands and he waits for anything on length to hit through the covers. He just played a very nice innings and put the pressure back on us. I think he outplayed us today and that was a good hundred.

"The discipline of the Sri Lankan batsmen showed pretty true on a reasonable deck. If we could get a couple of early wickets when the ball swings then you've done well. Then it's a matter of discipline the way they played today."

Martin said the decision to bowl first was because it was humid enough for the ball to swing and that New Zealand had banked on their experienced bowlers to trouble Sri Lanka early.

"Even though the ball was swinging a little it didn't quite do the job for us. It's a toss that some captain's wouldn't mind losing," Martin said. "It's a very difficult decision. Whatever you choose to do you have to do well. Today it was a reflection we didn't do quite well enough."

 

[chandikagunawardhana]

Victory would be greatest moment - Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff believes an England victory in his farewell Test would be a greater accomplishment than the team's heralded 2-1 Ashes triumph four years ago. Describing this week's Ashes decider at The Oval as "the biggest [Test] I'll ever play in", Flintoff said a final act of resurgence after a trying 12 months would be a more satisfying result than England's authoritative series win in 2005.

"It's different, obviously going in 1-1, but if we win this one it will be a far greater achievement than 2005," Flintoff said. "That was fantastic but the side had performed well over a period of time and we'd beaten everyone in the world and we came here against Australia expecting to win.

"I'm not saying we're not expecting to do it this time but the side's gone through a lot over the past 12 months. The side's changed hell of a lot. We've got young players who have never played in the Ashes. And from my point of view, with the injuries that I've had to be here, if we won it would be a far greater achievement for some of the things that have happened over the past six to 12 months."

Flintoff, training with a brace on his damaged right knee on Tuesday, successfully completed his first bowling session since the eve of the Headingley Test. He began cautiously, but gradually built up pace during a 20-minute spell. He expected the knee to swell after training, but insisted it could be managed with regular icing and treatment. "I'm confident I'll be alright," he said.

Flintoff admitted to being disappointed at his omission from the Headingley Test, given his insistence that he was fit enough to play, but declined to take aim at Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower over their decision.

"It was a tough decision all round," he said. "I'd have played at the position I was at the time but Andrew [Strauss] and Andrew [Flower] decided that wasn't an acceptable level, so that's the sort of thing you've got to get on with. Ever since then I've been trying to get right for this one here which is going to be an unbelievably good game.

"Sometimes in professional sport there are some hard decisions you have to make and as a player sometimes they're hard to take but you move on from that. I'm just pleased to be here now with an opportunity to play on Thursday."

Flintoff has placed sentimentality and thoughts of another knee operation to one side as he attempts to propel England to Ashes glory, but conceded the enormity of his decision to retire from Test cricket would likely not hit him until England's next international assignment.

"It's not about sentiment or last Test matches or anything like that," he said. "I'm fully focused on trying to perform and add to an England victory. Everything else I'm sure will take care of itself, for me it's all about winning the game.

"At some point in the winter when the boys are playing in South Africa I'm sure I'll want to be there and I'll be missing it. But the retirement, it's a decision I came to a while ago. That knee stuff, it was the final draw. I got it out there to stop the speculation over my future. Since announcing it, it's been a bit of a weight off my shoulders and I can go out there and enjoy the last game. As for sentiment and all that, I'll let you know how I can get on with that.

"I've not been thinking about the past full stop to be honest with you. I'm proud that I've played for England over a period of time, proud of some of my performances and proud I've been on a winning side for quite a long period of time. That's about as far as I've gone to be honest with you. My thoughts over the past week have been getting fit for this Test match which is the biggest I'll ever play in, not because it's my last but the position of the series - 1-1 against Australia. It's a great opportunity for anyone going out there to take the series by the scruff of the neck and put in a match-winning performance."

 

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Flintoff great but not always professional - Vaughan

Michael Vaughan, under whose leadership Andrew Flintoff delivered a career-defining performance during the 2005 Ashes, has said Flintoff was a great player to captain but not always a professional one.

"He could be difficult at times, because he is not the most professional cricketer, but with Fred you accept the whole package," Vaughan wrote in his Daily Telegraph column. Flintoff will retire from Tests after the Oval Test but will continue to play in the shorter versions.

"To get the best out of him I used to deal with him on a one-to-one basis," Vaughan wrote. "Fred likes to be loved and he is quite soft at heart. He needs an arm around his shoulder because he does not respond to being ranted and raved at. I would just talk to him and remind him what a good player he was and the impact he could have on the game.

"I always told him to be ultra-positive when he bats because when he was batting well he had a real confidence about him. When he batted badly he would lose that and his demeanour would change. That is why he would call himself a batting allrounder. He loves batting more than he loves bowling."

However Vaughan said Flintoff was not an easy player to deal with behind the scenes. "I wouldn't agree with the theory that he was the heartbeat of the dressing room. He can be jovial and light hearted. He liked the dressing room to be a fun environment and maybe that is why his results under me were pretty good.

"It is true that great teams need great individuals. In 2005 we had two in Fred and Kevin Pietersen. But you can afford to have two individuals only as long as the other nine are solid. If you have three or four who get easily distracted by the star names then it can be a problem. But in 2005 we had strong characters who knew what was required and that allowed KP and Fred to be who they wanted to be."

Flintoff averaged 40.20 with the bat and 27.29 with the ball in 2005 and shared the Man of the Series award with Shane Warne.

Vaughan said he had his confrontations with Flintoff but the two always respected each other. "We had our ups and downs and there were times when I would think about the headaches he caused. We would have debates and confrontation but handling that is the art of captaincy … We have become very good friends and in fact speak more now than we ever did."

Vaughan said while Flintoff's overall stats - he has only five Test centuries and three five-wicket-hauls from a career of 78 Tests - were not impressive, his impact on the team went beyond figures. "I have seen at close quarters what he has brought to he England team over the last few years and also the fans don't care about stats. Also there is no stat that can tell us how many wickets he has earned the guy bowling at the other end."

Vaughan was optimistic about England's future even though he said it would be hard to replace Flintoff. "The constant talk of whether he will play or the balance of the team without him will be over. The management can concentrate on trying to gel a team. They have to decide if they need four or five bowlers and without Fred the keeper, Matt Prior, becomes a huge player. Players like Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Luke Wright, and Chris Woakes of Warwickshire have a chance. This is a great opportunity for a lot of young players but for the moment let's just enjoy one last sight of Fred."

 

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Samaraweera puts Sri Lanka in front

Having seen Thilan Samaraweera strike a magnificent 159 and take Sri Lanka to 452, New Zealand responded strongly in the final session, with Tim McIntosh leading the resistance to the twin-spin threat. The loss of Daniel Flynn just before stumps changed the complexion somewhat, but New Zealand still deserved plaudits for sticking to the task with the ball and then showing real character with the bat. The star of the day though was undoubtedly Samaraweera, who took more than half an hour to score his first run of the day before racing from 100 to 150 in just 43 deliveries.

Morning rain meant a two-hour delay and a readjustment in the session timings, and after a sedate first hour before lunch, when only 35 runs were added and Mahela Jayawardene snaffled by Iain O'Brien, there was an injection of excitement after the interval. Angelo Mathews flicked the first ball after the interval for four and then paddle-swept four more, but when New Zealand reeled off three successive maidens, the momentum appeared to have been lost.

Samaraweera was marooned on 97 for a while, but the moment he struck a gorgeous straight drive off Jeetan Patel to get to three figures, the mood changed. In Patel's next over, he lofted over mid-on for four and six, and then cut four more as the scoreboard started to race along. Daniel Vettori was also taken over midwicket, and Patel repeatedly driven with deft footwork. Mathews joined in with a heaved six off the hapless Patel and though he departed soon after, edging a drive behind off Vettori, Samaraweera continued to race along.

Prasanna Jayawardene went caught short at short leg off Vettori, but either side of that, Samaraweera drove, cut and even steered to third man off pace and spin alike. Having taken 223 balls for his century, he was suddenly smacking the ball like a man having an extended net session. Soon after, he came down the track to Vettori and found Patel at long-off, departing after a 277-ball effort. Chris Martin and Vettori then wrapped up the tail in a jiffy, as the last four wickets added just eight.

Fortune appeared to be on Sri Lanka's side early on when a thick outside edge from Jayawardene off O'Brien flew between wicketkeeper and slip. New Zealand's frustration quickly turned to joy though, when another delivery in the corridor was almost guided off the edge to the right of Ross Taylor at first slip. The new ball was taken almost as soon as it was due, and a quiet phase followed, with Mathews finding his feet and Samaraweera taking no chances.

The ball was then changed after having lost its shape, but it made no difference, with Samaraweera lashing one behind point for four. A neat clip through midwicket off Jesse Ryder took him to 96, but a tidy over from Vettori ensured that he would have to contend with the nervous nibbles at lunch. It was a different story thereafter.

The ball changes were a bizarre feature of the final session too, with three used before New Zealand had played even 10 overs. The innings started promisingly enough, with Martin Guptill clipping and pulling leg-side fours off Nuwan Kulasekara. Ajantha Mendis was on as early as the ninth over but it was Thilan Thushara that gave Kumar Sangakkara the breakthrough. The ball had just been changed when Guptill played a superb on-drive, but his attempt to find the square-leg boundary with a pull only meant a ricochet on to the base of the stumps.

With Murali coming on soon after, runs were hard to come by, but as McIntosh swept and drove Mendis for fours, New Zealand seemed to be finishing the day the better. But Mendis came round the wicket to bowl Flynn off the inner edge and with more rain forecast for the remaining days, survival was New Zealand's first priority after an eventful day in the shadow of the 400-year-old fort.

 

[chandikagunawardhana]

Tendulkar suggests free Test tickets for kids to save game

Sachin Tendulkar has suggested a plan to revive interest in Test cricket, which has been dwindling especially in India where matches against Australia in Mohali and Nagpur failed attract packed crowds, by letting children into stadiums for free.

"I started playing cricket when I was five years old," Tendulkar said at a book launch in Mumbai on Tuesday. "But the first time I watched a Test in a stadium was when I was 10. India was playing the West Indies. It is clearly ingrained in my memory and that is one experience no kid will forget. The more we invite kids to the game, the more the sport grows."

He suggested that one stand at every Test ground be kept free on weekends for schoolchildren. "We could have the toppers - either in academics or in sport - from various schools coming in to witness Test cricket. If it turns even 10% of those kids into Test cricket fans, it will be great for the game."

With the permanent addition of the IPL to the calendar, and the compulsory Twenty20 fixture per tour, boards have been forced to cut down on Tests.

Sanjay Manjrekar, the former India batsman who was also present at the event, said it was difficult for spectators to maintain interest over five days. "I think people still love to see the exciting facets of Test cricket - four bouncers in an over or a gully and four slips - but it is difficult to retain their interest for seven hours in a day and five whole days," Manjrekar said. "The masses will eventually decide where the game goes."

 

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Strauss wants Flintoff to 'go out in a blaze of glory'

Andrew Flintoff did not bowl during England's final practice session at The Oval on Wednesday, but whereas at Headingley that might have been taken as cause for alarm, this time around it is nothing more than a precaution. On Thursday morning, barring a late and unexpected set-back, Flintoff and his dodgy right knee will front up for England for one final time in Test cricket, with the Ashes on the line and his legacy up for grabs.

"He's looking very promising to be fair," said England's captain, Andrew Strauss. "The swelling's gone right down on his knee and he bowled really well yesterday. Obviously he's particularly motivated to play in this Test match. Things are looking good on that front. We just have to be absolutely certain tomorrow morning that it doesn't react, but at this stage it's looking very, very positive."

In Leeds, Flintoff wanted to play but was over-ruled by Strauss and Andy Flower, an unpopular decision for the allrounder and one that became more serious as Australia levelled the series at 1-1 in three days. Strauss spoke to Flintoff about his frustration, which seeped out via his manager the day after the Headingley defeat, and "it's not an issue between us".

"You can understand why he'd be disappointed," Strauss said. "It's his last couple of Test matches so he's dying to play. I spoke to Fred after the Headingley Test match, and we both know where each other stood on that matter. Some of the stuff that has been said has been quite a long way off the mark, to be honest. I'm certainly very excited to have him back in the team for this Test match. He's determined to do well for the team, and I know that he is as motivated as anyone to do well for England this week."

Flintoff's knee was covered by a guard during training on Tuesday and at times he looked like he was about to hobble, but he was happy during his workout and smiled as he signed autographs for supporters at the end of the session. All England followers want him to depart with the Ashes at the conclusion of his 79th Test and Flintoff-watch is reaching its peak.

Moments after Flintoff's retirement announcement at Lord's last month, Ricky Ponting warned that England's Ashes focus could be distracted by Cirque Du Fred as the summer rolled on. On Thursday, addressing the media on the other side of the Thames, the Australian captain did not miss his opportunity to reinforce the point ahead of the all-important Ashes decider.

"Whenever he comes onto bowl or comes into bat the whole crowd gets behind him, but with that I guess there'll be extra pressure on him as well, " Ponting said. "Playing his last game and knowing it's such a big game, an important game for the England team, extra pressures will come with that. We'll see how he fares up over the next five days.

"We won't know until then end of the game. We won't know until we see how he handles it and how the whole England team handle it. That's one thing they're going to have to worry about over the next few days. There will be some distractions there. If you read the papers today, it's all about Andrew going into the game. They'll have those things to deal with but that's not for us to worry about."

Strauss must ask himself whether the country knows if anyone else is playing for his team whenever he is flooded with questions about the allrounder. How's Fred? Will he play? How did he bowl? Any pain? Can you win with him? And without him? What about his batting? And his slip fielding? What did he have for lunch? How's his dog?

"That's the situation," Strauss said calmly. "It's his last couple of Test matches, he's obviously a massive player for us and we're very fortunate to have a guy of that quality in our side, especially a guy that tends to up his performances against Australia. Going into a must-win game like this I'm far more comfortable as captain seeing his name on the team sheet."

Flintoff was the key figure in the 2005 Ashes win as well as being captain for the 5-0 whitewash by Australia in the following series. There are a lot of older players seeking revenge at The Oval this week, with Flintoff wanting to recreate the feeling of four years ago and the Australians desperate to forget it.

England cannot allow the emotion of Flintoff's departure to sidetrack them and Strauss tried to downplay the notion they would be "doing it for Fred". They will broaden their goals for the match that will determine whether the bunting and tickertape is released on Monday or has to be saved for the London Olympics.

"We all want him to go out in a blaze of glory," Strauss said. "A lot of his scripts have been written that way so far in his career and that would be a fitting end to his Test career. But we want to win this game for the country, for the coaches, for all the hard work we've put in, as well as him. So I don't think we're solely motivated by that."

 

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We mustn't try to force the pace - Strauss

Andrew Strauss has told his team to resist the urge to force the pace in their must-win encounter at The Oval and focus instead on wearing Australia down over the first three days. The sides start the fifth Test level at 1-1 on Thursday, but the tourists have the advantage of being able to lift the Ashes urn with a draw.

"We know the situation ahead of us," Strauss said. "We need to win the game, so in a way that helps your clarity of mind and you know what needs to be achieved.

"The important thing about a Test match is that you can't win on day one, you've got to earn the right to win the game and that means playing good, solid cricket for the first three days or so. So it's not a case of particularly forcing the pace, it's about wrestling the initiative away over the course of the first three days."

England were on a high during the middle of the series following their win at Lord's and the draw at Edgbaston, but they gave up their advantage in Leeds and effectively start this game from behind. It is a position they are comfortable with after struggling to build on their lead when they are the frontrunners.

The underdog scenario also reduces the expectation of their fans, the majority of whom feel their side's chances disappeared in three Flintoff-less days at Headingley. "It's a massive game and I know the country are desperate for us to do well and I just struggle not to be very excited about what lies ahead this week," Strauss said. "It's going to be a massive occasion and one that hopefully we'll treasure for the rest of our careers."

Strauss was part of The Oval celebrations in 2005 but said he would feel a new emotion if they upset the tipsters to hold the game's oldest prize on Monday. "It's been a very different series this time," he said. "Last time every game was very close, this time it's been a little bit more see-sawing. From the situation we're in now it would be a great achievement to turn it around and be able to win here this week, but it's just hard to compare the two."

No matter what England do over the next couple of years, it will be the performances, good or bad, against Australia that will stand out. "You gain a huge amount of confidence from winning an Ashes series, but that doesn't necessarily mean you go on and beat all the other teams in the world, as we capably demonstrated last time we won," Strauss said. "Where we stand right at the moment it's all about winning this Ashes series and, rightly or wrongly, players are remembered for what they did in Ashes series."

 

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Australia consider unchanged side

Australia are reluctant to change their match-winning combination and are expected to keep their all-pace attack for the Ashes decider at The Oval. While the visitors lean to a four-man seam unit, England remain adamant that they can bounce back from their two-and-a-half day humiliation at Headingley, with their captain, Andrew Strauss, backing the character and balance of the 14-man squad at their disposal.

The depth of England's squad is designed to cover every bowling permutation, from an extra swing bowler in Ryan Sidebottom to the second spinner, Monty Panesar, but with Andrew Flintoff's right knee showing strong signs of lasting the distance, their range of alterations becomes much clearer. Australia almost carry a closed shop following the victory in Leeds that levelled the series and the most likely line-up includes the quartet of Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Stuart Clark. Brett Lee is pushing to appear in his first match of the series but his only way back is if Ricky Ponting is convinced there will be considerable reverse-swing during the match.

Unfortunately for Lee, The Oval's groundstaff say the ball has not moved late throughout the season, and the only bare spots that could rough up the ball are on the practice pitches at the edge of the square. Surrey's cricket manager, Chris Adams, told Cricinfo that this could be due to the Tiflex ball that is currently used instead of the Duke in the second division of the County Championship, but either way it does not bode well for Australia's pace spearhead.

"What we see at the moment is what we expect," Ponting said at The Oval on Tuesday. "As I said after the Headingley game, we're going to have to see something really different to change the make-up of the side considering everything worked really well. The wicket looks particularly good and it could dry a little bit."

Usually such a barren pitch would make a spinner a certainty, but Nathan Hauritz chips in with wickets rather than dominating batting orders and the side coped without him in the more seam-friendly conditions in Leeds. Ponting called Hauritz a "very smart and skilful offspinner" and talked up his performance in the tour game in Canterbury, while he also reminded England of Lee's qualities during a cautious description.

"With Brett, his record suggests he is a really striking bowler who can go for a few runs," Ponting said. "If it looks like it's going to be really dry and later in the game there might be some reverse-swing, then he'll come into consideration." The current forecast, which changes more often than batting gloves late in the game, is for rain on Thursday and sunny intervals over the following three days.

Ponting was impressed by the pitch and predicted some big innings during the match, which Australia only need to draw to take the Ashes. He also hoped it would provide pace, bounce and some turn late in the contest. "If you look at the results over the last couple of years there have been big innings - teams have made 600, 580 - and I'd expect at some stage in this game there will be those sorts of innings as well," he said.

Strauss kept his large squad together "in case things go wrong" on Wednesday and refused to rule out the use of two spinners. "It's definitely an option," he said of Panesar teaming up with Swann. "It's a pretty dry wicket. At the moment it looks like a belter, it looks like a great wicket to bat on, but there's always a chance that it's going to deteriorate in the back-end of the game."

Whatever changes England make, Strauss will be satisfied if they are planned, unlike the frenetic start to the Headingley Test when Matt Prior, the wicketkeeper, hurt his back in the warm-up. That injury delayed the toss, Strauss was out quickly and England fell for 102 on the way to an innings-and-80-run loss. "I just don't want a wicketkeeper falling over five minutes before the toss," he said, hoping for a more sombre lead-up.

Regardless of any off-field distractions, however, Strauss is confident that his team will be fully focussed once the action gets underway. "We've been through a lot of tough times in the last six to 12 months and generally we've come through," he said. "Guys are holding their heads up and we're as tight a unit as we were at the start of the series.

"I'm absolutely certain that we're going to go out and play well this week. I've got no doubt about it. The crowd are going to get behind us, there's going to be fantastic support there for us. The guys are going to go out there in the right frame of mind and enjoy their cricket. Pressure is only something you put on yourself. That's not something that's going to be pre-occupying us."

 

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The one game that matters - Anderson

In 2005, as England entered the final Test of the Ashes needing only a draw to regain the urn, James Anderson had been summoned to the squad as cover for Simon Jones, one of the series heroes. He didn't make the final eleven, as the safety valve of Paul Collingwood was preferred, but four years on Anderson is a player who must perform if England are to wrench the Ashes from Australia's grasp.

Anderson experienced most of the 2005 hype from the outside looking in but over the last five weeks has been at the centre of the action - from his match-saving heroics at Cardiff, to a crucial display of swing bowling at Lord's and another incisive role at Edgbaston. Then the wheels came off at Headingley. It wasn't just Anderson, the whole team had a shocker and the man himself admits England were "awful."

He knows that bouncing back from such a defeat would have been difficult had the final Test followed on straightaway, but believes the 10-day break from the tensions of the Ashes battle will give England a great chance to move on after the Leeds nightmare.

"It was a pretty awful show from us. The Australians had the momentum so hopefully this week has just taken the sting out of it and swung it back to the balance," he told Cricinfo. "It's all down to one Test, so you can pretty much forget what has gone on in the past and just focus on the five days of cricket coming up and give it everything we've got."

As much as the players would like to forget what happened over the three days at Headingley they have had to look back at the harsh footage to learn from their mistakes. A similar post-mortem took place after the debacle at Sabina Park in February, when England were skittled out for 51, a bottoming-out that led to plenty of soul-searching.

"We had to have a look at it very seriously, the areas where we went wrong and why it happened," Anderson said during a promotional event for ASICS. "We tried to go through everything and figure out what happened so it doesn't happen again. We thought we'd got over performances like that after Jamaica when we got bowled out for 50, but obviously not. We've had a great run since Jamaica and we've just got move on with clear minds to this week."

Anderson has tried to detach himself from the enormity of the game he is about to play. He spent a week back at home recovering the hamstring tweak that affected his bowling at Headingley and is now fully fit after a few sessions with the Lancashire physios. However, with the start drawing near the mind has begun to wander.

"I've not really thought about it too much," Anderson said of five days that could change his life. "I've had a full week trying to get my hamstring right so I'm fully fit so it's actually taken my mind off what will happen on Thursday.

"It's very different this time because I'd not played in the lead-up to that [2005] so this time you really feel part of it all," he added. "The team is also very different this time, there aren't the experienced players that we had in 2005 but there is a lot of excitement about what can happen. We want this team to keep going forward and improving and one of the ways we do that is winning this week.

"We've all started to think about it a bit more since joining up again the other day but we are just trying to prepare as we would for any other Test, keeping it as normal as possible even though there will be so much attention surrounding it."

As hard as they try, though, the players know this is anything but a normal Test. And, not only are the Ashes at stake, but there is also the Test swansong of Andrew Flintoff, Anderson's new-ball partner for two matches in this series. "He's just desperate to get on that field one last time in a Test," Anderson said. "He wants to go out on a high and everyone else wants that for him. We know it's massive for the team but it's huge for Fred as well."

 

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We followed the letter of the law - Ponting

Australian captain Ricky Ponting is satisfied with the manner in which his team handled an approach from a suspected illegal bookmaker after the Lord's Test. A member of the Australian squad was approached in the bar of the team's London hotel, the Royal Kensington Garden, and immediately raised the matter with the team management.

Australia's team manager, Steve Bernard, filed a report to the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, and the matter is now under investigation. Ponting said the issue was now the ICC's to resolve.

"As the players and as a team we did everything that we were supposed to do by the letter of the law," Ponting said. "We reported it to the ICC. It's now under ICC investigation. There's no more that we can say about it because of the investigation going on. I don't want to talk about it too much because of the investigation happening at the moment. We've got other things to worry about than that. We'll let the ICC look after it."

The ICC has since confirmed its investigators have received the report from the Australian team management on the approach to the player. The ICC said that there was "no evidence of any illegal activity" and praised the player concerned and the Australian team management for reporting the issue.

"There is no indication that any matches in the current Ashes series or the ICC World Twenty20 2009 have been affected by corruption in any way and the ICC is confident the issue is under control," it said in a statement. "The ICC does not intend to reveal specifics of any approaches to players because doing so would have the potential to be counter-productive to any investigations and also to relationships of trust the ACSU has developed."

Dave Richardson, the ICC's general manager, stressed the need for ongoing vigilance in defending the game from corrupting influences. "Cricket is more popular than ever before and with that popularity comes the opportunities for growth but also challenges such as the one highlighted by the approach to an Australian player," Richardson said.

The ACSU is investigating a number of approaches made to players during the World Twenty20. The Australian newspaper reported on Thursday that a member of the Australian Twenty20 squad was approached by a man with suspected links to illegal bookmaking during that tournament.

 

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Telemachus asked to quit cricket on medical grounds

Roger Telemachus, the former South African seamer, has been asked to quit cricket with immediate effect for medical reasons. He was sent for tests ahead of the upcoming domestic season and the Champions League in India, but his Cape Cobras coach Shukri Conrad confirmed that he wouldn't be considered.

"Obviously Roger has 'retired' a couple of times before, but we saw fit to bring him back for the Pro20 last summer and he did very well for us," Conrad was quoted as saying in Sporting Life.

"He was right up for selection having trained as hard as anyone in the winter months. But sadly he has a medical condition that has deteriorated over the years.

"As recently as last Thursday we sent him for an angiogram and unfortunately the diagnosis was not particularly good. Roger was advised not to play any further competitive sport."

The Cobras have qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India this October. Telemachus took six wickets in nine games in the Pro20 domestic tournament, which the Cobras won.

"He's naturally very disappointed. He played a huge part in getting us to this position of getting into the Champions League," Conrad said.

Telemachus played 37 ODIs for South Africa between 1998 and 2006, taking 56 wickets. He wasn't able to cement his position in the team, due to badly timed injuries and the stiff competition for pace-bowling slots. He played no Tests, but managed three Twenty20 internationals for his country, the most recent one in February 2007 against Pakistan.

 

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India alter tri-series schedule for an extra day's rest

India will start the Sri Lanka one-day tri-series with back-to-back matches on September 11 and 12, according to the revised tournament schedule. It was previously reported that India will play its first match against New Zealand on September 10.

Nishantha Ranatunga, secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), confirmed that the schedule was tweaked "long ago" following a BCCI request. "Both Sri Lanka and New Zealand had no objection," Ranatunga said.

India will now play New Zealand on September 11, followed by a match against Sri Lanka the next day.

The BCCI refused to discuss the schedule but it does give Indian players an extra day's gap after the Indian board's new one-day corporate tournament ends on September 8. Almost all the players in the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka series will appear for their respective private employers in the Indian board event.

 

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Ponting piles pressure onto Trott

Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting, has accused England of showing "a bit of desperation" in their selection of an uncapped batsman, Jonathan Trott, for this week's Ashes decider at The Oval, and has warned Trott that he faces an intense examination of his credentials in a match that Ponting himself has described as the "biggest" of his 135-Test career.

"I think there'll be huge pressure on him, to tell the truth," Ponting told reporters at The Oval. "It's always hard making your debut in a Test match against an Australian team, let alone it being in such a big game as this one is. Once we realised he was in their side, we've had a good chance over the last few days to have a good look at the way he plays."

Australia's preparations were aided by the untimely leaking of England's squad for the fifth Test, which was revealed in the press two days before the official announcement was made on Sunday morning, and Ponting said that his team management had wasted no time in gleaning as much information as possible on a player who has averaged more than 80 for Warwickshire in first-class cricket this season, but who has never experienced an atmosphere to match the one he faces on Thursday.

"We've spoken to quite a few of the Australian guys around the county circuit about how he plays," he said. "We've got some footage from some of the one-day and Twenty20 stuff he's played earlier this season. There's no doubt that there will be great pressure on him, and it's up to us that when he gets his chance to bat we keep him under pressure right from the start and don't let him get any cheap, early runs."

Ramping up the intensity on the eve of the contest, Ponting also questioned the judgment of the England selectors, for picking and then jettisoning Ravi Bopara at the pivotal No. 3 position after a run of 105 runs in seven innings, and for trusting Ian Bell to overcome his natural diffidence in that position instead. Having ripped through England's Nos. 3, 4 and 5 for a match total of 16 runs at Headingley, Ponting was sure there would be more quick wickets to come this week.

"When we arrived, which is only a couple of months ago, everyone was talking about how good Bopara was and how much of an impact he's going to have on the series," Ponting said. "That hasn't happened. We did feel we had the wood over Bopara, there's no doubt about that. [Ben] Hilfenhaus, especially, had the wood over him. He's got him out five times in the series.

"With Bell having to move up in the order more than likely and Trott, the opportunities are still there for us if we can knock the openers over nice and early. That's how we'll look at it. There's no doubt that the three they've got there - Bell, Trott and Collingwood - are going to be under some sort of pressure at different times in this game."

Unsurprisingly, England's captain Andrew Strauss defended Trott's selection, and believed that the form he has shown for Warwickshire this season will enable him to overcome his inevitable debut nerves - just as Strauss himself did on debut in 2004, when he scored a century against New Zealand at Lord's.

"When I made my debut I felt in the best form of my life and that carried me a huge distance into the Test match," Strauss said. "It is a step into the unknown, but when you're in great nick you back your game plan against anyone, and I think that's where Trott is at the moment. He's played brilliantly in the nets, and played brilliantly all season, and he's a confident guy. It's a big game but he's got the game to play any bowler. I'm very confident he can do well."

Changes were inevitable after England's innings-and-80-run defeat at Headingley, but Strauss refused to let the condemnation of that performance linger. "It's always easy to look back at the last game and say our middle order's weak," he said. "I personally don't subscribe to that. The last game they played badly, that's true, but it's a fresh set of circumstances and what a great opportunity it is for all those guys to stand up and show what good players they are."

Strauss confirmed that Trott would bat at No. 5 on his Test debut, but backed all of his under-fire batsmen to prove their mettle this week, not least Collingwood, who will return to No. 4, the position from which he made his Ashes double-century at the Adelaide Oval in 2006-07.

"I think Trott's got the right characteristics and right temperament to be able to deal with [the pressure] well," Strauss said. "I also like Colly's tenacity at No. 4 and I think in big games you always expect a lot of your senior players. And Belly's a class act. He played exceptionally well at Edgbaston and I think he'll play well again here this week."

The reception from the Oval crowd is one area in which Trott may encounter some unexpected pressure, given his South African origins. But Strauss, who was himself born in Johannesburg before moving to England as a child, did not expect there to be anything other than support from English fans during such a crucial fixture.

"I don't know if the crowds going to have problems with him, I certainly don't," said Strauss. "He's served his apprenticeship here, he lives here, it's been the case for other players in the past, and he shouldn't be treated any differently. The reality of the situation is, he's come in and he deserves his chance. He's averaging 80 this season, his career stats are very good and he's a gutsy individual. He knows the reasons he's been selected and he knows the reasons I'm confident he'll come in and do well."

Whatever happens this week, Strauss warned that England could not afford to let the occasion overwhelm them, as it so nearly did with the Ashes up for grabs on this very ground in 2005. "We've got to guard against emotion taking over for all of us, "he said. "It's an important game, and in important games there is an element of nerves there, an element of excitement. You play your best cricket when you're emotionless. It's a case of your head ruling your heart most of the time and perhaps we didn't do that as well as we should have done in Headingley.

"There are lessons to be learned from that Headingley Test match," he added. "Clearly none of us are struggling for motivation this week. Everyone is genuinely excited about playing this game of cricket. It could be a very, very special game of cricket. If we start the game well we have a really good chance of putting them under a lot of pressure to get back in the game."

 

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Vettori calls for big effort from batsmen

Daniel Vettori has said his team fought well to dismiss Sri Lanka for 452 but the real test was to back that with a good batting performance.

New Zealand fought back through the spin and pace combination of Vettori and Chris Martin who shared eight wickets between them to dismiss the final six Sri Lankan batsmen for 66 runs after the home team had started the day at 293 for 3.

"From where we were yesterday the big thing for us is that everyone showed some fight today to put ourselves in a position where we really couldn't have asked for too much [more]," Vettori said. "The real key for New Zealand is to back that up with a good performance with the bat."

He said New Zealand needed to bowl well in pairs if they are to restrict the home side's batsmen. "Because we were leaking runs at the other end the Sri Lankan batsmen were able to play me out and not have to take so many risks," he said. "The hardest thing was trying to get Chris and me bowling together because we both wanted the same end. The key to bowling (in the rest of the series) is (getting) the rest of the bowlers to support Chris and myself and just bowl in tandem."

The big wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, resuming from 108*, in the second over of the day boosted New Zealand's confidence. "Mahela is such a disciplined batsman he doesn't take any risks. He knows these sorts of grounds and bats so well," Vettori said. "He showed the discipline and maturity you need to score in this part of the world. For us to get him so early gave the team a little bit of lift particularly with the new ball around the corner."

New Zealand ended the second day at 87 for 2 and Vettori said the most pleasing thing was how well his batsmen played the Sri Lankan bowlers. "It is always going to be difficult for a lot of their guys coming up against bowlers they have never seen before. Sometimes when New Zealand teams are facing quality spin bowling they can be a bit jittery but there was good confidence (on display) here. I thought [Tim] McIntosh, [Daniel] Flynn and [Martin] Guptill, for the short time he was there, looked like they were in control. It's a good sign for us."

However, with New Zealand still trailing by 365 runs, Vettori said the home side still held the edge. "Sri Lanka is obviously in front with the quality of their bowling line-up. [Thilan] Thushara bowled exceptionally well today. We know we got a lot of work to do in the morning. [Jeetan] Patel's a good player of spin if he can stick around for a while with McIntosh they can set up something for us."

Vettori said that Jacob Oram could not take the field the whole day because he was ill but would be fit to bat if needed on Thursday.

 

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Previous failures motivated me - Samaraweera

Thilan Samaraweera has said his unsatisfactory scores in the previous series against Pakistan motivated him to get a big hundred at the start of the series against New Zealand. Samaraweera scored 159 on the second day, his tenth Test hundred and first in Galle.

"I got two 30s at Galle (against Sri Lanka) and I couldn't get runs at the P Sara Stadium," Samaraweera said. "These failures made me determined to score runs in the present series.

"Since the Lahore shootout, I couldn't get my batting going in the Pakistan series. I think I found my form in the last Test at the SSC where I scored 73. Today was a happy moment for me to get to a hundred."

Samaraweera, who has been in outstanding form over the past 18 months, said that his main job since his return to the Test team (after being dropped in 2006) was to ease the pressure off the two experienced batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

"Both are under big pressure batting in the middle order. The last 18 months [Tillakaratne] Dilshan and I have done that really well."

Jayawardene, the other centurion, (114) said Dilshan's explosive start allowed himself and Samaraweera to bat with a lot more freedom.

"I thought Dilshan was batting on a different wicket than I was, the way he was hitting the ball. It took the pressure away from us completely," Jayawardene said. "New Zealand were focused on Dilshan at that particular time. It gave me time to settle in and just go and do what I wanted to do. He batted beautifully and put a lot of pressure on the New Zealand bowlers and got us through that shaky period when we lost two quick wickets. After that the wicket settled down very well and made my job and Thilan's easy."

Jayawardene however expressed disappointment for getting out to a rash shot early in the day. He tried cutting a short ball from Iain O'Brien but only managed a tame edge to first slip.

"We had a plan to bat at least till lunch. We thought with the new ball coming up we could push for a bit more runs but unfortunately it was a bad shot. I lost concentration and it was disappointing. The ideal situation for us would have been for me and Thilan to bat for another session-and-a-half and maybe push for a few more runs. We knew we lost a little bit of time because of the rain so getting 500-550 would have been ideal. But from where we are, we should be satisfied.

"Getting two top order batsmen is always a good thing and both the spinners started bowling well. Thilan [Thushara] bowled a great spell. If we can be disciplined again tomorrow and create opportunities we can put pressure on the New Zealand batsmen. There is a bit of spin now and (Muttiah) Muralitharan will start turning it if there is bite for him. Ajantha [Mendis] bowled really well. He is very hungry to get back into the side and perform."

 

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Murali and Thushara hand Sri Lanka the advantage

After heavy morning rain had caused a 90-minute delay, Sri Lanka's bowlers chipped away relentlessly, whittling out six wickets before bad light took the players off with New Zealand having just avoided the follow-on target. Thilan Thushara and Muttiah Muralitharan were Sri Lanka's bowling heroes, while Tim McIntosh, who faced 226 balls for his 69, led the resistance for the visitors. Along the way, Murali passed Shane Warne for the most maidens bowled in Test cricket (1761), and New Zealand were left to rely on their allrounders to take them past the follow-on target.

When Jacob Oram was wrongly given out caught off the pad soon after tea, New Zealand were still in danger of being asked to bat again. But Jesse Ryder, who had got going with a couple of emphatic pulls off Thushara, and Daniel Vettori staved off the spin threat and when the new ball was finally taken after 97 overs, a cover-drive from Ryder ensured that there would be no prospect of an innings defeat.

He went soon after, bowled playing an airy drive at Nuwan Kulasekara, and there was a stroke of fortune for New Zealand just before stumps when Daniel Vettori was palpably plumb to a Murali doosra. Everyone but the umpire was convinced, and Vettori could have been excused a shy grin as he walked off for the day.

McIntosh and Ross Taylor had batted through most of the afternoon, long periods of stolid defense interspersed with moments of real anxiety. McIntosh survived a couple of vociferous leg-before shouts from Murali, while Taylor was twice reprieved, on 15 and 27. Mahela Jayawardene couldn't get his hands to a low chance at slip off Ajantha Mendis, and he was again the injured party as Nuwan Kulasekara spilled a slog-sweep.

It was a stroke that Taylor had employed earlier, with one soaring over the rope at square leg, but by and large, attacking strokes were few and far between. McIntosh struck one superb straight six off Mendis, but neither batsman was remotely assured against Murali's wiles, especially with the ball angling in from round the wicket.

The two spinners bowled in tandem for most of the session, but it was only when Mendis was taken off after a 14-over spell that Sri Lanka broke through. Taylor hung his bat out at one from Thushara, and Prasanna Jayawardene did the rest. Soon after, McIntosh's luck ran out. This time, the leg-before shout was marginal, on or just outside the line of off stump, but after a long think, Daryl Harper raised the finger. When McCullum then chopped Thushara onto his stumps, New Zealand were in desperate trouble.

They had managed fine in the abbreviated first session as McIntosh, troubled periodically by the short ball, gritted his way to a half-century. Patel provided stout resistance as the bowlers toiled hard without reward. Murali bowled the first over and was then taken off, and it was Thushara who asked all the initial questions. Patel was sound and confident in defense, nudging the odd single, while McIntosh left the ball alone more often than not. Against the short ball though, he was in all sorts of strife, getting hit first on the shoulder and then flush on the helmet.

Patel's innings was part grit and part good fortune. There was one lovely drive through the covers off Thushara, but it was followed by an awkward shot that flew past the slips as he sought to duck under a bouncer. McIntosh survived a huge shout from Mendis, with the umpire perhaps thinking there was an inside edge, and it looked like it was going to be New Zealand's morning as a rare full toss was pummelled away to take McIntosh to his half-century. But then Murali struck, trapping Patel in front after a 57-ball 26, and it was left to Taylor and McIntosh to rebuild. But so slow and painstaking was the progress, with Murali putting together 29 uninterrupted overs for just 54 runs, that it was only a matter of time before Sri Lankan pressure told.

 

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Afridi turns down Tasmania offer

Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi has turned down an offer to represent Tasmania this season because he wants to focus on his team's forthcoming tour of Australia.

"Russel Arnold [the former Sri Lankan player] spoke to me about the possibility of playing for Tasmania but I declined as Pakistan are already due to tour Australia in December," Afridi told PTI.

"I am keen on the tour of Australia and want to perform there for the team because when you perform in Australia, your ranking as a player always goes up."

Pakistan are due to tour Australia for three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 between December 26 and February 5. There's also an unconfirmed tour of New Zealand between the Champions Trophy in September and the Australia tour.

Afridi said he had received feedback on playing in Australia from his team-mates, Younis Khan and Umar Gul, who took part in domestic tournaments last season. Younis represented South Australia and Gul Western Australia.

"I have learnt a lot from them about the Australian conditions and their domestic set-up. So I was not pushed to sign up for any state side," Afridi said.

He also praised Younis' captaincy and his ability to make every player feel part of the team. "Younis is like an older brother to me and a lot of the younger players," Afridi said during a charity event in Manchester. "It doesn't make any difference to him whether a player is Punjabi, from Karachi, Pathan or whatever else, he treats everyone the same and really looks after all of us.

"Younis has a lot of respect for all the guys in the team, whether you are a senior player or new to international cricket. This makes everyone feel welcome and part of the setup and not an outsider and has really made us gel as a team."

 

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Plan was to bat time, says McIntosh

New Zealand opener Tim McIntosh is disappointed after missing a second Test hundred on another rain-hit day in Galle. He prevented the New Zealand batting order from falling apart with a solid 69 off 226 balls in 292 minutes but was trapped lbw by Muttiah Muralitharan.

"It was very disappointing to do that much work and face that many balls and then for one ball you get out," McIntosh said after the day's play. "You want to go on and get your three figures but I am pretty happy getting some runs. I like to convert fifties to hundreds, I am a bit disappointed, but I'll take that I guess."

McIntosh was trying to wear down the Sri Lankan bowlers by batting time which was New Zealand's plan to tackle the varied bowling attack. "I was trying to bat time, wear them down and make them come back after a spell if they can. First time batting out here, its different. [There's a] lack of bounce and a turning wicket. I guess I had to spend as much time as possible because I got guys around me who played quite freely.

"In terms of ticking runs over at a certain rate, it became quite a challenge when you got both spinners bowling so accurately. With a semi-defensive field set it's not easy to keep attacking like you would like. I guess I spent as much time as possible trying to get partnerships going."

Despite McIntosh's knock, New Zealand still lost wickets and were 281 for 8, trailing by 171 runs at the end of the day. "No one wants to lose wickets in clumps, that's what any team tries to avoid, but we didn't do that well today," said McIntosh.

He had spoken to two former New Zealand batsmen, John Wright and Matt Horne, before the tour of Sri Lanka and said that their advice had "helped". "Both of them gave me some good feedback on what to expect and what the conditions are going to be like.

"The time we spent with Saqlain [Mushtaq] was really good for us. We hadn't faced these sorts of deliveries before and he taught us how to look for it and how to go about playing it."

 

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New Zealand won't collapse like Pakistan - Murali

Muttiah Muralitharan has said New Zealand are unlikely to collapse the way Pakistan did last month in Galle because they were fighting hard and also because the pitch, covered for long hours because of rain, was yet to dry and break up.

"What happened against Pakistan, we can't expect New Zealand also to collapse," Murali said. "Pakistan collapsed in three innings. Any international side won't collapse suddenly. Pakistan lost easily to us because they collapsed whereas New Zealand is putting up a fight.

Sri Lanka scored 452 and took eight New Zealand wickets for 281 over three truncated days of play in the first Test.

"The wicket is holding because of the rain, underneath there is still water, so it has become slow. We bowled well as a group and restricted them to 281 for 8. If we can get the remaining two wickets early and bat and give them a 300-350 run target to chase on last day it will be a good match."

Murali picked up three wickets from the 31 overs he bowled today. He also went past Shane Warne's record for most number of maidens in Test - with his seven today he now has 1762, one more than Warne. Murali said he was not aware of the record. "At the end of the day it's all numbers. I've enjoyed my cricket for the last 18 years, I want to enjoy one more year and go off on a high note. In the end you can be satisfied, once you get old you can say 'I have these records' that's the only satisfaction you get. At the end of the day the team wins are the one's that are most important."

He also said he had given up aiming for 1000 Test wickets since it would take him at least five years to achieve the feat. Last month he announced he would retire after the home series against West Indies next November. "I think youngsters have to come through. [Ajantha] Mendis is the youngest spinner and [Rangana] Herath is 30 years old. He can go on for another five to six years. If I go for another two to three years then Herath won't get much chance to play.

"Thousand wickets is the only thing I can achieve but it will take a lot of years because we play about seven to eight Tests a year. To take another 200 wickets it will take me another 30-35 Tests in about five years. It is not realistic for me to play for such a long time. I want to go off on a high note and retire properly."

Murali said he had increased his run up to few more paces to bowl quicker. "I am getting older now so you have to be a little bit quicker. A longer run up will help me to get better rhythm. I have been bowling with this run up for the past six or seven months."