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Nayan Doshi, the left-arm spinner, has terminated his contract with Surrey with immediate effect, ending a three-year association with the club.Doshi, 28, who joined Surrey in 2004, cited a lack of opportunity as his reason for leaving. “I regard myself as a good spin bowler,” he said, “and I just didn’t feel that I had the backing that I should have had. It is for this reason that I have decided to step down. There are no bad feelings as this was my decision and I wish the club the best of luck for the remainder of the season.”However, Alan Butcher, Surrey’s cricket manager, was disappointed at Doshi’s decision, arguing that the club “need people who are prepared to take on a challenge”.”It’s not unusual for a professional sportsman to be left out of a team,” Butcher said. “They don’t enjoy it but on most occasions they take it on the chin and fight to regain their place as Alastair Brown has vowed to do.”It’s a pity that Nayan is unwilling to do this as he was part of our future plans but in the position we find ourselves in, we need people who are prepared to take on a challenge. This appears to be no longer the case and so I have accepted his resignation.”In all, Doshi took 120 wickets in first-class cricket at 34.10 apiece, but his main success came in the Twenty20 where he is the leading wicket-taker at domestic level.

The Ranji season has reached the stage at which teams have to keep an eye on other results in their respective pools. Karnataka, sitting in fifth place in the Super League Group A with eight points from three games, will want to make the most of this match against Rajasthan. Already thrashed three times this season, the young Rajasthan team are under intense pressure to avoid relegation.Rahul Dravid’s role in Karnataka’s first two games was crucial, but he and Anil Kumble are back in the Indian side and won’t be returning this Ranji season and Karnataka will have to rely on their core strength going forward. The star is Robin Uthappa, but he is yet to ignite this domestic season as he did last season with his exciting hundred here at the Gangothri Glades. Thilak Naidu, the wicketkeeper-batsman, and C Raghu, the offspinning allrounder, are key players and have done well this season.The bowling will again be led by Vinay Kumar and NC Aiyappa, the right-arm medium-pace duo, and Sunil Joshi, the veteran left-arm spinner. There’s little to speak of in terms of back-up, but with Rajasthan’s batting struggling so far that could well prove enough.Gagan Khoda, who played two one-day internationals for India in 1998, is the only Rajasthan batsman in form. His 244 runs are the high for the team by some distance, and highlight his side’s plight this year: they just haven’t been able to put up big totals. Pankaj Singh, the 22-year-old fast bowler, has done well in the last two seasons and has India A experience. That aside, the cupboard looks fairly bare this year. Rajasthan appeared to show a bit of fight in their last game, against Maharashtra, but the bowlers need runs to defend.A cursory palm across the surface showed it was hard, but there’s a tinge of green too. Vijay Bhardwaj, Karnataka’s coach, and Nagaraja, the curator, concurred in their readings of the wicket. “We’ve tried to make a sporting pitch,” Nagaraja said. “It is definitely looking like a four-day surface, with lots of bounce for the quick bowlers. That said, it will also assist the spinners late on the second day.” Bowling first may seem like an option, but it might still be better to bat first and see out the first session.This is only the second match at Gangothri Glades since the Ranji Trophy returned to Mysore last season after 18 years. Karnataka won that match against Haryana by 253 runs, with Uthappa and Barrington Rowland lighting up the third day with a stunning 213-run opening stand. Rowland has been dropped for this game following a string of average performances following that innings.Situated on the scenic University of Mysore campus, with the Chamundi Hills in the background, the large, tree-ringed ground bore a festive look. (tents) were being set up, as were loudspeakers and an array of coloured chairs. A good amount of sponsorship has been generated for this match, the sponsors including Reid & Taylor.A good weekend crowd is expected, made up primarily of university students. Spreading cricket into the smaller parts of the country is important and a rollicking innings from the likes of Uthappa or a stellar spell from the likes of Pankaj would be apt advertisement for a town where top-level cricket seldom rolls through.Teams:Karnataka (probable): 1 Robin Uthappa, 2 KB Pawan, 3 Sudhindra Shinde, 4 C Raghu, 5 Yere Goud (capt), Thilak Naidu (wk), 7 B Akhil, 8 Sunil Joshi, 9 R Vinay Kumar, 10 KP Apanna, 11 NC Aiyappa.Rajasthan (probable): 1 Rohit Jhalani (wk), 2 Gagan Khoda, 3 Nikhil Doru, 4 Vineet Saxena, 5 Robin Bist, 6 Rajesh Bishnoi, 7 Afroz Khan, 8 Shamsher Singh, 9 Pankaj Singh, 10 Mohammad Aslam (capt), 11 Nishan Singh.

New Zealand and Bangladesh are in discussions to play a Twenty20 charity match to raise funds for survivors of Cyclone Sidr, which devastated Bangladesh last week.Although Bangladesh officials have already said the match will be played in New Zealand on December 23, just before the start of a one-day series between the teams, a New Zealand spokesman said discussions were ongoing. A warm-up one-day match between Bangladesh and Northern Districts is currently scheduled for that date.Bangladesh’s tour includes three one-day internationals, starting on December 26 in Auckland, and two Tests in Dunedin and Wellington during early January.

Michael Vaughan is planning to be in Australia throughout England’s Ashes campaign this November, even though it is almost certain he will play no part. Speaking to Vaughan revealed he plans to fly out to Australia the week before the first Test which starts on November 23 at Brisbane.”The rehab is going as well as possible and we’re looking at me batting (in the nets) in October,” he said. “The day I get on a plane to Australia will be the time people can start thinking I’m going to play cricket pretty soon, because I won’t go unless I’m about two or three weeks off playing.”Vaughan, who had knee surgery nine weeks ago, missed England’s tour of India earlier this year and was ruled out of the summer. Even the most ardent of optimists would rate his chances of playing any part of the Ashes as decidedly low, but Vaughan remains quietly confident that he will, at least, pick up a bat again before Christmas.”There’s a realistic chance I’ll be on a plane on November 17 and do 10 days of training around the first Test,” he said. “I won’t train with the team because it’s important they just get on with it but I hope to use the likes of Matthew Maynard, the trainer and physio.”Hopefully I’ll play some cricket in December. I’ll have to do that if I want to be available to play the one-day series (starting in January). If things go incredibly well, there’s a small chance I could play in the end of the Ashes, though if it’s 1-1 with two to play, I can’t see them saying ‘have a game’ when I won’t have played for 12 months. But who’s to say I won’t be able to tell them I’ve scored two hundreds in Perth and I’m available for selection? Whether I get back in, or come back in as captain, is for others to decide.”

“I won’t go in and say, ‘I’ve won the Ashes, listen to me’, but I’m there to speak to anyone if they need advice,” Vaughan insisted. “Andrew Strauss rings me regularly and I ring him and we pass ideas off each other. I don’t think anyone’s a wizard who can say, ‘This is the way to play’, because it’s all instinctive when you get out in the middle against a team like Australia. Plans can change every half-hour.”The England captaincy was a hot issue throughout the winter tour of India. With Vaughan absent, the captaincy was handed to Marcus Trescothick before he too withdrew from the tour owing to personal problems. Andrew Flintoff was next in line and named captain for their tour of India, and for the summer. He then broke down, though, missing the Pakistan series and handing Andrew Strauss the captaincy. Vaughan isn’t concerned who captains England; be it Flintoff or Strauss, and insists that his presence in Australia won’t be a hindrance to the appointed leader.”I have every confidence that whoever they pick will do a good job. They probably need a bit of my experience of captaining against Australia, but I think they’ll be fine. I may be more help to the younger players, who are there for first time. I’ll be there if they want a coffee. Whoever gets the captaincy will do okay.”I don’t think it has a huge effect because hopefully I’ll be coming back, but it will be a life-changing experience for whoever does it, because captaining in the Ashes is more intense than anything. Every decision will be analysed. Only time will tell how much I’ve been missed.”

Paceman Alan Mullally prolonged his sizzling vein of form with another fivewicket haul today for Hampshire on the opening day of the CountyChampionship clash with Leicestershire at Southampton.The left armer claimed the wickets of Darren Maddy (8) and Ben Smith (5) inhis first spell of the day to have the visitors at a shaky 28/2 beforereturning later in the afternoon to remove Vince Wells (22), DominicWilliamson (4) and Neil Burns (0) as Leicestershire battled to a stumpsscore of 265/9 after losing the toss.Following his fourteen wicket haul against Derbyshire last week, Mullally(5/84) was always likely to be the man to whom Hampshire looked forinspiration in the absence of Shane Warne. To that end, he did not let histeam down. He bowled with control in helpfully overcast conditions,seaming the ball both ways and maintaining an excellent line to keep theinjury-hit Leicestershire batting line-up under consistent pressure.Dimitri Mascarenhas (2/59) also performed well, snaring the vital wicketsof Aftab Habib (61) – dismissed with the very first ball after the playershad returned to the field after a rain delay in mid-afternoon – and DarrenStevens (12).Leicestershire, which had entered the match with Chris Lewis, James Ormond,Phil DeFreitas and Anil Kumble all missing from its line-up, meanwhilerelied largely on three players for its end of day position. Habib’scombination of resolute defence against straight deliveries and strongdriving of anything loose earned him the honour of being the top scorer forhis team for far from the first time this season.Jonathan Dakin (60) also showed his usual fluency before being dismissed in the second last over of the day, while opener Iain Sutcliffe (53) helped to hold things steady at the top after the two early wickets had fallen at the other end. In assembling his first half century of the summer, Sutcliffe formed a half of the best partnership of the innings – one of ninety-two with Habib for the third wicket.Dakin was also involved in a crucial partnership, finding unlikely support in the form of number ten Carl Crowe (26*) to raise a priceless seventy-one runs for the ninth wicket just when Mullally seemed ready to work his way right through the bottom half of a batting list again.

Junior cricketers from India and Pakistan are likely to be at the forefront of a thawing in the relationship between the two countries as early as February. Annual triangular one-day tournaments between Under-19 teams, Academy sides and A teams from the two countries, and Sri Lanka, are being planned, with the first possibly in February.The heads of the two boards, Jagmohan Dalmiya and Lieutenant-General Tauqir Zia, met in London during the Asian Cricket Council meeting at Lord’s to discuss ways to resume cricketing relations. Zia said that regular competition at lower levels would break the ice and help resume cricket between the two countries on a regular basis.Both India and Sri Lanka have their academies operative while the firstentrants in Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy are expected within the next few weeks.Zia added: “The PCB chief executive and Secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are discussing the modalities of the tournaments that will soon be implemented.”Zia also said that Dalmiya had updated him on the possibility of India touring Pakistan early next year for three Tests and as many one-day internationals. “Mr Dalmiya has informed me that although the Indian government is very keen to resume bilateral tours between the two countries, the BCCI is still awaiting official clearance from New Delhi for next year’s tour," said Zia. "But Mr Dalmiya is optimistic that BCCI would get the go-ahead and India will tour Pakistan."

“I don’t know what they are doing,” remarked IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi about Jaipur, his home team, after the first players’ auction in Mumbai on February 20. Of the nearly US$ 42 million that was spent by the eight teams on blockbuster names, Jaipur had spent only around US$ 2.95 million.On Tuesday, after the second auction, Jaipur spent just US$ 385,000 more but emerged with the biggest smile of them all.For a total of US$ 3.35 million – just half a million over what Chennai and Hyderabad spent for MS Dhoni and Andrew Symonds in the first auction – Jaipur’s Rajasthan Royals are looking quite formidable: Shane Warne, Graeme Smith, Younis Khan, Shane Watson, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Kamran Akmal, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel, Morne Morkel and Sohail Tanvir.”We have put together a great squad from the two auctions at our price,” Fraser Castellino, the CEO of the franchise, told Cricinfo. “I would call this a victory for us. Other teams have great squads too, but now I believe they may have overspent a bit. We believe we are well-placed now, as good as any of the other teams.”While spending just under three-fourths of the near US$ 5 million that the seven franchises have spent, Jaipur’s strategy of staggering their purchases across the two auctions seems to have worked.”We would like to be called a strategic franchise now,” Castellino said. “After today, few people will say we are a weak team. There were a lot of people who made fun of us last time. What they failed to understand then was we had a clear strategy, and we were as sure as they were that this was serious business.”On Tuesday, Jaipur started the ball rolling by picking up England allrounder Mascarenhas (US$ 100,000), with whom they had been negotiating for the last few days. Hampshire’s Twenty20 specialist was a last-minute addition to the auction after being cleared early on Tuesday morning by the county, which also has Warne on its rolls.Then, they bought Australian allrounder Watson (US$ 125,000), South Africa fast bowler Morkel (US$ 60,000) and Pakistan left-arm seamer Tanvir (US$ 100,000).Explaining the strategy, Castellino said, “Yes, there were good players in the first auction. But we also knew then that there were a lot of good Twenty20 specialists who missed out and who would come into play in the second auction. We targeted them this time, and our strategy has worked.”However, Jaipur could still run into some trouble with the second part of their strategy – tackling the minimum cap of US$ 3.3 million for the first auction in two attempts. While Castellino claimed that the cap covered the entire auction process and included the amount spent in the second auction as well, IPL governing council member IS Bindra told Cricinfo that the penalty for falling short last month “still stands”.”It was very clear early on that the first auction was just the first step,” Castellino said. “All the franchises knew then that there would be a second auction. And as far as we are concerned, we have crossed the minimum cap and adhered to the rules.”Jaipur now plans to rope in some more players from India, some of them through their Cricket Star talent hunt, steered by former India coach Greg Chappell.”We will be taking a few more players from India, especially through our Cricket Star programme through which we are currently talent-spotting across the country,” Castellino said. “If we find some exceptional talent we will fast-track him into the team this season, but there will be somebody from the programme in the team definitely next time.”

Shane Bond is still some time away from getting back into bowling training as the New Zealand team start to look towards their next mission, the tour of India in September-October.The fast bowler, who has been out of cricket since suffering a stress fracture in his back during the Bank Alfalah Cup tournament in Sri Lanka in May, is officially described as “progressing nicely” by New Zealand Cricket’s sports science medical co-ordinator Warren Frost. “He’s still on the comeback trail and is building up his work in the gym. He is still a little from being back bowling.”Meanwhile, ace batsman Nathan Astle has resumed his build-up to full fitness, and his training will be stepped up another level this week. Apart from these two, Frost said everyone else still in New Zealand was in training which was a little unusual given the injury problems that have plagued the top level cricketers in recent seasons. The players were enjoying the break, Frost said. He is in contact with them every week and sees them every four to six weeks.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

He is the son of a policeman, an amateur poet and, according to his captain, “the glue that holds the middle order together”. Simon Katich got stuck into India’s bowlers on the third day of the Nagpur Test and scored a vital 99, helping his side to a score of 202 for 3, and a lead of 415. It was an innings of both art and application, and though it ended in heartbreak, one short of a well-deserved hundred, it put Australia in a commanding position at the close of play.It wasn’t easy, and the Indians did not throw in the towel, but held on tight as the Australians pulled it away, inch by inch. Katich walked in shortly after lunch, after Matthew Hayden inside-edged a Zaheer Khan ball onto his stumps (19 for 1), with runs hard to come by. Zaheer bowled with venom and accuracy, back at his best, while Ajit Agarkar was more controlled than in the first innings, beating Justin Langer repeatedly with his away-going deliveries.It was a strange phase of play. The pitch had slowed, the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat as well as in the first innings, and there was a fair amount of lateral movement. Langer was out of sorts, and the bowlers kept things tight, while throwing in the odd unplayable ball. The first seven overs of the afternoon session were maidens, and 16 runs came off the first 15. Could the bowlers run through Australia to set up a spirited chase in the fourth innings?Not while Katich was there. Once he settled in, Katich began to open up, and played the spinners as if his little sisters were bowling to him in the back yard. His footwork was assured, whether playing late on the back foot or stepping out, when he repeatedly got to the pitch of the ball. He smashed Anil Kumble out of the attack just before tea, hitting two fours to deep midwicket in a 10-run over, and made 38 off 31 Kumble deliveries. Kumble went for 62 in his 13 overs, and was a silhouette of the man who took 13 wickets at Chennai.Murali Kartik bowled better, unafraid to give the ball air, extracting significant turn, and throwing in the quicker, flatter one every now and then. He accounted for Langer who, deceived by the flight and eager to accelerate, hoisted him to VVS Laxman at a widish long-on (99 for 2). Later, when Katich was on a nervous 99, Kartik trapped him plumb in front (171 for 3). But he did not otherwise trouble either Katich or Damien Martyn, who made 41 poised runs and was unbeaten at the close.

India’s bowlers had nothing to be ashamed of, for, once again, it was their batsmen who had let them down. In this series, while the Indian specialist batsmen have struggled, at least the lower order have fought hard. The last five batsmen added more than 100 runs in each of the last three innings, but this time, the tail did not budge, let alone wag.After Shane Warne induced an edge from Parthiv Patel in his first over of the day, Australia took the new ball and wrapped up the rest of the tail. Mohammad Kaif reached his second half-century in a row, but couldn’t handle McGrath, nicking a typical corridor ball from him to Warne. Jason Gillespie took the rest of the wickets to finish with 5 for 56, outstanding figures that hid the fact that his fellow bowlers were equally magnificent.But the Australian bowlers, unlike India’s, have been backed up by their batsmen, and that has made all the difference. Miracles do happen, but rain is not forecast in Nagpur any time soon, and India have, for much of this game, seemed daunted by the occasion rather than inspired by it. Don’t bet on a comeback. The game in Mumbai will be a dead-rubber Test.

South African middle-order batsman Jonty Rhodes has undergone surgery on the broken hand he sustained whilst fielding in the World Cup match against Kenya in Potchefstroom yesterday.Rhodes injured his right hand when trying to catch Maurice Odumbe in the 31st over of the Kenyan innings.An X-ray in Potchefstroom revealed a break of the fifth metacarpal bone on his right hand.Rhodes was taken through to Johannesburg yesterday afternoon to see a hand specialist who, under local anesthetic, reduced the fracture and inserted two pins to hold the bone together and facilitate union at the fracture site by immobilisation.He then rejoined the team in Potchefstroom.South African team physiotherapist Shane Jabaar said,” the specialist felt that Jonty would have the pins in for about 3 weeks to allow for the bones to knit together and the fracture to heal. Thereafter there would be some pain, but that could be managed.”Jabaar added,” during the period of recuperation Jonty will continue to train and exercise in order to strengthen and constantly improve the functional use of his right hand.”Rhodes himself said it was an awkward time for it to happen, but remains positive.” I suppose if I was going to break something during the World Cup then now is as good a time as any, at least we have got three weeks before the Super Sixes. Its not the end of the world, I have played with pain before.”Rhodes broke the same bone but in his left hand in Australia on the 1992/93 tour.As to his further participation in the World Cup, Rhodes said ” I have no idea what the selectors plans are for me, I will just have to wait and see.”Selection convener Omar Henry said that he will be speaking with his fellow selectors and the team management through the day and would hope to make an announcement regarding Rhodes’s further participation in the tournament by late Thursday afternoon.