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Until the end of the Indian tour of Pakistan, we will be running a daily Paper Round of what newspapers in India and Pakistan, and from around the world, are saying about this series. This is what the media had to say today:There are a number of quotes stories by Indian players, talking about the tour. Rahul Dravid, India’s vice-captain, told the Press Trust of India that he wasn’t worried about the security in Pakistan. “I don’t think there is any amount of fear,” he said. “We have to just go out and do our best like we did elsewhere. We tried our best in Australia and we will try our best in Pakistan. It’s no different.”Virender Sehwag, who recently got engaged to a girl from Delhi, was equally unworried. Speaking to journalists in Mumbai, he said, “I have received no threats so I am not worried. We will play good cricket. Even the terrorists are humans, so even they would enjoy the game. I am sure about it.”Like Dravid, Sehwag said that he was focussed on the cricket. “There will be no personal battles,” he said. “They have some good bowlers like Shoaib [Akhtar], [and Mohammad] Sami. I will continue to play the same way as I have been doing before.”Irfan Pathan echoed his seniors when he said, speaking to The Asian Age, that “I am not thinking about the tour or of the rivals as of now. To me, Pakistan is just another team like Australia, and I have to perform. I have not planned any weapon against them, but I have definitely chalked out a plan for improving my bowling.”* * *Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, has asked his players to show discipline and sportsmanship during the series. According to Dawn, Inzamam spoke to his players at the training camp in Lahore and said: “I don’t want any misconduct or verbal exchanges as we need to play in the true spirit of the game. After all this is just a game of cricket and nothing more, the same appeal is to fans also and they must take it as cricket. Billions of people will be watching us on television and I think it is a great opportunity for us to prove to the world that we are a sporting nation and play the game in its true spirit.”* * *The last man to captain an Indian Test side to Pakistan, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, backed India to win the upcoming series. Speaking to the Press Trust of India, Srikkanth said: “We are definitely the favourites to win both the series [Tests and one-day internationals]. We have the wherewithal to do so as both batsmen and bowlers are at a higher confidence-level, having proved themselves very well on the Australian tour.”For those worried about the security, Srikkanth related a tale about his encounter with a Pakistan supporter during his tour there in 1989. “A fanatic, Ziauddin, who was provoking Indian players into retaliation, got into the ground and pulled the buttons off my shirt. I had never seen Kapil Dev running backwards so fast and Manoj Prabhakar backing off a challenge as they were forced to by Ziauddin. He went berserk before being taken away by security personnel.”* * *Tickets for the India-Pakistan series are now being sold online. Click here to book yourself a ringside seat.

Often though England and India have met in one-day internationals in recent times, last year’s encounters pale into insignificance beside tomorrow’s Kingsmead day-nighter.While India had England’s measure in last year’s classic NatWest Final as well as the ICC Champions Trophy, there is little qualitative difference between the two sides. India have the superior batting, while England’s opening attack is the more reliable.Although the two teams have the same number of points, England have yet to take the field and lose, while India have come under the Australian cosh. Both sides have had a rash of minnow nerves, at the hands of Namibia and Holland respectively.The toss tomorrow will again be vital. Should Nasser Hussain win it, the outcome could well rest on how Tendulkar, Sehwag, Ganguly and company deal with the threat posed by Anderson and Caddick in conditions that favour swing under darkening Durban skies.India’s coach, John Wright countered: “Any side that is serious about winning championships such as this won’t worry too much about the toss. You have to worry about your own performance and the problems you have to solve out there in the middle.”We respect England, they are developing and they had a good win the other night. The match is nicely poised and it’s an opportunity for both sides to make a statement. We feel if we can get out of the group we will be a tough proposition and they will possibly feel no different.”If the ball does swing. England’s pace sensation James Anderson can expect to add to the nine wickets he has already bagged in the tournament at an average of 10.88. It is a point not lost on India’s leader, Sourav Ganguly.”We have not seen him much, but we saw him bowl very well against Pakistan and he looks good,” Ganguly said.It is Saturday’s win over Pakistan that will have enabled spirits to soar after the political turmoil of the previous month. What effect that had on dressing room morale is impossible to gauge, but at Newlands it looked binding. And nothing breeds confidence like success on the field.On current form Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket looks like a pearl beyond price. So far his scores are 52, 36, 81 and most recently 152 against Namibia, his 34th one-day international century.”He is enjoying being back in the opening position and with any great player they have the sense of occasion,” Wright added.One of the bowlers with his sights trained on Tendulkar is England’s Andrew Caddick, who is far from overawed by tomorrow’s challenge.”The key will be continuing the form we’ve been building up to and to remain level-headed about things and not allow Saturday to go to our heads,” Caddick stressed.”The Indians are a very big threat. They have a very good batting line-up but the success they had against us in the Test series last summer has nothing to do with this match.”Most of their games so far have been against lesser opposition so thankfully for us, their main batsmen further down the order haven’t played that much and hopefully we will be able to use that to our advantage tomorrow.”For England, Marcus Trescothick will doubtless hope to emerge from his recent poor run against a team which he has often dominated over the past year. He has scored two centuries and earned two man-of-the-match awards against them.”He is a very fine player and his record against India is sensational in one-day cricket,” Hussain said.”He plays spin very well and he’s a big player for us. You can’t expect people to score runs all the time, however good you are. Even Michael Vaughan, Sachin Tendulkar and others like that will go through periods when they don’t score runs.”Namibia’s coach Dougie Brown, who watched his side trouble England at Buffalo Park last week, believes England’s attack holds the key.”England have just got to bowl straight,” Brown said. “And with the form they’re in, especially James Anderson, that should not be a problem. India do tend to struggle when the ball goes round in the air as it does at Durban.”England are keeping their fingers crossed over the fitness of their captain and key batsman. Hussain is recovering from a stiff neck while Michael Vaughan hopes to be fit after ultrasound and MRI scans on the leg injury he sustained in Cape Town were both clear.India are likely to retain just one front-line spinner – Anil Kumble has been left out in favour of Harbhajan Singh in their last two matches – with left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra hoping to be passed fit after turning his ankle against Namibia.

WES Hall is heavily tipped to be elected unopposed as the newpresident of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Nominations for theWICB’s two top vacant posts closed yesterday and sources toldWEEKENDSPORT that the former West Indies fast bowler, manager andchief selector was the only nominee for president.There were also reports that Guyana Cricket Board president ChetramSingh might present himself as a candidate.It was understood, however, that the long-standing WICB member mighthave been persuaded not to challenge for the presidency.The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), which officially announcedyesterday it was nominating Hall for the top spot, also said it wouldbe seconding the nomination of Leeward Islands Cricket Associationpresident Val Banks as vice-president.Hall, Cabinet minister between 1986 and 1994 and now an ordainedChristian minister, is also significantly receiving the backing of theTrinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control, which has seconded hisnomination.It almost certainly means Willie Rodriguez, a former West Indies legspinner and current president of Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Cricket Club,will not be a candidate.A couple days after the WICB’s top spots became vacant following thedramatic resignations of president Pat Rousseau and vice-presidentClarvis Joseph, Rodriguez expressed an interest in succeedingRousseau.Rousseau and Joseph resigned with effect from June 4 after fellowdirectors overturned their decision to sack manager Ricky Skerritt.The following day the WICB appointed a five-man interim managementcommittee to make decisions until a new president and vice-presidentwere elected on July 21.In endorsing Hall, BCA president Stephen Alleyne said thedistinguished personality had been adequately prepared for the job.We are proud to be associated with such an outstanding Barbadian andWest Indian cricketer and personality, he said in a BCA releaseyesterday.We are confident that, should he be successful, he would giveoutstanding service to the board and indeed to the Caribbean, bringingto bear all his experience and skills to the task at hand.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has left his close circle surprised at what he said about the Blues recently, and the club are scratching their heads over it too.

Enzo Maresca faces long-term Chelsea uncertainty

While Maresca has publicly denied any interest in a return to Man City amid the concrete links, there are reports of some tension between the Italian and Stamford Bridge chiefs behind-the-scenes.

Maresca has transformed Chelsea’s fortunes on the pitch since being appointed, implementing a possession-based system that’s yielded impressive results across multiple competitions.

The 44-year-old guided them to two major trophies last season, a Conference League triumph and Club World Cup win, whilst also leading them to Champions League qualification.

His work with younger players and tactical flexibility have caught eyes across the Premier League, particularly at the Etihad Stadium.

City’s interest makes perfect sense given Maresca’s history with the club. He served as Guardiola’s assistant during their historic treble-winning campaign in 22/23 and absorbed the Catalan’s methods firsthand.

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That familiarity with City’s culture and playing philosophy should give him a massive advantage over external candidates, with David Ornstein of The Athletic reporting that he is high on their wishlist.

Murmurs over Maresca’s long-term future have only intensified after the former Leicester City boss’ public outburst recently.

Following their victory over Everton in West London, Maresca insisted that the 48 hours leading up to that match was his worst during his time at the club — citing a lack of support.

When asked to elaborate, the tactician doubled down.

Now, The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg has shared how people behind-the-scenes reacted to Maresca’s controversial statement.

Chelsea bemused by Maresca statement with close circle surprised

According to their sources, Chelsea remain completely ‘bemused’ after Maresca created unnecessary speculation.

His rant even caught the coach’s closest circle by surprise, with sources suggesting nobody inside Stamford Bridge understands what prompted the public complaint.

Confusion reigns throughout the building as staff struggle to identify any obvious trigger for Maresca’s discontent.

What’s frustrated the hierarchy most is Maresca’s stubborn refusal to clarify his comments either publicly or privately. He’s rejected multiple opportunities to explain what bothered him so deeply during that brief period, leaving everyone guessing about the real source of his frustration.

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The lack of transparency has created an information vacuum that outsiders have filled with speculation about rifts between Maresca and Chelsea’s ownership structure.

Whether that reflects reality remains unclear, given the manager won’t actually explain himself.

People close to the manager share the club’s confusion, with some privately questioning why he chose to air grievances without providing context. The situation has now created unnecessary tension heading into a crucial period of the season.

Maresca needs to either explain himself properly or move on from whatever bothered him, because this ambiguity helps nobody.

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The Titans moved into the MTN Domestic Championship final after their semi-final against the Cape Cobras was washed out for the second day running at Centurion Park.Heavy rain fell on the reserve day and there was no chance of getting the match started. The Titans go through because they finished top of the table during the group stage and they now face the Warriors in Wednesday’s final.However, there are already doubts as to whether the day/night match will go ahead due to the inclement weather.

Ashwell Prince is keen for some more time at the crease © Getty Images

Bangladesh’s batsmen have the potential to seriously challenge South Africa on Saturday, according to Ashwell Prince. However, the unpredictable weather in Guyana could yet prove to be one of the biggest factors in the penultimate match at Providence Stadium.South Africa have two wins from their only two Super Eights games so far, but carried a loss through from the first round courtesy of Australia. “Two points, that’s the most important thing,” Prince told . “There’s a lot of rain, but we are hoping to get enough overs to complete a match.”Prince said South Africa would not be taking Bangladesh lightly, despite their heavy losses to Australia and New Zealand in the past week. “The Bangladeshi basmen looked very positive in the matches I have watched and I am sure they will try and put our bowlers under pressure,” he said.”I don’t think it is going to be an easy game at all. They have beaten India, so they obviously have got something there. We are expecting a tough match and are expecting their batsmen to come at us.”However, restricting the in-form South Africa top order might be a challenge for Bangladesh. The success of the openers and Jacques Kallis has meant limited opportunities for Prince, who was pleased to spend 15 overs at the crease as South Africa eased past Ireland on Tuesday.”The fact that our top order is batting so well that the guys in the middle order haven’t had much time to bat,” Prince said. “Myself, Justin Kemp and Mark Boucher have had very little time in the middle.””Every time we had batted first, they [the top order) batted most of the overs up. So, that’s one of the reasons why I am glad I got the opportunity in the last match. Even though it was getting a little bit dark, I didn’t want to go off the field as I wanted some batting practice.”After the Bangladesh match, South Africa travel to Grenada to face West Indies and New Zealand. Their Super Eights campaign closes with a match against England in Barbados.

Wes Hall: ‘I would like to see the players come into the picture so that they would be part of the solution and not part of the problem’ © WICB

West Indies cricket has reached a new level of maturity with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) agreeing on the new retainer contracts, says Wes Hall, the fast bowling legend who was a former president of the WICB.As Hall hinted last week at the Legends of Cricket Barbados launch, the WICB decided to name Brian Lara as captain. Hall said he was delighted with this move and added that Ramnaresh Sarwan should be named as the deputy. Hall said that the original idea was to have a succession plan and this must now be put back in place. He said it was unfortunate that Guyana never made him their leader.”The whole process now has to be developmental. We can’t waste another day. The youngsters in the team have been around for a few years and we now look at maturity and progress once given the tools.”In welcoming the news of the deal between WIPA and the WICB which was concluded early yesterday, Hall said it was time to take West Indies cricket forward, bury the hatchet and arise from the “dark days” which have threatened to destroy the fabric of the game in the region.”They [WIPA and WICB] both needed to bite the bullet and narrow the negotiable gap for the good of West Indies cricket. Happily this has happened,” said Hall. “This is a new beginning and a chance to move forward. We have to plan for a year to get it all right for the World Cup. We have now to move forward and forget the ad hoc attitude that has worried West Indies cricket. There was no need to be adversarial in our dealings. We needed to come together and get our best team and we need our best team at all times.”Last week Hall warned the players that they needed to get on with the business at hand or face the possibility of losing public support. He added, however, that not all of the previous problems were the fault of the players’ body. The board also needed to shoulder some of the responsibility for the difficulties over the years, he said.Hall, a former government minister, said the process now needed to be taken one step further. He believes if WIPA is offered a place on the board of directors of the WICB, it would bring the various arms of West Indies cricket even closer together. He also called for the board to be reduced to eight members – one each from the six territorial boards, along with the president and the WIPA representative.”You need to reduce the board. That’s revolutionary, and I would like to see the players come into the picture so that they would be part of the solution and not part of the problem,” Hall said. “If the players had a representative on the board it would bring a different mindset. In Barbados today the union now has representatives on statutory boards and has been a major player with the government and the private sectors and has played a major role in set-up in Barbados, and it works well.”That’s the example that has been used, but we have seen that they are beneficial and have a very positive influence on the workforce situations. If there is going to be reconciliation there, we need to make the West Indies the embodiment of world cricket again. We have been down and have to get back up on our own. Instead of talking about how good we were, we need to realise how we got there and repeat that process.”It has been almost 11 years since the aberration when we lost to Australia in Kingston and we have been kicked off the world pedestal ever since.”It has always been my view that once we do the right things from now until the World Cup we will get into the last four and get close to winning the tournament. We need three strike bowlers bowling at 90 miles an hour, and we can take on the world.”He also said there should be some liaison with the governments of CARICOM. He said the governments have now become a major shareholder with the investment in Cricket World Cup and should have closer links through the sub-committee on cricket.

Mike Gatting, who was dismissed by Shane Warne’s ball of the century in 1993, does not expect the limited-overs matches to influence the Test series © Getty Images

Mike Gatting believes the one-day series will be a game of “cat and mouse” before the serious business of the Ashes. Both teams will fight for a psychological advantage in the two tournaments before the first Test, but Gatting said the result would not influence the remainder of the summer.”It would be nice to win the one-day series but that won’t have any bearing on the Ashes,” Gatting, who was the last England captain to hold the urn, told the Herald Sun. “I think there will be a bit of cat and mouse leading into the Test series. I don’t think Steve Harmison will play many of the lead-up matches against Australia. I think he’ll just play against Bangladesh.”Australia have their first match of the tour today in a Twenty20 warm-up against the Professional Cricketers’ Association before the official game against England at the Rose Bowl on Monday. The tri-series begins on June 16, but Australia’s opening fixture is against Bangladesh at Cardiff on June 18.

Scorecard

Graham Napier: turned things round with two quick wickets © Getty Images

James Tredwell led England A’s fightback in their Duleep Trophy match at Amritsar. He took five wickets as East Zone were bowled out for 283, having been 97 for 1 at lunch on the opening day.Shiv Sunder Das, the former Test opener, held things together for East Zone, carrying his bat to end on 124 not out. He put on 93 for the first wicket with Mahi Dhoni, in what was a tough opening session for the bowlers.Steve Kirby provided the only success when he had Mahindra Dhoni caught by Ed Smith for 52. Kirby, however, proved expensive in his first appearance on the tour since replacing Simon Jones, going for 30 from six overs before lunch, but England’s fortunes changed immediately after the lunch break.Graham Napier started the comeback with two quick wickets, both lbw, the second of which was Deep Dasgupta, the former Test player, for a duck. Tredwell then chipped in with a further two scalps, removing Devang Ghandi and Kiran Powar as East Zone lost five wickets for 79 runs. Tredwell worked his way steadily through the rest of the middle and lower order, although Das and Chatterjee held England up with a stand of 45.Tredwell finished with 5 for 101 from 24 overs, and Napier 3 for 54, in a total which went some way to justifying Tredwell’s decision to bowl first.

Pakistan made full use of their World Cup lead-up match in Lenasia with most of the batsmen and the bowlers getting in some practice before their crucial clash against Australia, a replay of the 1999 final, at the Wanderers on Tuesday, February 11.Batting first against a Gauteng Invitation XI all the batsmen, except Shahid Afridi, spent valuable time at the crease with Younis Khan top scoring with 50 off 52 balls. Khan, backing up a touch to far at the non-striker end was well run out by Martinus Otto from cover with a brilliant bit of individual fielding.The experiment of opening the innings with Afridi failed once again as the hard hitting right hand batsman was caught in the slips after spending seven balls at the crease.Saleem Elahi was solid in making 43 but playing past a Clive Eksteen delivery he was stumped by Ahmed Omar. Eksteen also got rid of Yousuf Youhana, trapped in front for 32, and Abdur Razzaq caught for 22.Wasim Akram (33*) and Waqar Younis (25*) put on 63 in the final nine overs for Pakistan to post a good 264/7 in the allocated 50 overs.For Gauteng, Clive Eksteen showed he can still compete against the best, returning figures of 3/46 off his 10 overs.For the most, the Pakistan batsmen seemed to have learnt something from their recent tour of South Africa and should still be a major threat to any opposition. The balance in the side, with players able to mix aggression with defense, may be one of the best in the tournament.Gauteng made a very good start with Stephan Cook (61) and Grant Elliot (33) putting on 103 for the second wicket before Razzaq struck three times in four overs to reduce the hosts from 110/1 to 115/4. Bowling some vicious off cutters he got rid of Cook and then clean bowled both Elliot and Vaughn van Jaarsveld with consecutive balls.With the rain chasing the players off the field after 30 overs and Gauteng on 123/4, Pakistan won by 24 runs (Duckworth/Lewis).On the bowling side Pakistan will be worried about the form of Shoaib Akhtar, going for 12 runs in his first over, and Shahid Afridi not showing any penetration.On Thursday, February 6, Pakistan will face Easterns in Benoni giving them another match to hone their skills.