S P O R T

India in must-win situation
DHAKA, June 2 — In the most crucial match of the meet, former champions India will take on their traditional rivals Pakistan in a must-win situation in their last league match of the seventh Asia Cup Cricket Tournament at Bangabandhu Stadium here tomorrow.

Pakistan crush Bangladesh by 233 runs
DHAKA, June 2 — Mighty Pakistan slaughtered “babes” Bangladesh, crushing them to an ignominious 233-run defeat to start their champion in the seventh Asia Cup cricket on an emphatic note at Bangabandhu Stadium here tonight.

Indian team backs out of Dubai tour
DUBAI, June 2 — The Indian cricket team is backing out of a tour to Dubai in September to play a series of one-day matches against arch-rivals Pakistan.

Cronje blames it on Satan
CAPE TOWN, June 2 — Hansie Cronje, who was sacked as South Africa’s cricket captain after admitting taking money from a bookmaker for providing information, has blamed his errant behaviour on Satan.

Kucera dashes ailing Agassi’s hopes
PARIS, June 2 — Karol Kucera and a blistered right foot today ended Andre Agassi’s hopes of making history at the French Open.

Agassi receives $ 10,000 fine
PARIS, June 2 — Andre Agassi has been fined $ 10,000 for not showing up at the compulsory post-match news conference after he crashed out of the French Open against Karol Kucera of Slovakia, the International Tennis Federation said today.

Bhupathi wins; Paes ousted
PARIS, Jun 2 — Playing with different partners, the 1999 French Open men’s doubles champions Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, started the 2000 championship in contrasting styles with Bhupathi winning his opening round even as Paes crashed to defeat at the Roland Garros here today.

Hewitt “can emerge” French Open champ
PARIS, June 2 — Australian Jason Stoltenberg reached the third round of the French Open but tipped his teenage compatriot Lleyton Hewitt as a man who could win the tournament.

Champions Trophy
Aussie eves fail to enter final
AMSTELVEEN (The Netherlands), June 2 — After a seven-year run, the Australian women’s title-winning streak has ended.

Brian Lara can get better: Adams
WORCESTER (England), June 2 — West Indies captain Jimmy Adams is backing Brian Lara to rediscover his best form in the forthcoming five-match Test series against England.

BCCI’s contempt plea against PIL movers
NEW DELHI, June 2 — Indian cricket board (BCCI) today moved a contempt petition in the Delhi High Court against two cricket fans, who in a public interest litigation (PIL) had accused board officials of mismanaging its affairs.

Penury, apathy glare veteran athlete in the face
PATIALA, June 2 — Veteran athlete Joginder Singh, now 108 years old, is a man forgotten by a nation.

Punjab cops enter basketball final
KANGRA, June 2 — Punjab Police, Haryana Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) entered finals in basketball, kabaddi and handball respectively, in the 49th All India Police Sports Championship at Dharamshala today.

India in must-win situation

DHAKA, June 2 (UNI) — In the most crucial match of the meet, former champions India will take on their traditional rivals Pakistan in a must-win situation in their last league match of the seventh Asia Cup Cricket Tournament at Bangabandhu Stadium here tomorrow.

India have so far played two matches. While they won against hosts Bangladesh by nine wickets, they got a big drubbing at the hands of holders Sri Lanka, who defeated India by 71-run margin in their second match yesterday.

Having won both the matches they played, Sri Lanka are almost through to the final.

As things stand now, India would have to improve its performance by leaps and bounds, both in bowling and batting. Poor bowling, coupled with middle order batting collapse, were the main reasons for their defeat against the islanders last night.

India skipper Saurav Ganguly said: “There is no alternative for us but to put up a better show tomorrow and win the match.” Saurav admitted that Pakistan has better bowling strength which is much more balanced than the Indian one and with the inclusion of experienced opener Saeed Anwar, Pakistan’s batting strength would also be consolidated.

“I hope we would be able to rise to the occasion tomorrow. The Indian captain said and added that all of us have to rise in unison.’’

India and Pakistan have so far met four times in the Asia Cup. India won twice, Pakistan beat India once, while one match was abandoned.

Poor Indian bowling came to the fore in the last two matches where even an unfancied team like Bangladesh also scored 249 runs losing only six wickets. None of the Indian bowlers, except Thiru Kumaran and Sachin Tendulkar, could make any impression so far. In batting also, except Saurav and Sachin, none could prove his mettle.

Ganguly last night criticised Indian batting and said it was because of the middle order collapse that India lost the match against Sri Lanka. Without naming anybody, he said most of the players were very experienced in one-day internationals, with some having played 150 to 200 matches. “They should know how to bat on a flat wicket like here,’’ he said.

The Indian team management today hinted that there could be some changes on the side that played against Sri Lanka. All-rounder Hemang Badani, who in his debut against Bangladesh scored 35, is likely to be included in the playing eleven. Besides Rahul Dravid, who is doing a good job in wicket-keeping, will keep wickets tomorrow. However, the final eleven would be decided tomorrow.

Fresh from their tour to West Indies, the Pakistan team looked all set to throw a real challenge to their opponents and win the cup for the first time here. Skipper Moin Khan said: “Boys are in good form and they are desperately looking forward to win the Asia Cup.’’ When asked to comment on tomorrow’s match, Moin Khan admitted that India were a very tough opponent but added “India beat us here last time in the final of Independence Cup after chasing a massive total of 314. This time my boys are desperate to get the result in their favour.’’

Pakistan will largely depend on in-form vice-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, besides Imran Nazir, Saeed Anwar, Yousuf Youhana and Azhar Mahmood for batting, while veteran speedster Wasim Akram, who produced an excellent result in their Test series at West Indies, will lead the bowling brigade. He would be assisted by Shabir Ahmed, Abdur Razzak, Shahid Afridi and Arshad Khan.

About the team composition, Moin Khan said: “It is a good, balanced side and everybody in the team is looking forward to win the title.” Coach Javed Miandad is very optimistic about Pakistan’s success in the Asia Cup. “The morale of the boys is very high. Hopefully, the team would be able to retain its winning sequence after lifting the Sharjah Cup and winning the tri-nation one-day internationals at West Indies.”

Miandad specially praised Pakistan vice-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq saying: “He is a world class player and I’m sure he would be able to live up to the expectation tomorrow.”

The final eleven of both the teams would be picked up tomorrow.

Teams: India (from): Saurav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh, Hemang Badani, Anil Kumble, Sunil Joshi, Nikhil Chopra, Ajit Agarkar, Thiru Kumaran and Amit Bhandari.

Pakistan (from): Moin Khan (captain), Imran Nazir, Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Wasim, Inzamum-ul-Haq, Abdur Razzak, Azhar Mahood, Wasim Akram, Mohammad Akram, Shabir Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Arshad Khan and Shesib Malik.

Umpires: Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka) and B.C. Cooray (Sri Lanka)

Third umpire: Syed Mahbub Ullah (Bangladesh).

Pakistan crush Bangladesh by 233 runs

DHAKA, June 2 (UNI) — Mighty Pakistan slaughtered “babes” Bangladesh, crushing them to an ignominious 233-run defeat to start their champion in the seventh Asia Cup cricket on an emphatic note at Bangabandhu Stadium here tonight.

After scoring 320 for 3 wickets in their innings, a record in Asia Cup, they bundled out Bangladesh for 87 in 43.2 overs, another record in Asia Cup, to take sweet revenge of their upset defeat against the hosts in the last World Cup in England.

After scoring 249 against India in their last outing, the Bangla batsmen today submitted meekly against not so hostile Pakistani bowling and collapsed like a pack of cards.

Only opener Habibul Basahar tried to put up some resistance, making 23, the highest among Bangla batsmen. But once he was out, being caught by Inzamum-ul Haq at slip off Abdur Razzak in he 14th over, Bangla innings fell like ninepins. To add to the woes of Bangladesh, their opener Shahriar Hossain could not bat as he was injured while fielding earlier in the day.

Besides Habibul, Mushfirqur Rahman displayed some fine rear guard action partnering Shafiuddin Ahmed to delay the inevitable.

Mushfirqur scored 12, the only other double figure by any Bangladesh batsman.

With only these two Bangladesh batsmen reaching double figures, Razzaq made life miserable for others with his yorkers.

Razzaq’s outswinger caught top scorer Habibul Basher (23) unawares as he snicked the ball and a diving Inzamam snapped him up in the slips as host’s second best partnership came to an end. Habibul added 22 runs for the second wicket with Naimur Rahman (7) after he was associated in 25-run first wicket stand with Omar.

From 47 for two, Bangladesh crumbled to 56 for seven as Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood (2/22) ripped through the middle order with consummate ease.

Bangladesh skipper Aminul Islam (0), Akram Khan (2), Khaled Mashud (1) and Khaled Mahmud (4) all left in a procession and even the 100-run mark looked distant.

Arshad Khan (1/6), who got a look in with Saqlain Mushtaq deciding to take rest, and Mohammad Akram (1/23) wiped out the tail.

Mushfiqur Rahman waged a battle of his own making 12 runs in an 18-run eighth-wicket partnership before Bangladesh folded their innings on 87 in 34.2 overs. Regular opener Sharihar Hossain was absent following calf-muscle injury sustained during fielding earlier in the day.

The 233-run Pakistan win was the biggest ever one-day international win by any country and Bangladesh, who surprised Pakistan last year, produced a dismal picture today.

Showing no signs of jet-lag, travel-weary Pakistan shredded a modest Bangladesh attack to pieces and amassed 320 runs losing three wickets.

Opener Imran Nazir and in-form Yousuf Youhana caned the new ball bowlers while hitting up identical scores of 80 runs each while burly Inzamam-ul-Haq remained unbeaten on 75 as Pakistan asserted their supremacy.

Aiming to avenge their shock World Cup loss against Bangladesh at Northampton last year, Pakistan batsmen went into top gear right away as back-again Saeed Anwar (31) and young Nazir hammered the two-pronged pace attack of Mushfiqur Rahman and Shafiuddin Ahmed.

After Pakistan skipper Moin Khan won the toss and elected to bat on a hot and humid afternoon — mercury rising to 40 degrees — there was no respite for the beleaguered Bangladesh bowlers and fielders.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan:

Anwar b Naimur 31

Nazir run out 80

Youhana st Masud b Enamul 80

Haq not out 75

Afridi not out 45

Extras: (W-7, NB-2) 9

Total: (for 3 wkts, 50 overs) 320

Fall of wickets: 1/83, 2/158, 3/236.

Bowling: Rahman 8-0-61-0, Ahmed 9-0-65-0, Mahmud 10-0-81-0, N. Rahman 10-0-41-1, E. Haq 10-0-50-1, A. Islam 3-0-22-0.

BANGLADESH:

J. Omar c Mahmood b W. Akram 6

H. Basher c Haq b Razzak 23

N. Rahman lbw b Razzaq 7

A Islam run out 0

A. Khan lbw b Razzaq 2

K. Mashud lbw b Mahmood 1

K. Mahmud c Anwar

b Mahmood 4

M. Rahman lbw b M. Akram 12

E. Haque c Afridi b A. Khan 7

S. Ahmed not out 3

S. Hossain did not bat

Extras: (LB-8, W-8, NB-6) 22

Total: (for 9 wkts, 34.2 overs) 87

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-47, 3-48, 4-50, 5-51, 6-55, 7-56, 8-74, 9-87.

Bowling: W. Akram 5-0-12-1, M. Akram 7.2-1-23-1, Mahmood 6-0-22-2, Razzak 4-1-5-3, A. Khan 8-3-6-1, Afridi 4-2-11-0. 

Indian team backs out of Dubai tour

DUBAI, June 2 (UNI) — The Indian cricket team is backing out of a tour to Dubai in September to play a series of one-day matches against arch-rivals Pakistan.

Gulf News quoted sources in the Dubai Cricket Council (DCC), which is to organise the tournament, as saying that Pakistan had already confirmed their participation but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was saying that the Indian team was not available for the tour.

BCCI Secretary J.Y. Lele told the newspaper: “We have received a request from the DCC but we are not in a position to accept their offer. We have written to the DCC regarding this matter, stating our refusal”.

The DCC authorities had recently flown to India and met BCCI president A.C. Muttiah and Mr Lele to invite the Indian team for participation in the tournament.

The DCC officials had also approached the Sri Lankan cricket board, hoping that if both India and Sri Lanka accepted their invitation they could host a triangular tournament.

Cronje blames it on Satan

CAPE TOWN, June 2 (Reuters) — Hansie Cronje, who was sacked as South Africa’s cricket captain after admitting taking money from a bookmaker for providing information, has blamed his errant behaviour on Satan.

The bizarre confession is in possession of the commission of inquiry looking into the Cronje affair.

The confession, which was made to evangelist Ray McCauley, is couched in Biblical terms with references to Satan and Jesus.

Cronje admits to having “taken his eyes off Jesus” when Satan approached him.

“In a moment of stupidity and weakness I allowed Satan and the world to dictate terms to me. The moment I took my eyes off Jesus by whole world turned dark,” the confession says.

The commission, which will be headed by retired Judge Edwin King, has confirmed the authenticity of the confession.

But commission secretary John Bacon asked the media to limit references to the document as the hearings have yet to start.

The confession provides the first insight into Cronje’s justification for his behaviour, tracing his dedication to Christianity.

Cronje became involved with “reborn” Christians after a girl darted in front of his car as he was travelling to Empangeni in Zululand for a provincial game in the early 1990s. The girl died.

Kucera dashes ailing Agassi’s hopes

PARIS, June 2 (AFP) — Karol Kucera and a blistered right foot today ended Andre Agassi’s hopes of making history at the French Open.

Slovak ace Kucera wrecked Agassi’s bid for a second successive Roland Garros title when he beat the ailing American 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-0 in their second-round match on Centre Court.

Top-seeded Agassi, who had won 28 of his previous 29 Grand Slam matches, was out-worked by Kucera over the final three sets.

The loss ended his hopes of a Grand Slam after his victory in Australia in January and his bid to become only the eighth man in history to complete the Australian / French double.

Watched by girlfriend Steffi Graf, last year’s women’s champion, Agassi underwent treatment at courtside when trailing 1-4 in the third set — but he was not able to come back.

Kucera, 27, had lost in the first round here each of the last three years, but the tall former Australian Open semi-finalist — just 65th in the rankings — eagerly grabbed his chance to win in exactly two hours.

Agassi sprayed the ball wildly as he made error after error in the final two sets.

Agassi achieved a career Grand Slam in beating Andrei Medvedev in last year’s final — but he joined fellow American Pete Sampras in making an early exit this time around.

Sampras’ 11th bid for Roland Garros glory suffered its usual fate late Monday when the former world number one was beaten 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7/4) 4-6 8-6 by Australian giant Mark Philippoussis in the first round.

Philippoussis served superbly and played with rare patience from the baseline to destroy Sampras’ bid for a record 13th Grand Slam title.

With Davis Cup player Todd Martin and women’s second seed Lindsay Davenport also making early exits, the tournament is turning into a disaster for the US players.

“This hasn’t been a strong tournament for Americans for many years,” Agassi had said yesterday. His words proved prophetic.

The loss cast a question mark over Agassi’s preparation for the event. He played only two warm-up matches on clay — preferring instead to practice in the USA.

Agassi had been bidding to become the first man since Spaniard Sergi Bruguera in 1994 to defend the French Open men’s title.

In 1998, defending champion Gustavo Kuerten also lost in the second round.

Reuters adds: France’s assault on the French Open faltered when seventh seed Nathalie Tauziat and 10th seed Sandrine Testud were sent packing in the third round.

America’s Chanda Rubin ousted Tauziat 6-4, 7-6 on court Suzanne Lenglen while Swede Asa Carlsson came from a set down to beat Testud 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on centre court.

Home hopes were boosted yesterday when seven French women headed into the third round, the highest number since 1957.

But Tauziat could not give the patriotic crowd what they craved and made far too many mistakes against the American world No 25. Her normally dangerous serve was ineffective and Rubin’s attacking play kept the Frenchwoman away from the net.

Testud fought back from 0-3 down in the third set to lead 5-4 in the decider.

But she was immediately broken back and two games later was beaten.

Carlsson was more courageous on the big points, hitting for the lines, while the pressure of home crowd expectation seemed to hamper Testud.

In the men’s draw Spanish 10th seed Alex Corretja beat former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek to reach the fourth round.

The 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 defeat was the first time in six matches that Krajicek has lost to a Spaniard at Roland Garros.

Fifth-seeded Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, champion in 1997, was playing 1989 champion Michael Chang later in the pick of Friday’s matches while 1996 champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov was clashing with France’s Sebastien Grosjean.

But French sixth seed Mary Pierce and 13th seed Amelie Mauresmo kept right on track with easy victories over Virginie Razzano and Kveta Hrdlickova.

Australia’s Mark Philippoussis, conqueror of second seed Pete Sampras in the first round, booked his fourth-round place with a 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 demolition of Morocco’s Hicham Arazi.

After a shaky start, 1998 runner-up Corretja steadied his solid baseline game and outhit the Dutchman from the back. He won despite 19 aces which thundered past him.

“I just think I played very well,” Corretja said afterwards. “I mean, you have to play well against Richard because you are always under pressure because he serves so well.

“I recovered well after the first set and improved my returning...that was the key.”

Pierce had no trouble with 17-year-old compatriot Razzano, though. Despite putting up a brave fight in the first set to lose it 6-4, in the second set the youngster looked all of the 345 world places she is ranked below Pierce, and was thrashed 6-0.

Mauresmo looked a class apart from Czech Hrdlickova and raced through 6-1, 6-0 in a one-sided 39-minute affair.

Top-seeded Swiss Martina Hingis also cruised through 6-1, 6-0 against Italy’s Tathiana Garbin.

Agassi receives $ 10,000 fine

PARIS, June 2 (DPA) — Andre Agassi has been fined $ 10,000 for not showing up at the compulsory post-match news conference after he crashed out of the French Open against Karol Kucera of Slovakia, the International Tennis Federation said today.

The defending champion and top seed Agassi left the Roland Garros compound immediately after the crushing 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 second round defeat yesterday.

The ITF officials said they tried to convince him to meet the press but that their efforts failed.

Agassi had acted in a similar way when he was knocked out of the tournament in the first round by Russia’s Marat Safin two years ago.

A medical report said Agassi was handicapped by a blister on his right big toe in yesterday’s match which was made worse by a callous pressuring it.

Bhupathi wins; Paes ousted

PARIS, Jun 2 (PTI) — Playing with different partners, the 1999 French Open men’s doubles champions Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, started the 2000 championship in contrasting styles with Bhupathi winning his opening round even as Paes crashed to defeat at the Roland Garros here today.

Following the heart-breaking split, the big-serving Bhupathi has adjusted himself to the new situation while Paes seemed troubled with lack of commitment going into the second Grand Slam of the year.

The ninth seeded pair of Bhupathi and David Prinosil of Germany defeated Australian duo of Wayne Arthurs and Michael Tebbutt in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 to enter the second round.

Bhupathi is in winning form with back-to-back wins on the ATP tour — his latest coming last week when he won St Polten tournament partnering Andre Kratzmann of Australia.

There was no such joy for Paes, partnering Dutchman Jan Siemerink on the tour this year, crashed out in miserable fashion 6-7 (5/7), 3-6 to French wildcards Guy Forget and Guillaume Raoux.

The unseeded pair of Paes-Siemerink, who struggled in the past few weeks before the Indian took a two-week-long break from tennis, barely managed to hold their serves in the first set before tie-breaker was applied.

In an evenly matched tie-breaker, veteran Forget and Raoux won two consecutive points to steer clear and win the first set. Egged on by vociferous and partisan crowd, Forget and Raoux overwhelmed the India-Netherlands combination in the second winning the set 6-3.

Hewitt “can emerge” French Open champ

PARIS, June 2 (AFP) — Australian Jason Stoltenberg reached the third round of the French Open but tipped his teenage compatriot Lleyton Hewitt as a man who could win the tournament.

Ninth-seeded Hewitt, still only 19, outlasted Germany’s Markus Hantschk 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in 3 hr 25 min in his second-round match at Roland Garros, while Stoltenberg beat Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-3, 6-1, 7-5.

“I’ve given up trying to predict Lleyton’s results because they are always so much better than I expect,” Stoltenberg said. “I think he can win, but there are a lot of people here capable of winning the tournament. You need a bit of luck.”

Hewitt, seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time after three tournament wins already this year, next plays Hungarian qualifier Attila Savolt for a place in the last 16.

Champions Trophy
Aussie eves fail to enter final

AMSTELVEEN (The Netherlands), June 2 (AP) — After a seven-year run, the Australian women’s title-winning streak has ended.

Australia, the reigning Olympic and World Cup champions, routed South Africa 6-0 at the Champions Trophy hockey tournament yesterday, but failed to earn a berth in the final after the Netherlands blanked Germany 2-0.

Germany and the Netherlands will play in a rematch tomorrow for the championship. Australia will play for the third place against Argentina, who defeated New Zealand 3-1 yesterday.

Despite their latest win, the Australians failed in a bid for another Champions Trophy title. They had not lost a championship match since 1993.

During the unprecedented sequence, Australian women —nicknamed “Charlie Angels” after coach Ric Charlesworth —sandwiched World Cup wins in 1994 and 1998 around a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta games. They also won the Champions Trophy four times.

But after successive losses to Germany and the Netherlands, Australia were left in a precarious position, needing a win by Germany to advance to the final.

The Netherlands topped the standings with 12 points, two in front of Germany and three ahead of Australia, which set a tournament-high for goals in a game.

Jenny Morris opened the scoring in the fourth minute and padded the lead in the 14th. Renita Garard, Rechelle Hawkes, Alyson Annan and Karen Smith also scored in the rout.

Argentina defeated New Zealand 3-1 in the other women’s league match with two goals from Vanina One to and one from Magdalena Aicega. Lisa Walton scored the lone New Zealand goal.

On the men’s side, Olympic and world champion Netherlands scored a rousing 3-1 victory over Australia to clinch a place in the final.

Dutch skipper Stephan Veen scored two goals in the second half to clinch the game and give the Netherlands 12 points from four matches.

The Netherlands are trying to achieve field hockey’s “Grand Slam” by winning the Olympic, World and Champions Trophy titles.

The defeat left Champions Trophy holder Australian men also in danger of failing to make the championship game. Spain and Germany remained in the hunt for a place in the final with victories in the other men’s matches yesterday.

Germany defeated last year’s Champions Trophy silver medallist South Korea 3-1, and Spain hammered Britain 5-1.

Spain has seven points from four matches, Germany six and Australia five from an equal number of games.

The right to face the Netherlands in the final will be decided after today’s matches in which Spain meet Netherlands and Germany play Australia.

The Netherlands took the lead in the 20th when Marten Eikelboom scored past goalkeeper Lachlan Dreher.

Australia equalised eight minutes later as Brent Livermore deflected in Michael Brennan’s pass.

Veen got into his goal-scoring act by converting a penalty stroke in the 45th minute, and then guided Jeroen Delmee’s cross past the outstretched hands of the ‘keeper in the 51st minute. Australian coach Terry Walsh complained about two refereeing decisions.

“The penalty stroke against us was questionable in my view,” Walsh said. “Our player took the ball cleanly, there was some tenacity in it but the tackle was clean.”

“This was a tense encounter and wasn’t easy for us,” said Dutch coach Maurits Hendriks. “I think my players are coming close to the level of play required in the final and later in the year (for the Olympics).”

Brian Lara can get better: Adams

WORCESTER (England), June 2 (Reuters) — West Indies captain Jimmy Adams is backing Brian Lara to rediscover his best form in the forthcoming five-match Test series against England.

Lara has been out of international cricket since February when he informed the West Indies Cricket Board that he needed a break from the game.

He missed the two-Test series against Zimbabwe and the just finished three-match series against Pakistan. But shortly before the selectors convened to pick their 16-man squad to tour England Lara informed them he was available again if required.

His subsequent selection has not met with widespread approval in the Caribbean.

But new captain Adams insisted on the team’s arrival in Worcester, where they start a three-day fixture today, that he and his players are “very happy and delighted” to have Lara back on board.

Asked what Lara’s return would bring to the squad, Adams said without hesitation: “Greatness.”

“His ability is beyond question. He obviously hasn’t been playing any cricket for a few months so there might be a mental hurdle for him to get over.”

“But if someone has asked for a rest and then comes back saying he’s rested I would anticipate the rest has done him good.”

“So I would like to think that with Brian’s ability and keenness he will be close enough to 100 per cent by the start of the first Test to make a big contribution to our cause.”

It was against England six years ago that Lara scored his world record Test score of 375. A few months later he made 501 not out, the highest score in first-class cricket, for Warwickshire.

Adams insists there is no reason why Lara cannot “do even better” in future. 

“As his captain and friend I am certainly hoping for even more than he has done in the past,” he said. “I would like to believe he hasn’t yet reached the peak of his career and will use this tour to prove the point.

“Many of the world’s greatest batsmen like Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and Graham Gooch all became even better players in their 30s.”

“Knowing Brian’s drive and ambition there’s no reason why he won’t do the same.”

Adams admitted he had had so much “on his plate” in the Caribbean over the past three months he would have to “plead ignorance” on the current strengths and weaknesses of the England team.

“But we arrive with tremendous respect for England, though we are here to win the series.”

In the wake of the match-fixing allegations that have rocked the game around the world, Adams said he had no fears that team members would be caught up in any illegal practices.

“We have done all we can to inform our players of what can happen,” he said. “I have total confidence in my players that if any of them were approached they would make the right decision.”

“No West Indies player has ever been implicated and we hope to keep it that way.” 

BCCI’s contempt plea against PIL movers

NEW DELHI, June 2 (PTI) — Indian cricket board (BCCI) today moved a contempt petition in the Delhi High Court against two cricket fans, who in a public interest litigation (PIL) had accused board officials of mismanaging its affairs.

BCCI in its petition against Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma, on whose PIL the court had issued notice to the board and the union government on April 20, said the duo on their recently-launched website, had started “media trial” against the board.

A lot of material has been fed on the website by Mehra and Sharma to launch a media trial against the BCCI even when their petition is pending before the court. This amounts to clear interference in the administration of justice and contempt of court,” BCCI counsel Radha Rangarajan said.

Seeking to restrain Mehra and Sharma from expressing any opinion about the BCCI during the pendency of their PIL, she said such a campaign would “prejudice” the whole case.

On a query by the division bench comprising Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice R.S. Sodhi that how expressing an opinion on an issue in a democratic society amounted to contempt of court, Rangarajan said “interference into the judicial process will attract provisions of Section 2, 10, 12 and 15 of the Contempt of Court Act which prohibit parallel trial.”

While adjourning the matter to July 12 when the PIL would be taken up for further hearing, the court said “judiciary decides the cases purely on the basis of material before it which is a public document.”

Penury, apathy glare veteran athlete in the face
From Ravi Dhaliwal

PATIALA, June 2 — Veteran athlete Joginder Singh, now 108 years old, is a man forgotten by a nation.

For 20 years, Joginder Singh was a celebrity from Melbourne to Moscow and from Singapore to Sydney. But he has a big worry. “Who will cremate me after my death?”

Punjab cops enter basketball final
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, June 2 — Punjab Police, Haryana Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) entered finals in basketball, kabaddi and handball respectively, in the 49th All India Police Sports Championship at Dharamshala today.

In the semifinals in basketball, Punjab police defeated Haryana Police by 69-30. In kabaddi Haryana police easily overcome CRPF by 45.22 while in Handball CRPF Jammu and Kashmir Police by 3521.

Earlier yesterday Central Reserve Police Force and Madhya Pradesh Police entered the semifinals in volleyball, Punjab Police and BSF in basket ball, Haryana Police and BSF in kabaddi and CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police in handball.

In the quarterfinal matches in volleyball, CRPF defeated Central Industrial Security Force by 25-19, 25-19, 25-15, 25-16. In another quarterfinal Madhya Pradesh Police defeated Andhra Pradesh Police by 25-16, 25-18, 25-12. In basketball quarterfinals, Punjab Police defeated Central Industrial Security Force by 71-45.