Ganguly down with fever

In-form batsman Sourav Ganguly is down with fever causing concern to the team management, which is hopeful that the left-hander will recover fully before Wednesday’s second cricket Test against Australia in Sydney.
“He should be fit in time for the second Test. His condition has improved,” M V Sridhar, the assistant manager of the touring party, said.

Quick pitch on cards in Sydney

The Sydney Cricket Ground pitch wore a greenish tinge two days before the start of Wednesday's second India-Australia Test, somewhat in tune with its changing character over the last few years, reports DHNS from Sydney.

Curator Tom Parker promised reasonable seam movement over the first couple of days, and adequate pace and carry throughout the duration of the Test. “It will bounce till here (pointing to his chest) and Brett Lee will take nine wickets!” he joked, before making a more serious pronouncement on how he expects it to play.

The pitch was relaid at the end of the football season in October, and this will be the first match on this track.

Indians shine at Scottish Open

Indian players annexed four titles at the Scottish Junior Open Squash Championship in Edinburgh on Monday, reports UNI from Chennai.

Harinderpal Singh won the boys’ under-19 title with a 9-4, 4-9, 9-1, 10-8 win over Kelly Shannon of Canada while Anwesha Reddy bagged the under-17 girls’ title with a 9-3, 9-5, 10-8 win over top seed Kimberley Hay of England.

Mahesh Mangaonkar and Sandeep Ramachandran swelled the Indian kitty bagging the under-15 and under-11 titles respectively.

Results (all finals): Boys under-19: Harinder Pal Singh (Ind) bt Kelly Shannon (Can) 9-4, 4-9, 9-1, 10-8;  Under-15: Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) bt Dylan Murray (US) 9-7, 9-6, 9-7; Under-11: Sandeep Ramachandran (Ind) bt Ryan Murray (US) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2; Girls under-17: Anwesha Reddy (Ind) bt Kimberley Hay (Eng) 9-3, 9-5, 10-8.

Karnataka men clinch bronze

Karnataka defeated Punjab 34-28 to clinch the bronze in the 12th inter-zonal handball championship being held at Barddhman, West Bengal reports DHNS.

Shankar Rao top scored for the State with 8 goals, while Wajid Ali netted 7. Prince John (6) and Rakesh Singh (5) were the other main scorers for the winners who lead 20-17 at the half-way mark.

South Africa recall McKenzie

South Africa have added batsman Neil McKenzie to their squad for the second Test against West Indies in Cape Town starting on Wednesday, reports Reuters from Cape Town.

West Indies won the first Test by 128 runs.

Squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Neil McKenzie, Andre Nel, Paul Harris, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini.

NZ axe Styris, How for Tests

New Zealand’s 3-0 clean sweep of the one-day cricket series against Bangladesh held no sway with the selectors when they named a new-look side on Monday for the upcoming two Tests, reports AFP from Queenstown, New Zealand. Scott Styris, Jamie How, Ross Taylor and Jeetan Patel have all been omitted in an expected shake up.
Squad: Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum (vice-captain), Craig Cumming, Matthew Bell, Peter Fulton, Stephen Fleming, Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, Iain O’Brien, Michael Mason, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel (second Test only).

SLC chairman resigns

Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) interim governing body chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa resigned on Monday from his post amid reports that the island nation’s World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga will replace him, reports UNI from Colombo.

‘’The Interim Committee chairman has resigned from his post citing personal commitments,” SLC Secretary Kangatharan Mathivanan said.