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All Today’s Yesterdays – September 23 down the yearsSeptember 22 | September 241939
The birth of a dear old thing. Henry Blofeld, “Blowers” to his friends, is so well known for his exploits in the commentary box that it is often forgotten that he was an extremely talented cricketer, whose promising career at Cambridge University was ruined by a serious cycling accident. A devotee of fine wine and even finer cake, Blofeld personifies the eccentricity, charm and passion of the Test Match Special team. He once managed to hold up a series of international flights when he realised that a draft chapter of his book “The Packer Affair” had been mistaken for rubbish by cleaners in Colombo.1979
An unseemly incident took place on the second day of the second Test between India and Australia in Bangalore. Having spent the day studying the maker’s name of Dilip Vengsarkar and Gundappa Viswanath’s blades, being no-balled 11 times in six overs was too much for Rodney Hogg, who bowled a beamer, hoofed down the stumps and stormed off the field. Only the swift action of his captain Kim Hughes, who tendered an immediate apology to the umpire and persuaded Hogg to express his contrition at the end of the day, prevented further recriminations.1952
Sunil Gavaskar’s right-hand man was born. For most of his 40 Tests between 1974 and 1984, Anshuman Gaekwad was the little master’s opening partner. A dasher in his youth, the tall, bespectacled Gaekwad did a Boycott at Test level, cutting out the strokes and reinventing himself as a grinder. He blocked his way to what at the time was the slowest double-century in first-class cricket, against Pakistan at Jullundur in 1983-84, made in 652 minutes off 426 balls, but his bravest knock came on a terror track in Jamaica in 1975-76 – the match in which India’s captain Bishan Bedi refused to bat as a protest against the intimidatory West Indian bowling – where he withstood a barrage of short stuff from Michael Holding to make 81 before he was struck on the head and ended up in hospital. His father Datta Gaekwad captained India on their tour of England in 1959.1971
The birth of one of cricket’s more abrasive characters. Moin Khan may not be on too many Christmas-card lists, but he is a very handy wicketkeeper-batsman with an average just shy of 30. A dangerous lower-order hitter and expert at wresting back lost initiatives, Moin snatched victory for Pakistan in the 1992 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand with an audacious assault on Chris Harris. His three Test hundreds came in an eight-match period between 1994 and 1996, but on becoming captain for the second time his form fell away, and after losing much of his dignity as England triumphed in the Karachi gloom, he lost the captaincy to Waqar Younis and his place to Rashid Latif ahead of the 2001 tour of England.1855
The birth of the longest-serving editor of the Wisden Almanack, Sydney Pardon, who held the post between 1891 and 1925. A man with varied interests – The Times published his musings on racing, music and the theatre – it was in the course of Pardon’s editorship that Wisden established its publication as one of the key dates in the cricket calendar.1972
The Zimbabwean David Gower was born. The quintessence of the frustrating, languid left-hander, Alistair Campbell has never really done justice to his natural ability at Test level, but when on song he remains a wonderfully natural timer of the ball. He captained Zimbabwe between 1996 and 1999, but like so many others found it impossible to maintain his productivity with the bat, and after giving up the captaincy his form slowly returned. After a number of near-misses he finally made his first Test hundred in his 46th match, against India in Nagpur in 2000-01 and added another against West Indies at Bulawayo the following summer.2000
A mammoth 188 not out from Guy Whittall could not stop Zimbabwe going down to an eight-wicket defeat in the second Test against New Zealand at Harare. Whittall batted for 472 minutes and faced 429 balls, but a lower-order collapse left New Zealand chasing 72 in 18 overs, and they swept home to clinch a 2-0 series victory. In his 29th Test as captain, it was Stephen Fleming’s 12th win, surpassing Geoff Howarth’s New Zealand record of 11.1996
In the Sahara Cup decider in Toronto, Pakistan clinched a 3-2 victory over India with a comfortable 52-run win. Mushtaq Ahmed was their main man in a low-scoring game in which nobody reached 50 and only one of 19 wickets to fall went to a seamer. Mushtaq took out four of the top five and ended with 5 for 36 as India – for whom Sachin Tendulkar top-scored with a mere 23 – were brushed aside for 161.Other birthdays
1942 Dave Renneberg (Australia)
1956 Tom Hogan (Australia)
1967 Prashant Vaidya (India)

Lower grade results for Saturday were:Senior 2: Well Coll 272-9& 182-4( A Newdick 68. N Angus 43, C Spring 36) mer Karori 179-7( N Hearn 33*) & 136-5 (B West-Walker 46*, N Hearn 40, G Roach 3-18); Brooklyn 160 & 113 ( M Perry-Lewis3-8, K Forde 3-24) lost to Onslow 93 & 181-8 ( A Judson 66, E Jones 36,L Moore 3-42); Taita 141 & 211-8 ( J Peters 118) met Hutt 208 (Murphy 71*, C Tohiariki 4-69) & 114-5( Jensen 38, Solomon 48)Senior 3: Univ 139 & 192 ( D Ranchhod 4-35, N Dahya 4-55) lost to Indians 304-8d & 28-1; Hutt 82 & 235-9 ( M Barratt 75*, S Adrian 36,A Pryor 31, R Townley 3-58) lost to Petone/Riv 175-8 & 146-6 ( A Levenger 63, S Adair 43*, G Lemon 3-15); Eastbourne 177 & 159 ( C Reed 64, G Rutherford 5-50) lost to Karori 259 ( M Wigg 164, S Young 4-67 ) & 80-4 ( D Reed 3-15);Naenae 97 & 139 ( Burns 59, Ball 36 D Kershaw 4-29( lost to Colls 118-8 & 119-4 ( S McCosh 41)Super 8sSection One: Naenae 94 lost to Collegians 95-4; Upper Valley N Barr 44*, L Poole 3-2) lost to Taita 89-0 ( S Moore 47*); Pet/Riv 95-6( B Bridger 42) tied with Johnsonville 95Section Two:U Hutt B 149-6 ( S Girling 30, K Bremner 30*) beat Onslow 65 ( S Girling 3-5); Univ 119-4 ( R McKenzie 43*, J Bailey 35) lost to Naenae 121-1; Tawa defaulted to Wainui.Hutt Valley 2A: Taita Red 64 & 71( R Bowater 4-7) lost to Taita Black 167-4; U Hutt 136 & 150 ( Lloyd 35, Dodson 34, Smith 34, S Williams 5-57, Ghandi 4-28) beat S Valley 131 & 132 ( Ghandi 38, Marshall 34, McMichael 4-33, Treder 3-19, Flocktonh 3-35);N Park 169 beat Tokel;au 43 & 99 ( T Lino 30, B eastham 3-13, R Bradbury 3-21); Wainui A 77 & 211-9 ( A Russell 54*,M Asif 3-43) beat Wainui B 83 & 121 ( I Matheson 4-45, M Williams 3-47)2B: S Valley 190 & 162 (Gapper 60, B Smith 31) beat Pet/Riv 107 & 130 ( G Stewart 5-30); Naenae 168-8 & 160-6 (Sandbrook 55*) met U Hutt 158-6d & 55-8 (Arthur 5-24; Taita Black 185-4 & 70-7 (Thompson 30 H McKay 5-36) met Eastbourne 50(Bevan 5-5) & 237 (P Pohio 68*, A Martin 30, Willis 3-17, Bevan 3-39)4A: U Hutt 310-9 ( J Fellows 103, S Fuller 51,C Billmore 43 ,M Boniface 3-54, J Churchman 3-82) met Taita 190 K Dick 34,K Stephen 4-36, G Sanders 3-17) Te Aroha 201 ( S Reeves 87) lost to S Valley 203-6 ( J Williamson 49).4B: U Hutt 209( N Russell 85, M Smithson 33( beat Petone/Riv B 138 ; Naenae Gold 112 ( N Saunders 4-20,P geraghty 3-6) lost to Hutt A 113-4( C Hanson 46); Naenae Soccer 69-7 beat Wainui 67; Petone/Riv A 125 beat E’bourne 90; Hutt B 180( Crichton 41*, M Rennie 4-36) beat S Valley171 ( C Elder 91, Priest 4-16)4C: Hutt defaulted to Te Aroha : U Hutt 144( J Ingle 39, T Walters 33, L Fitzgerald 4-25) lost to Wainui 145-4( M Johanson 47)’ ; Naenae Green 140-9 ( E Chatfield 64) beat Pet/Riv 94(J Noble 5-22); S Valley 171-4 (D Huaki 46, C Wilkinson 44) met Naenae Silver 170-9Wellington2A: Onslow 165 & 218-6( J Chen 37, A McKenzie 61*,B Wallace 35, A Whiteman 3-70) beat Colls 136 & 102 ( A McKenzie 3-12, R Grosvenor 3-26, B Wallace 3-26); Univ 143-7 & 135( G Pointer 4-28, S Rennie 3-26) lost to Easts Panthers 108 & 172-3 ( S Wiringi 62, M Neal 34); SLS 185 & 149 ( C Lokusi 44, A Bull 5-3, M Mahoney 3-45) lost to Easts Roosters 282-3 & 53-0;2B: Onslow 232-6 beat Brooklyn 93 & 93 ( Hughes 3-14)2C: Brooklyn 92 & 93 lost to Univ 180 ( T Grace 4-16) & 6-0; Tawa 95 & 90( M Fowler 3-12, A Parnell 3-20) lost to Onslow 148-7 & 39-0; Karori 186-6 & 67 (Dossett 4-26, Keats 4-31) lost to Mana 140-8 & 116-2(Ruddick 52*)2D: Tawa 253-8 & 159-6 beat Newlands 161 & 108 ( B McIvor 4-8); Easts 85 & 195-8 ( A Ware 68, J Bateson 48, J Johns 34) met SLS 168-9 & 128-7( C Gill 4-19)3A: Easts B 201-6 & 208-1 ( L Corkery 80*, D Garland 63*, P Elenio 44) beat Newlands 193 & 85; Easts A 234-7 & 92-7 (M Vernon 4-40) met Univ A 105 & 241 ( G Parry 52, J Meerman 34, M Vernon 42, J Crook 46, P Ross 5-46); Univ B 136 & 256-7 met Brooklyn 200 ( D Slevin 49) & 87-54A: Onslow B 127 (Newton 3-10,Prain 3-55) lost to Univ 131-4 (Ryan 44, Seed 30); Mana 74-6( Holbrook 32*) beat Sikhs 73 ( T Ramshaw 5-24); Karori 170 ( JK Jones 3-24) lost to Thorndon 172-4 ( K Giles 125*); Onslow A 293-6 ( J Pavey 88, D Adams 44, M Patterson 36*, C Patterson 30) beat Colls 235-7 ( G Neal 63, A Graham 55, G Miller 46)4B: Univ A 317-9 ( M Tait 60, B Robertson 47*, D Marshall 32, D Herd 32,) beat Easts A 94 ( K Ericson 8-15); Onslow B 330-9 ( P Robinson 185* Lu 4-62) metKarori 235 (Lu 54, Fawkes 34*, R Foubister 3-24, A Nexx 3-18); Tawa 212 beat Onslow A 153 ( R Maxwell 49, C Gay 57); Colls 201( S O’Donnell 3-23) beat J’ville 131; Easts B 266-7 (M McKenzie 72, S Daly 35) beat Univ B 177( A Smith 31,); J’ville B 73-0(D Hutchings 53*) beat Karori B 70

Close India 362 for 6 (Ganguly 144, Laxman 75) lead Australia 323 by 39 runs
Scorecard

India had a day they could be proud of at the Gabba. Sterling performances from Sourav Ganguly (144) and VVS Laxman (75) went a long way in assuaging the pain of seeing Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar dismissed for only a run between them. There was a passage in play between lunch and tea when India were well and truly on top. Australia’s bowlers were under pressure, the field was spread and India’s traditional strength, their batting, came to the fore. India reached 362 for 6, a lead of 39, with one day left in the game.When the day began, with India on 11 for no loss, there was still plenty of work to be done. Steve Waugh unleashed Australia’s bowling firepower on a bright, sunny day, but India had answers to most of the questions asked of them. Akash Chopra and Virender Sehwag looked the part at the top of the order.Sehwag made the most of Andy Bichel’s ordinary spell earlier on, driving and flicking with confidence. It was only the full, swinging deliveries outside the off stump that created trouble. He was dropped by Damien Martyn off Nathan Bracken in just the fourth over of the day. But, Bracken had his revenge, and first Test wicket, later on, when Sehwag’s flashing drive resulted in an edge to Matthew Hayden in the slip cordon (61 for 1). Hayden wrapped his hands gratefully around the ball, and ended Sehwag’s breezy 45.Soon after, Gillespie imposed himself on the game. He tricked Rahul Dravid (1) into poking at a delivery that swung, seamed away and kissed the edge on the way to Hayden at slip (62 for 2). In the same over came the moment that Steve Bucknor will be reminded about by every Indian supporter he comes across in the rest of his life.

Gillespie let rip a quick one on the stumps. Tendulkar picked up the length of the ball early and shouldered arms in the firm knowledge that the ball would clear the stumps. As the ball thudded into pad, Gillespie, wild mullet flapping in the wind and fire in the eyes, went up in appeal. Bucknor looked back blankly till Gillespie gave up hope, and then raised his finger. Tendulkar gone for a duck, 63 for 3, and suddenly talk about the follow-on target of 124 seemed valid.But Ganguly did not entertain any such negative thoughts. He hit the crease running, and drove through the off side with the panache that once prompted Dravid to say, “in the off side there is God, and then there is Ganguly.” He leaned into the line of ball, not necessarily moving his feet in exaggerated fashion, and stroked, nay caressed, the ball to the fence. The timing was spot on, and soon the placement matched it.Even the fall of Chopra, in the first over after lunch, for a well-made 36, once again to the firm of Hayden and Gillespie (127 for 4) did not slow down Ganguly. For that, much credit must go to Laxman. When Laxman played a characteristic swivel-pull, that left square leg dead in his place, for four, it seemed as though he was batting on a hundred. There were several more gorgeous shots, fit for a king. There was the flick off the hips, the on-drive and the backfoot punch through covers.When Ganguly brought up his century with a sweep off Stuart MacGill, a well of emotion poured forth. Under pressure, against the best side in the world in their backyard, the captain of India had come good. It sent out a strong signal and did much to set up the series.Laxman, another man who has been under needless pressure in recent times, was out in the middle to share the moment with his captain. Sadly, even though he himself looked good enough for a hundred, Laxman gave his wicket away, completely against the grain of play. He sliced a short, slightly wide delivery from MacGill straight to Simon Katich at point (273 for 5). Laxman had made an elegant 75, laced with 11 delectable boundaries.Unfazed, Ganguly carried on in the company of Parthiv Patel (37 not out) and racked up 144, with 18 boundaries, before he holed out to Gillespie off MacGill (329 for 6). By this stage, India had taken the lead, and stretched it to 39 when play was called off due to bad light.Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Sri Lanka A 301 for 3 (Arnold 96*, Jayantha 92) beat India A 300 for 8 (Gambhir 113) by 7 wickets
Scorecard
The things confidence can do. Sri Lanka A, buoyed by a gritty victory in the recent third Test, ran all over India A at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in the first one-dayer of the Kenstar Tournament, which also involves Pakistan’s A team. A target of 301 was achieved with two overs – and more emphatically, seven wickets – to spare.Russel Arnold (96*) and Saman Jayantha (92) could not quite reach centuries, but they scored rapidly, and helped the team achieve a monumental target with ease. Naveed Nawaz, who captained Sri Lanka A in the Tests, highlighted the inadequacies of the Indian attack, slamming 57 in 44 balls with three sixes and four fours.An early breakthrough by Sanjay Bangar – dismissing Shantha Kalavitigoda – when Sri Lanka A were on 39 was an encouraging start, but it all went downhill from there. Jehan Mubarak came out and toyed with the bowling, putting 25 on the board before Sairaj Bahutule struck him on the pads in front (76 for 2). Jayantha and Arnold then went about scoring runs as if they were going out of fashion until, 126 runs later, Jayantha fell to Dinesh Mongia’s part-time left-arm spin (202 for 3). Then came Nawaz, and there went the game.The Sri Lankan innings, from start to finish, was one continuous assault and nothing anyone did could stop the flow of runs. Consider this: Amit Bhandari bowled six overs for 41 runs, and his replacement, Munaf Patel, gave away 49 in five. Bangar went at five an over, and Bahutule’s legspin close to that. Even Sarandeep Singh went for 54 in 10 – no matter who bowled, the runs wouldn’t stop.Earlier Gautam Gambhir had scored a sparkling century to power India to 300, but even that was a below-par total considering the phenomenal start. With 11 hits to the fence, and one beyond it, Gambhir stamped his authority on the bowlers, while Mohammad Kaif (71) ran a lot, not bothering too much about the boundaries. The rest of the batsmen didn’t do a great deal, though Mongia did hold the tail together and was unbeaten on 23 at the end of the innings.Nuwan Zoysa, opening the bowling for Sri Lanka A, took the wickets of Hemang Badani and Bahutule, but gave away 81 runs, 24 of them through extras (18 no-balls and six wides). Rangana Herath was the hardest to get away, going for only 45 in 10 – very economical in the context of such a high-scoring game – and dismissing Kaif in the process.Sri Lanka A take on Pakistan A at Kolkata tomorrow in the next match of the series.

50 overs India A 324 for 4 (Mongia 116, Sriram 92) beat England A 269 for 9 (Napier 61, Bahutule 3-49) by 55 runs
Scorecard

Despite a public roasting from their coach, Rod Marsh, England A crashed to their third tour defeat in a row, as India A overwhelmed them by 55 runs in Bangalore.After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, England were filleted by a 209-run second-wicket partnership between Sridharan Sriram (92) and India’s World Cup finalist Dinesh Mongia, who top-scored with 116. When Mithun Manhas followed up with a brisk 42 not out, India had posted a formidable total of 324 for 4 in their 50 overs.In mitigation, England were without two of their key players. Simon Jones continues to ease his way back to full fitness and missed the match with a sore knee, while their captain Alex Gidman was also forced to look on from the sidelines, after injuring his hand prior to England’s arrival. In his absence, the captaincy passed to James Tredwell.There were few silver linings in England’s fielding performance. Although Sajid Mahmood claimed the wickets of both openers, Mongia and Gautam Gambhir, his 10 overs disappeared for 58 runs. And the back-up bowling was flogged – Bilal Shafayat and Kevin Pietersen bowled five overs between them, and conceded 46.In response, Essex’s Graham Napier top-scored with 61, and Tredwell – primarily a bowler – rose to the occasion with 48 not out, but it was a forlorn pursuit. The pair added 75 for the eighth wicket after Sairaj Bahutule had grabbed three early wickets to reduce England to 175 for 7.Although England had started promisingly through the efforts of Ed Smith (30) and Matt Prior (41), the middle order fared poorly with Pietersen, Michael Lumb and Kadeer Ali contributing 21 runs between them. There was little but pride to play for by the end, as they were restricted to 269 for 9.

Central Zone 154 and 22 for 0 trail North Zone 249 (Manhas 68, Hirwani 4-62) by 73 runs
Scorecard
Mithun Manhas lead the way with a patient 68 as North Zone gained a crucial 95-run lead against Central Zone at Gurgaon.Aakash Chopra (33) and Yuvraj Singh (46) began the day with a solid partnership off 66. Kulamani Parida, the offspinner who is in contention to replace Harbhajan Singh for the upcoming series against Pakistan, broke the stand when he had Yuvraj stumped, and when Dinesh Mongia and Chopra fell soon after North were struggling on 110 for 4.But Ajay Ratra joined Manhas in a fifth-wicket stand of 103 as North eased past the modest Central score – both took a cautious approach and their partnership used up 37.3 overs. Narendra Hirwani was the most successful bowler for Central with 4 for 62.Sanjay Bangar and Gagan Khoda, the Central Zone openers, survived seven overs before the close.

Bangladesh 257 for 9 (Naeem 66, Nafis 59) beat Australia 249 (Enamul 5-31) by eight runs
Scorecard

Bangladesh have won the final of the Under-19 Plate Championship, after edging out the overwhelming favourites Australia by eight runs in a thrilling match at Fatullah.After batting first, Bangladesh posted an impressive total of 257 for 9, thanks to a rock-solid start from their top-three batsmen, Nafis Iqbal, Naeem Islam and Aftab Ahmed, all of whom scored half-centuries. The lower-order couldn’t quite build on that start, but it proved to be sufficient as Enamul Haque sliced through Australia’s batting with 5 for 31, including two wickets in the decisive final over.Over 15,000 fans provided continuous vocal support for the Bangladeshis, with a pulsating rhythm of beating drums adding to the atmosphere. Throughout the tournament Bangladesh had been bowling well but it was their batting that had let them down. When it mattered most, however, every aspect clicked together.After winning the toss and batting first, Nafis and Naeem got Bangladesh off to a dream start, putting on 124 for the first wicket before Nafis was caught and bowled by Stephen O’Keefe for 59. Islam went on to a well-paced 66 before being bowled by Australia’s captain, Tim Paine, but Aftab maintained the tempo with 57 from 58 balls. With 10 overs to go, Bangladesh were 204 for 2 and motoring.But inevitably, Australia fought back in the closing overs, with five different bowlers picking up wickets. Even so, Bangladesh’s total was – on paper – ample. No side in the tournament had successfully chased 250, and at 108 for 5 in the 27th over, Australia looked dead and buried.But then Ahillen Beadle and Stephen O’Keefe rallied Australia, as the nerves set in for Bangladesh’s bowlers. Both men passed fifty to tilt the balance in Australia’s favour, but then three run-outs in four balls changed the match. It plunged Australia from 233 for 5 to 235 for 8 and suddenly they needed 23 runs from 15 balls.But Enamul, who made his Test debut against England last year, held his nerve to wrap up a sensational victory. However, Bangladesh’s Australian coach Richard McInnes refused to get carried away. “Once we realized we weren’t going to make it to the Super League we wanted to make sure we won the Plate Championship,” said McInnes. “To be honest I thought we should have scored more runs than we did, but 180 for 2 was a new situation for us and we will learn from it for the future.”At one stage it looked like it might be a repeat of the New Zealand game and in the middle overs we didn’t bowl well, but I’m pleased to say that this time we managed to win the match with some very good fielding and bowling at the death.”Australia’s coach Bennett King was full of praise for the victors. “Congratulations to Bangladesh, they played well. It was a high pressure situation and it could have gone either way and on this occasion we lost the match,” he said. “We have several promising players but they’ve still got a lot to learn.”

Sharad Ghai, the chairman of the Kenyan Cricket Association, has called on the International Cricket Council to push for Kenya to be given more matches against major nations, arguing that the lack of exposure is hampering their development.”How are we expected to improve without a chance to play the likes of Australia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, England, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh?" he asked. "You can see the progress Bangladesh has made because they have a chance to play the top teams.”Ghai added that Kenya only has seven guaranteed one-day internationals ahead of the 2007 World Cup. Since reaching the semi-finals of the 2003 tournament a year ago, Kenya have played three ODIs – all in Sharjah – against leading countries. They have also met Sri Lanka A as well as participating in the Caribbbean’s Carib Beer Series.The next competitive matches will be against Pakistan A and India A in Nairobi in August.The KCA has severe financial difficulties and is still seeking a major sponsor to fund either the senior team or any of the domestic competitions.

Ehsan Mani has criticised the Zimbabwe rebel players for adopting what he calls a “high-risk” approach. He said that the dissident players were making it more difficult to find a permanent solution to the crisis that has rocked Zimbabwean cricket.However, Wisden Cricinfo understands that the players are angry and disappointed that the ICC has made no attempt to speak to them and hear their side of the story, and appears to have relied entirely on what they have been told by the ZCU. There is a strong feeling among the rebel players that the ICC statement was heavily biased in favour of the board.In a statement in London on Wednesday, Mani spoke about how this approach could end of the players’ careers and affect any team that Zimbabwe put together in the future.”I am not going to pass comment on the rights or wrongs of what has happened in this case, but what is clear is that by walking out on their teammates on the eve of a Test match, the rebels have placed Tatenda Taibu and his team in an invidious position. I am concerned that even if an agreement is now reached between the ZCU and the rebel players, this tactic of walking out on their teammates could irreparably split the dressing room, making a lasting solution even more difficult to find.”Mani added that disputes between players and administrators in any country should be sorted out at the local level. “If the rebels believe that walking out will result in other countries interfering in Zimbabwean cricket, I think that they have been very badly advised. Many of our members have faced similar issues and are very strongly of the view that the only way to find a solution is at the local level.”

The Pakistan board is trying to schedule a one-day series in India before the team embarks on their tour to Australia in December 2004. The News, a Pakistan daily, quoted sources from the Pakistan board who said that Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, and Rameez Raja, its chief executive, were keen to ensure a series in India, or arrange a tournament in Sharjah.”The idea is to either convince the Indian cricket board to ensure Pakistan’s participation in a one-day series in India or to ask the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series to organise a tournament [in Sharjah],” the newspaper quoted the source as saying. “The Pakistan team will then be playing at home in October against Zimbabwe and probably another team in a Test and one-day series, while they embark on the Australian tour from early December. But November remains free for the national team.”Pakistan recently hosted India in a Test and one-day series for the first time since 1989, and a return series is due next year. Meanwhile, the crowded international calendar has also meant that Sharjah hasn’t hosted a showpiece event since April 2003, when, in a low-profile event immediately following the World Cup, Pakistan put it across Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Kenya, the two other teams involved in a quadrangular tournament.