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David Harrison, the Glamorgan seamer, has been ruled out for the whole season with a bulging disc in his back leaving the county desperately short of pace bowling options. They are now considering signing an overseas player as cover with Simon Jones still not ready for a return to four-day cricket.Harrison will undergo surgery on his lower back in the next two weeks and Adrian Shaw, Glamorgan’s coach, told : “It’s a huge disappointment because Dave was going to spearhead the attack and we were looking for him to get 50 or 60 wickets.”Jones isn’t considered quite up to four-day fitness yet and is expected to play for Glamorgan’s second eleven, against Lancashire, at Swansea. His return from the knee injuries which have plagued him for the past 18 months has been carefully managed with two Friends Provident outings in the early stages of the season.If Glamorgan do opt for a second overseas player, it will signal a complete turnaround after they were facing a season without any due to financial constraints. However, contributions from supporters allowed them to recruit Jimmy Maher, the Queensland opener, who is due to arrive shortly. Matthew Elliott is currently acting as short-term cover before Maher joins.

Injured Tare to miss quarter-final

Mumbai captain Aditya Tare will miss his team’s quarter-final against Jharkhand in Mysore after failing to recover from a finger fracture sustained during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 competition. Allrounder Abhishek Nayar will stand in as captain, and Mumbai have included wicketkeeper batsman Eknath Kerkar as Tare’s replacement in their 15-man squad.

Bengal’s consistency this season can’t be overstated. They won two games in the league stage and lost none, and their only blip came in the first game against Karnataka when they dropped first-innings points. Bengal never conceded the lead thereafter, and eventually went on to finish second in Group A. A graph of their performance would reveal a smooth upward stroke gaining height with every game. Minus the backstory it would be easy to believe such an impressive performance was borne out of a harmonious set-up that nurtured the winning habit. But there was very little that was harmonious about Bengal’s build up to the season.Their pre-season tour to Sri Lanka was tarred by reports of alleged infighting, culminating in Laxmi Ratan Shukla stepping down as captain and Manoj Tiwary replacing him. Then there was the spat between Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir in Delhi and the controversy over an ‘underprepared’ Kalyani pitch after the two-day finish against Odisha. Bengal also had a revamped bowling attack that had no place for veteran offspinner Saurashish Lahiri, and had Pragyan Ojha making his first appearance for the team. The batting unit also had a fair bit of green about it. So what went right for the team?”I would say Sairaj Bahutule has played a very important role along with [Cricket Association of Bengal president] Sourav Ganguly because he also chips in with his valuable inputs [on] how to go about as far as all these things are concerned,” Tiwary told reporters after Bengal’s practice session ahead of their quarter-final against Madhya Pradesh at the Brabourne Stadium. “Other support staff like [bowling coach] Ranadeb Bose and [fielding coach] Joydeep Mukherjee have made sure our team doesn’t get distracted with all this things.”Tiwary said controversies were inevitable in Bengal, and so the players had to work around them. “Each and every season in Bengal, you know, there are a lot of unnecessary controversies which are not required,” he said. “This time around we made sure each and every one is focused in their job.”It’s a kind of a challenge you can say. Along with batting and bowling in the middle this is also a challenge for us to just to handle things better off the field. It’s important for a captain or any individual to be as calm as possible and think of the things which are related to cricket only rather than wasting energy on other things.”Tiwary said the senior players pulled their weight and that in turn rubbed on to the younger players. Ojha and Dinda have topped the bowling charts with 33 and 31 wickets respectively, but Tiwary was particularly pleased that the selection punts on youngsters like offspinner Aamir Gani, preferred to Lahiri, and seamer Mukesh Kumar had come good.”It’s important we [seniors] take extra responsibility to perform consistently and this season our performance in the Ranji Trophy we have been very consistent,” he said. “Bowlers, especially Dinda and Ojha, have contributed a lot. Mukesh is a find for Bengal for the season. Our team looks very confident and balanced.”According to Tiwary, Sudip Chatterjee – the team’s highest scorer with 712 runs – and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran had the potential to play Test matches for India. “[Sudip] is a determined youngster. He has that hunger to do well. It’s that desperation [that has contributed to his success],” Tiwary said. “Along with him, Abhimanyu Easwaran is one of them. They have the potential [to play for India]. It’s just that they have to be on the right track and work the way they are working.”Tiwary is carrying a niggle in his right calf but he felt playing through pain was a small price for the joy that a Ranji Trophy title offered. “It’s a very important match for Bengal cricket, so you will have to [play through pain] at times,” he said. “I don’t think every cricketer is always 100% fit. It’s important to get through the pain. I have been jogging a lot, touch wood nothing will happen.”[A Ranji title] is due as well. This is the best period of Bengal cricket. The chances of getting the trophy are much higher. But we have to take it as another match and not put too much pressure.”Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, have had an intriguing run to the knockouts. Having started off in reasonably solid manner, they went through a phase where they won successive games against Baroda and Railways before losing the next two. Then, in a must-win game against Andhra, they grabbed seven points and scraped through to the quarter-finals by virtue of a better net run rate than Gujarat. This was welcome respite for a side that had missed out a knockout berth by a whisker last season.”Qualifying for the knockouts was our first aim when we started off,” Madhya Pradesh captain Devendra Bundela said. “Our first two games didn’t go well but we made a good comeback. Of course there was the disappointment of last year so we put in more effort and concentrated harder this time. We have also had the same group of players over the last three-four years, so there is good bonding. We will play with three medium pacers and two spinners tomorrow.”Both captains were united in their assessment that the Brabourne pitch had decent grass cover and would offer assistance to the seamers early on before going on to become a good batting surface.

Darrell Hair has dropped his racial discrimination case against the ICC.The surprise announcement came on the seventh day of the tribunal at the London Central Employment Tribunal. An ICC spokesman confirmed to Cricinfo that there had been no agreement made with Hair and that the decision was “unconditional”.”Darrell Hair withdraws his allegation of racial discrimination against the ICC board, members and staff,” Robert Griffiths QC, Hair’s barrister, told the media. “Mr Hair has undertaken to work with ICC management in accordance with the rehabilitation programme over the next six months.”Hair is contracted to the ICC until March 2008 but Cricinfo has learned that he then has to be given 12 months notice, so in effect he remains an employee until March 2009. He will continue to umpire international matches, but not those involving Test-playing countries. The ICC board will meet in March to discuss the results of Hair’s rehabilitation and decide whether he can return to elite umpiring, and if so, on what terms.”This is really about getting back to umpiring top cricket matches,” said Mr Hair’s solicitor, Paul Gilbert. “Darrell feels relieved and glad it’s all over, and he does feel this is in the best interests of all parties. What we have now is a future for Darrell that leads to the possibility of his return to top-level umpiring.””We are pleased the issue has been resolved,” Ray Mali, the ICC’s interim president, said. “We had no option but to defend these serious allegations.””I’m very pleased that this claim has been unconditionally withdrawn,” Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, told the BBC. “I think in six months we’ll have a better idea [about his future as an umpire], it’s a matter for the board, which is a very diverse group generally with strong and differing groups, so a lot will depend on the rehabilitation programme and his attitude towards it.”For the next six months he will umpire matches at Associate level. I can’t speculate as to whether he will return to umpiring Full-Member matches or not”

Cricket Australia has told 11 Australian players including Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist it is disappointed with them for signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would allow them to play in the Indian Premier League. The IPL Twenty20 tournament is officially sanctioned by the ICC and in October it was announced that Ponting, Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden were among an extensive list of Australian players to have signed up.But according to a report in the James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, has written to the players to express his frustration at their actions. The paper obtained a copy of the letter in which Sutherland said he was disappointed Cricket Australia had not been consulted prior to the signing of the MOUs.”A number of significant issues remain unresolved, particularly regarding Australian players’ participation in the proposed events and the terms of participation,” Sutherland wrote. “Until CA is satisfied with the various terms and conditions associated with the IPL and CT20 [Champions Twenty20], CA will not consent to you or any other contracted player’s participation in the aforementioned tournaments.”You will no doubt be aware that this MOU sees you providing undertakings that will put you in conflict with your obligations to CA and/or your state association. In this context, I am disappointed that you have chosen not to discuss or advise CA of your decision.”Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Jason Gillespie and the New South Wales-contracted Simon Katich were reported to have joined the league in October along with the other players. Sutherland said while Cricket Australia was generally supportive of the BCCI’s plans to develop the ICL, several issues remained would need to be resolved before Australian-contracted cricketers could become involved.The IPL season might clash with Australia’s scheduled Test tour of Pakistan early next year, although the Pakistan trip has not yet been confirmed due to the political situation in the country. However Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, said the players knew that their national commitments should come first. “I had a discussion with the players before the Hobart Test and their commitment is to play for Australia,” Marsh told .”As the calendar stands none of them will be able to play in the IPL for the next two years. The players have signed an MOU with the BCCI with the understanding there is a longer-term contract. This is currently being worked on to come later.”Cricket Australia’s spokesman Peter Young said the players were unlikely to go against the wishes of Cricket Australia. “It would be a breach of contract to play without our permission,” Young said.”The status of the baggy green is more powerful than cash for any red-blooded Australian and cricketers will tell you that themselves. I don’t think anyone is going to turn their back on a baggy green to play a short domestic competition somewhere else in the world.”

A hurt Stuart Clark believes the Australians will usethe pain of defeat as a spur for the series-decidingTest in Adelaide on Thursday. Clark experienced hisfirst loss in whites with the national team in Perthon Saturday, which ended the winning run at 16.After the game the players spoke about the streak anda few of them got together over a beer to discuss theonly time they had worn the baggy green and notexperienced success. “This loss hurts as much as anyother loss,” Clark said. “It would have been a nicerecord, but losing is losing. It doesn’t matter how orwhere, whether it’s a one-dayer, a Twenty20 or a Test,it’s not a great feeling, and it drives a lot of us.”Clark had a fine match, picking up six wickets,including 4 for 61 in the second innings, and strikingan entertaining 32 as Australia fought to the finish.While Clark performed strongly, there were seriousconcerns over Shaun Tait’s inability to fire in thepace quartet.Tait, who was playing his third Test, delivered only21 overs for the game and did not capture a wicket.Brad Hogg is likely to return in Adelaide as Australiause a more traditional attack of three fast bowlersand a spinner.”Shaun hasn’t had much bowling,” Clark said. “He’s hada little bit in the one-dayers and Twenty20 and thereis a difference for Tests. He didn’t have the bestgame of his life, but he’s a quality player.”On the first day Tait started operating above 150kph,but his accuracy became an issue in subsequent spellsand his desire for a long bowl in the second inningswas ended by Australia’s slow over-rate. DespiteTait’s problems, Ricky Ponting was not overlyconcerned.”It’s pretty hard for someone coming in who has notplayed a Test for a while, trying to impress and dothe right thing,” he said. “He bowled 20 overs andprobably didn’t get the bowling right. The conditionscaught us off guard and the pace in the pitch wasn’tthere. Shaun’s pace through the game levelled out at145kph and above, that’s pretty good.”Clark and Brett Lee were impressive during the matchand Mitchell Johnson provided capable support, but thehome team was out-bowled by India’s swing men, whoupset Australia’s batting rhythm and exposed theirproblems when the ball moves around. Aiming for seammovement is more of an Australian trait than weavingit through the air, although they have been trying toimprove their methods since 2005.”It’s something we’ve worked on with [the bowlingcoach] Troy Cooley,” Clark said. “It’s important forsome places and one of the things to do to make usbetter cricketers.”Adelaide is a ground where reverse-swing is morelikely – Tait is particularly dangerous there in PuraCup games – and the pitch also helps the spinners,giving India a chance to level the series. “LikeMelbourne and Sydney, I suppose the conditions willsuit them,” Clark, who has complained previously aboutsurfaces not helping the home team, said. “Hopefullywe can play well and put them back on the back foot.”

Scorecard

It took all of three days for Mumbai, led by Ramesh Powar’s second five-wicket haul in as many matches, to seal their first win of the Ranji Trophy this season by beating Tamil Nadu by eight wickets at the Gurunanak College Ground in Chennai.After a steady fall of wickets in the morning, R Ashwin’s fighting half-century and a composed 47 by K Vasudevadas kept Mumbai at bay, but the home side’s inability to string together sufficient partnerships ultimately led to their undoing, leaving Mumbai just 104 to win with an entire session to score the runs.Aavishkar Salvi and Ajit Agarkar, lent support to Powar and scuttled out Tamil Nadu for 214 by just sticking to the basics of line and length. Some alert fielding within the circle also contributed to the home side’s downfall.The slide began off the second ball of the day when Agarkar got one to swerve in with the angle and take Dinesh Karthik’s middle stump. Agarkar charged in with intent, exerted himself and looked a different bowler from the first innings, firing in the occasional yorker.With the luxury of time at hand to play themselves in, nightwatchman Vijay Kumar Yomahesh and captain S Badrinath put their heads down and strung together a stand of 45. Yomahesh was solid in defence and that allowed Badrinath to play with more freedom at the other end. He made his intentions clear with a big six off Powar, over the sight screen, and also took Salvi to task with an imperious hook, followed by a flick past midwicket.However, Tamil Nadu’s hard work was undone by Powar yet again as he plugged away with the wickets of Yomahesh and R Prasanna without the addition of a run. Yomahesh edged one on to his stumps, failing to cover the turn, while Prasanna padded up in front of the stumps. It was déjà vu for Badrinath as he edged one on to his stumps, identical to his first-innings dismissal, this time off Salvi, leaving half the side back in the pavilion with another 16 required to make Mumbai bat again. R Srinivasan was beaten for swing and had his off stumped shaved by Salvi, who looked in good rhythm, coming back after a back injury.Ashwin and Vasudevadas then crafted Tamil Nadu’s most impressive passage of play in the entire match. With the low bounce continuing to test the concentration of the batsmen, both made it a point to get behind the line and rotate the strike without getting bogged down. The positive vibes lifted the spirits of the Tamil Nadu camp, as Vasudevadas drove Agarkar past point, and swept Powar to the square-leg boundary As he gained in confidence, he used his feet to the left-arm spin of Iqbal Abdulla and fetched a straight six.Ashwin, regarded as a promising allrounder, was at ease against pace and spin, getting to the pitch of the ball and getting the placement right on many occasions. The pair added 50 in 120 balls, wiped off the deficit and Ashwin brought up his own half-century with a flashy cut past point.

However, Vasudevadas’ error in judgement, shouldering arms to one that came straight through from Salvi, broke the partnership and an excellent piece of fielding by the same bowler – effecting a direct hit from the region of square leg – sent Ashwin packing. Powar wrapped up the tail and Tamil Nadu’s total of 214 was a disappointment.Mumbai, led by Prashant Naik’s scintillating unbeaten 57, raced to the target with little fuss. The spinners, Ashwin and R Ramkumar were in for a pounding as he launched Ashwin for three identical sixes over deep midwicket. He ended the match with a flourish, launching Ramkumar for three consecutive sixes, finishing on an unbeaten 57.

Andhra ran out easy victors by an innings and 20 runs on the final day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy match against Goa at Margao on Sunday. The win, worth eight points, takes them to joint second place in the zonal table at 11 points from two games. Goa are languishing at the bottom without a point.The hosts resumed at 249/5, needing to post a total of 351 if they wanted to make Andhra bat again. But a double strike in the fourth over of the day dealt a fatal blow to Goa’s hopes. Skipper Pravin Amre was run out for 11 and three balls later, seamer N Madhukar scalped the other overnight batsman Ananth Bhagwat for 41.From 277/8, Avinash Avare and Nitin Kalekar extended the proceedings with a 51 run ninth wicket partnership but Andhra finally cut short the resistance of the tail one minute before lunch. Goa finished at 331 with off spinner YS Ranganath bagging 4/59. Andhra next play Karnataka at Bangalore while Goa take on Kerala at Ernakulam, both from November 15-18.

John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, has hinted that the fast bowler Tim Southee, who starred in the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, could be in line for a Test debut against England in Napier this week, as New Zealand look to bounce back from Monday’s 126-run defeat in the second Test at Wellington.Southee took 17 wickets at 6.64 to take his New Zealand team to the semi-finals in Malaysia, a performance that earned him the Man-of-the-Tournament award. Prior to that, he had impressed with his pace, control and temperament during his Twenty20 debut against England at Auckland, where he finished with 1 for 38 from four overs.Though he is still nine months short of his 20th birthday, Southee was added to New Zealand’s third Test squad as cover for Kyle Mills, who reported soreness behind the left knee after the Wellington defeat. Bracewell, however, suggested he was not simply there to make up the numbers.”He’s a class bowler and the selectors have been watching him for some time,” said Bracewell. “They believe he’s ready for the job. If the surface is as predicted at Napier, there will be something in it in the first session, then after that it will be reasonably flat. The defining factor will probably be swing bowling, and at the moment England have the edge on us in that department.”All of England’s bowlers, apart from [Steve] Harmison, swing it, and swing it reasonably late,” he added. “We really have only got Kyle Mills who swings it on a consistent basis. Therefore, having that extra option of genuine swing might put the balance back on an even keel.”After their exertions on a flat track in Hamilton, New Zealand’s senior bowlers were visibly off the pace at Wellington, in particular Chris Martin, whose three wickets came at more than 50 apiece. “We are happy with our bowling depth but we are looking for an extra day in terms of recovery,” said Bracewell. “There’s a bit of wear and tear, from the consistent cricket that Chris and Kyle have had over last season. We’ve got options around the squad, but there’s time to get these two close for the next Test.”Bracewell’s temptation to tinker with his attack was no doubt prompted by the success of England’s revamped line-up. Out went the two stalwarts, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, and into the fray came James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Both suffered at the hands of New Zealand’s strokeplayers during the one-day internationals, but bounced back to play major roles in England’s victory.Peter Moores, England’s coach, was delighted with the impact his new attack had made, and gave a clear signal that Anderson, Broad and Ryan Sidebottom would take some shifting now that they’d earned their places in the starting eleven. “The lads who have got possession, that’s always a strong place to be,” he said. “If they keep playing well they’re going to give themselves a great chance of carrying on.”It was quite a tough decision to make that change, especially on Matthew Hoggard,” said Moores. “He’s at an age where he’s still got a lot of bowling left in him, which is good for us because we’ve got to make a squad which is very competitive. I don’t think there was any complacency in the squad before the changes, but the thing about competitiveness in any job is that it’s good because it keeps everyone pushing forward.”Bracewell was also impressed with what he saw from England, and claimed he hadn’t been surprised by the impact of the new incumbents. “I felt that Anderson is a class bowler, a genuine swing bowler, and this was a ground for swing bowling. He got taken to in the last two one-dayers, but that’s the nature of one-day cricket. Broad has bowled a heavy length throughout the one-dayers, and once again he went a little square in the last one. But both of them are good bowlers. They bowled well as a unit.”New Zealand’s captain, Daniel Vettori, had been openly critical of the Wellington pitch prior to the second Test, feeling that the extra pace and bounce it provided would play into the hands of England’s bowlers. But Bracewell took a slightly different stance. “To tip the balance in our favour, we would have liked to play two spinners, but it was an excellent pitch,” he said. “The defining moment in the match was we didn’t bowl well to Tim Ambrose.”Ambrose is England’s only centurion in the series to date, while New Zealand have only Ross Taylor’s 120 at Hamilton to look back on. “Both sides would have liked to have seen more hundreds in the matches,” said Bracewell. “But that’s a testament to the bowlers on both sides, not necessarily the wickets. They bowled magnificently throughout the series. It’s not all about going out there and getting double hundreds. The intriguing cricket comes when a bowler scalps the opposition and probes their weaknesses.”One player who has been unexpectedly well probed is Kevin Pietersen, who is in the midst of the worst run of form of his career. He hasn’t reached fifty for 10 consecutive innings, and Bracewell believed that England were suffering as a result. “He’s a class player, and a point of difference player. He scores at a rate that generates results, and every Test team needs one of those players. We’re really pleased with how we’ve bowled to him, and cut him down in terms of strike-rate and put pressure on him.”Even so, Bracewell accepted that, following the Wellington defeat, the pressure had now shifted to New Zealand ahead of the Napier decider. “England didn’t come over to draw against New Zealand, they expected to win,” he said. “They were odds-on favourites, heavily so, and if we can knock them over, we’ll be delighted.”

Scorecard

Hong Kong booked their place in the semi-final of the ACC women’s tournament with a six-wicket victory over Thailand at Johor.Thailand put up a gutsy performance, but Hong Kong’s class and composure saw them through.Winning the toss, Hong Kong captain Neisha Pratt put Thailand in under cloudy conditions. The Thai top order confidently negotiated the new ball and scored runs against one of the best attacks in the competition. Hong Kong were guilty of bowling short on the rather slow ‘moonchong clay’ surface.Pratt got an early breakthrough for Hong Kong, after which Chan Sau Har picked up the critical second wicket in the 14th over, of opener Arissa. From then on, the Hong Kong bowlers dominated, with the last eight Thai wickets accounting for only 12 runs. Fifteen-year old Godiva Li bagged three wickets in her second spell, all three deliveries being yorkers.In reply, Hong Kong had a jittery start, losing an early wicket. The Thailand team, marshalled by captain Sornnarin Tippoch, were enthusiastic in the field as they defended their total of 40. The shuffled Hong Kong batting line-up looked wobbly against the Thai attack, and wickets tumbled.At the fall of the fourth wicket came Pratt – who had to change in a hurry after opting not to open – and she steadied the chase with Keenu Gill to eventually take them home.Lal Jayasinghe, the Hong Kong coach, said after the win: “All of our bowlers with the exception of Neisha Pratt are under 18 and their lack of experience of bowling on turf showed at the beginning but once they worked things out, they made things happen.”

For nearly 35 overs, India had a vice-like grip on this match, but Rahul Dravid holed out to Riyad Emrit on the long-on rope, they went into freefall, 232 for 3 to 268 all out. “That was where we lost the game,” said a visibly disappointed Dravidafterwards. “To lose 7 for 36 on a flat wicket was not acceptable. Weneeded to do better in those end overs.”India had rested the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan and HarbhajanSingh for this game, but Dravid was anxious to emphasise that the reversehad nothing to do with the 11 names on the team-sheet. “It’s not about thepersonnel, it’s about execution of the key moments in a match,” he said.”I think 340 or 350 would have been a good score.”The one new guy we tried out was Robin [Uthappa], and Suresh [Raina] alsocame up the order. Robin set the tone beautifully, but one of us needed tocarry on and get a big score. I’ll be the first to put my hand up and saythat I should have stayed to the end. In hindsight, we could have waited alittle longer before trying to force the pace. We didn’t get onesignificant contribution.”Once the batting imploded to give West Indies the initiative, the bowlersneeded to be close to their peak to force the issue. That didn’t happen,despite Chris Gayle going to the first ball of the innings. Sreesanthoffered up a wretched opening spell, and there were 25 wides in agenerally indisciplined performance.”Control of the shiny new white ball is something we’re working on, andsomething we’ve spoken about,” said Dravid. “We tend to give away too many runs in the first 10 or 12 overs. Maybe the bowlers felt today that wehadn’t given them enough runs to play with, and that they needed earlywickets. Having said that, Ajit [Agarkar] bowled superbly.”At 92 for 3, India might have sensed an opening, but it was all darknessthereafter as Samuels and Lara totted up 127 at a run a ball. “We werenever really in the game once they got going,” rued Dravid,before focussing on the few positives to emerge from the defeat.The obvious one was Uthappa, who batted with the fluency of the Sehwag ofold while careening his way to 70 from just 41 balls. Soon after he signed him for Liverpool, Bill Shankly used to send Kevin Keegan out to play with the exhortation: “Go and drop some hand-grenades out there, son.” Though it’s not known what Dravid or Chappell said,Uthappa certainly made an explosive impact. There were 11 foursand two sixes, the great majority straight off the bat’s sweet spot, andthe stands started bellowing out his name as the ball flashed past theropes.With seats on the flight to the Caribbean at a premium, at least one fromUthappa, Raina and Gautam Gambhir will miss out. The trio are pencilledin at the top of the order for this game and there was no doubt which manemerged today one step nearer a Caricom visa. Gambhir fluffed his lines, and mayhave to make way when Ganguly returns, while Raina yet again highlightedan exasperating inability to go beyond pretty 20s and 30s.Uthappa has had a stellar season for Karnataka, scoring over 800 runs, andthough Dravid had hardly had the opportunity to play alongside him, he wasfull of appreciation for the superb cameo. “He got us off to a flyingstart, set the tone and tempo for the innings,” he said. “These young guyshave courage and confidence and a lot of belief. He’ll realise withexperience though that when you get a start like that, you need to go on.That’s what he’ll learn with time. But for a guy playing just his fourthgame, to play like that was pretty special.”It was a view echoed by Brian Lara, who admitted that the opening flurryhad let him more than a little worried. “I’ve seen him bat in theChallenger, and once in the Caribbean,” said Lara, when asked to assesswhat he had seen. “It was unexpected, and all the shots he played wereexcellent ones. He looked very compact and at times, he made the bowlinglook very easy. At one point, I thought we’d be chasing 400.”Unfortunately for India, a youthful rush of blood stopped Uthappa short,and further indiscretions from Dravid and Tendulkar meant that a blazingstart was followed by a pathetic whimper of a finish.