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Sandeep Patil, the India A coach, has revealed that he recommended Dinesh Karthik ahead of MS Dhoni when consulted by the national selection panel before they picked the squad for India’s three one-day tournaments. Patil, speaking to Wisden Cricinfo from his Shivaji Park residence in Mumbai, believes that Karthik would make an ideal No. 6 for both Tests and one-dayers. But that’s not all: Patil also unearths a medium-pacer who takes five-fors on flat decks, and an opener who scores big:

How would you compare Karthik and Dhoni?
I feel Dinesh Karthik is an ideal No. 6 batsman for Tests and one-dayers, and he is in the mould of Adam Gilchrist, Moin Khan and Romesh Kaluwitharana – who can win a match on his own. I can’t say the same thing about the other Indian wicketkeepers in the recent past. If Karthik is given the same number of chances as Parthiv Patel, I will be proved right. I recommended Karthik to the selectors, but it was a very close call. Dhoni is also a safe wicketkeeper, and Dhoni produced two brilliant hundreds. Geoffrey Boycott wasn’t impressed with Dhoni in the training camp at Bangalore, but I told him not to get discouraged since his style was unique.Sairaj Bahutule was the star performer. But where do you see his career going from here on?
He is dead serious to play for India. In fact, he told me that “I will definitely play for India now.” He led Mumbai last season, and suddenly he has taken the step that he has to do something extra to replace Anil Kumble. He got a chance when Kumble was injured – now he wants to replace Kumble when he is bowling well.Who were the other players to catch your eye?
The two surprise packages of the tour were Dhoni and Dheeraj Jadhav [the opening batsman from Maharashtra who topped the batting charts last season]. I had heard that Jadhav was slow with his run-scoring, but he scored almost 160 in a day against Kenya. He smashed a hundred in a session the next day and finished on 260 not out. I wouldn’t put him ahead of Aakash Chopra, but he poses a big threat.And the bowlers?
Bahutule was fantastic, but Shib Shankar Paul was another surprise performer. He got five wickets consistently on really flat wickets in Harare. People say that players from weaker states make it to the side through the back door. But Paul proved that wrong with his performance.Any disappointments at all?
Munaf Patel, the fast bowler from Mumbai, was a big disappointment. He developed a shoulder injury and I see it more of a mental problem than physical. The physio checked Munaf and said everything was OK. But he could not bowl and finish his spells. He played one-and-a-half matches in a one-and-a-half-month tour.Do you think the quality of the reserve team is getting closer to that of the national team?
Last year, six players from the A team played for the senior team. This year, Karthik has played. This tells me that this concept is working out well. If any senior player has to be replaced, there is a ready substitute available.What about the fitness standards of the players?
I would still say that they are more gym-fit than match-fit. There is no need of going to the gym after you score a 200 or take five wickets. They will be better off if the same energy can be used in a match to score a fifty or take three wickets.What about your own future as a coach?
I get appointed only on a tour-to-tour basis. For the past one year, I have been asking BCCI to inform me in advance so that I can plan my own programme. But it is not happening. When India A played against New Zealand at Rajkot last year, the board secretary called me on the eve of the match and asked me to join the team. That is unfair.

Alec Stewart has criticised the decision to allow county teams to pick two overseas players each, saying that England’s chances of international success had been damaged”We’ve got two top-class overseas internationals at Surrey this year in [Pakistanis] Azhar Mahmood and Saqlain Mushtaq,” Stewart told Monday’s edition of the London Evening Standard. “But for the good of English cricket I would like only one per team, especially when you consider some counties already have several players who can earn a living here because they hold European passports but are noteligible for our England teams.”Stewart, England’s most-capped player in both Test (126 matches) andone-day internationals (170 matches), said the situation had changedradically since he was a young player at The Oval, 22 seasons ago.”When I started out, counties could have two overseas players. But we’re talking about some of the greats, such as Malcolm Marshall and Gordon Greenidge at Hampshire and Viv Richards and Joel Garner with Somerset. Now there are not 36 top-class star players available to the 18 counties because of the amount of international cricket being played around the world all year round.””So people are simply signing players for the sake of signing them. What they should be saying is `let’s get the best available and then try to turn a promising English player into a very good player’. We are the only country that imports really. All I want is for us to be the best and I don’t think we should be helping other countries too much atour expense.”Stewart’s England place has been up for discussion ahead of next week’sfirst Test against Zimbabwe at Lord’s. Some pundits have suggested that now is the moment to end Stewart’s long international career, with Chris Read and James Foster the favourites to take his place.But Stewart is well-used to being written off: “England should now look to the future for the one-dayers. But as for the Tests, pick me.”The squad is due to be announced on Saturday.

Middlesex batsmen Simon Cook and James Dalrymple fashioned an unlikely Middlesex victory with a vicious late assault on the Hampshire bowling at the Rose Bowl.Cook and Dalrymple smashed 65 in only six overs as Hampshire threw away a winning position of their own and leaves them outsiders for promotion with only one match to play.Cook was merciless as Hampshire fell away under the barrage. Even their England bowler Alan Mullally came in for some heavy punishment with 19 runs coming off his penultimate over as 35 came from the last 13 balls of the match.A Middlesex victory looked remote when Paul Weekes was fifth out at 151 leaving Middlesex needing 70 to win in six overs. But then Cook and Dalrymple got going to ensure a Middlesex victory by four wickets and with five balls to spare.Earlier Giles White and John Francis each scored half-centuries as Hampshire built a solid total of 220 for 9. Weekes took three leg wickets to finish with three for 37 while White’s 59 was his top score in the competition this season. Francis confirmed his potential with an unbeaten 57, which was made off 83 balls.There was nothing about the start to the Middlesex innings, which suggested alarm for Hampshire later with Andrew Strauss and John Maunders dispatched with 30 on the board.Owais Shah and Irishman Ed Joyce put together a stand of 98 for the third wicket but in 22 overs and once Shah had gone for a brisk 69 off 100 balls, he was swiftly followed by Joyce who gave Shaun Udal a comfortable return catch.This merely opened the way for big-hitting Cook and the inexperienced Dalrymple to seize the initiative from Hampshire and although Dalrymple was out in Chris Tremlett’s last over the damage was done.David Nash was at the other end as Cook struck Mullally’s first delivery at the last over for four to complete Hampshire’s humiliation.

The State selectors have included Jo Angel in the Western Warriors teamto play the SA Redbacks, for the ING Cup game at the Adelaide Oval thisFriday.Angel returns to the Western Warriors ING Cup team to replace BradOldroyd, who has been ruled unfit to play, due to concussion.Oldroyd suffered concussion following a collision with Peter McIntyre,while bowling during the Warrior’s outright victory over the Redbacks,in the Pura Cup game at the Adelaide Oval earlier today.As a precautionary measure, Warriors Team Manager Ron Bowe, followingthe collision, took Oldroyd to hospital. Oldroyd has suffered concussionat least three times previously.Bowe will monitor Oldroyd’s condition during the next twenty-four hourperiod following the injury. Another appraisal of his condition will bemade at 10.00am tomorrow morning.Warriors Team – ING Cup:

• SIMON KATICH (Capt)
• MICHAEL HUSSEY (Vice Capt)
• JO ANGEL
• RYAN CAMPBELL
• MURRAY GOODWIN
• KADE HARVEY
• STUART KARPPINEN
• BRAD HOGG
• MATT NICHOLSON
• MARCUS NORTH
• CHRIS ROGERS
• BRAD WILLIAMS

Group A

Habib Bank needed only 18.3 overs on the final day to defeat Pakistan Customs by 262 runs in their first-round Group A Quaid-e-Azam Championship match at the National Bank of Pakistan Stadium.Having reduced Pakistan Customs to 77 for 5 on the third day, Habib Bank began the final day with 308 runs to defend. By the end, Pakistan Customs captain Rehan Rafiq was left holding fort. He batted for over three hours and faced 112 deliveries for his unbeaten 43 as Pakistan Customs were bowled out for 122.The wickets were evenly spread among Habib Bank’s bowlers. Danish Kaneria stood out with figures of 3 for 21 from 11 overs. Fast bowler Fahad Masood took 3 for 30 in 12 overs while Kamran Hussain followed his 5 for 30 in the first innings with 2 for 38. Former Test fast bowler Irfan Fazil got 2 for 28.Habib Bank will now travel to Hyderabad to play their second-round match against the home side at the Niaz Stadium from Friday. Pakistan Customs will play against first-class debutants Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), in their next four-day match at the NBP Sports Complex Stadium.Afsar Nawaz scored a splendid hundred to take Karachi Whites to a 50-run lead in the first innings against Hyderabad, on the final day at the Niaz Stadium. The match, however, ended in a dull draw.Resuming on 386 for 7, Karachi Whites went past Hyderabad’s 409 and finished on 459. This gave them three points from the match. In their second innings, Hyderabad batted out time and scored 229 for 6.Nawaz, who has been playing first-class cricket for a decade now, scored his seventh century. His 108 runs came off 211 balls in just under five hours. Fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed, who scored 50 off 48 balls with nine fours, added 93 runs for the eighth wicket with Nawaz and took Karachi Whites closer to Hyderabad’s total. A partnership of 51 between Nawaz and Tabish Nawab (10) for the ninth wicket secured the first-innings lead.Hyderabad’s centurion Rizwan Ahmed also got among the wickets. He picked up 4 for 147 in 42 overs with his legbreaks. In Hyderabad’s second innings, Zahid Khan and captain Hanif Malik added 122 for the third wicket. Zahid scored 80 off only 95 balls while Malik contributed 64.After making a century for Karachi Whites, Nawaz went on to take a career-best of 3 for 19 runs off 10 overs.

Group B

Rawalpindi beat Karachi Blues by a convincing margin of 152 runs on the final day of their Group B Quaid-e-Azam Championship match at the United Bank Limited ground.Needing 230 to win, Karachi Blues were bowled out for 77 inside 39 overs after a sub-standard batting display. Only three batsmen reached double-figures and the wrecker-in-chief was fast bowler Rizwan Akbar, who took 4 for 37, and finished the match with figures of 9 for 84. Mohammad Ayaz, another fast bowler, showed promise on his first-class debut, taking 2 for 38 and 2 for 10.

Australia are sweating on the fitness of Glenn McGrath ahead of tomorrow’s second Test against England at Adelaide. McGrath, who took seven wickets in last week’s Gabba Test including 6 for 50 in the first innings, has been struggling with a bruised heel since the mid-point of that first Test. He did not bowl in yesterday’s net session and played only a minor part in an optional work-out at the Adelaide Oval this morning, and a decision on his fitness will be deferred until tomorrow morning.”It is only a blister and you’d pretty much have to amputate his foot to keep him out of this game,” insisted Ricky Ponting, but there was no doubting the concern in the Australia camp. In the absence of their injured allrounder Shane Watson, Australia are committed to a four-bowler strategy for a match that traditionally favours the batsmen, and Ponting was adamant that there would be no gambles in their selection.”We aren’t going to be able to go into the Test match [with McGrath] unless he’s 100 percent,” Ponting said. “It’s as simple as that. We have to rely on him getting right through the game at his best. With the team balance, we can’t afford to be carrying any bowlers whatsoever. Glenn has to be able to give me what I require of him through the course of the game, and if he can’t then a few more questions will be asked.”McGrath was scheduled to have a further net session later in the day, at the request of the team physiotherapist, Alex Kountouris. “It’s important that he gets a good bowl in today, and wakes up well tomorrow,” said Ponting. “He’s aware of that already and the physio’s spoken to him. It will be hard to keep him out, but he’ll know within himself if he’s not right.”England’s captain, Andrew Flintoff, dismissed any notion that McGrath’s absence would give his side a psychological boost, but the fact remains that in the 2005 Ashes Australia lost both matches that McGrath missed, most notably the corresponding match of the series at Edgbaston. England were again 1-0 down in the series, but when McGrath ricked his ankle on a stray cricket ball on the morning of the match, England’s unfettered batsmen cantered to 407 runs in the first day.McGrath needed two pain-killing injections to get through the Brisbane Test, and Ponting remained optimistic that the problem would be sorted before the toss tomorrow. “Once he’d had an injection at Brisbane he was absolutely pain-free, and me knowing that means there shouldn’t be too much interruption at all through the game,” he said. “But hopefully he will come up alright today and we won’t have to worry about injections”I don’t see why it would get any worse. He’s had this callus on his heel for about 15 years of his career. It got worse last year, but he’s seen a podiatrist and changed his inner soles and shoes to take the pressure away. We hope he comes through with flying colours today.”Even so, Australia have yet to release either of their reserve seamers, Mitchell Johnson or Shaun Tait, from the 13-man squad. McGrath’s absence would be doubly destabilising for Australia given the wayward performance of Brett Lee at Brisbane, something that Ponting attributed to the slippery nature of the popping crease at the Gabba.”Troy Cooley’s had a good session with Brett, working on his run-up and rhythm,” said Ponting. “He was forced to go wide of the crease in Brisbane because he couldn’t keep his front foot and that was in the back of his mind up there. But did steam in in the nets yesterday, and bowled at a very good pace.”

Division One

Points Table

On the third day at Canterbury, Nottinghamshire declared on 486 for 6 against Kent, adding 31 to their overnight total. Kent started promisingly with an opening stand of 66 between David Fulton and Robert Key, but Mark Ealham dismissed both openers as Kent lost five wickets in just eleven overs. Graeme Swann was then brought into the attack; he had Martin van Jaarsveld caught behind for 9 and, the very next ball, bowled Darren Stevens to leave Kent reeling on 99 for 4. Swann failed to pick up his hat-trick, but did add to his two wickets by trapping Matt Walker leg-before for 11. Neil Dexter, making his home debut for Kent, and Niall O’Brien halted Nottinghamshire’s march by producing an undefeated partnership of 129, with Dexter reaching 79 and O’Brien 56. Kent finished the day on 237 for 5, exactly 100 runs adrift of the follow-on target.ECB chief executive David Collier, who was previously Notts’ chief executive, plans to attend the game tomorrow if Notts are able to take the 15 more wickets they need to secure the title. Notts need 21 points from this game in order to take an unbeatable lead over the other three teams, all of whom were title contenders when this penultimate round of matches began.
Robert Croft took five wickets for Glamorgan, who bowled Hampshire out for 350 on the second day at Cardiff. After yesterday’s play was washed out without a ball being bowled, eleven wickets fell and there were four fifties. Winning the toss and choosing to bat, Hampshire got off to a solid start with Jimmy Adams making 71, and Australian Simon Katich also reaching his half-century. Despite Croft’s five wickets, Hampshire’s 350 was compiled in 95 overs – and Dan Cherry fell to the second ball of Glamorgan’s reply, when he edged Richard Logan to Nic Pothas.

Division Two

Points TableHaving lost the entire day to rain on Thursday, Northamptonshire declared on 414 for 7 against Durham, who then lost six wickets for just 171. Robert White took 4 for 38 and Dale Benkenstein struck 41.On the first day of Derbyshire’s match against Yorkshire at Derby, the home side were dismissed for just 216. Ian Harvey was the chief destroyer, picking up 5 for 40, with Steve Stubbings top-scoring with 63. Matthew Wood (50*) and Joe Sayers (46) opened Yorkshire’s reply and reached 113, before Sayers was bowled by Graeme Welch.

Jason Gillespie, who took 2 for 20 today, said that Shane Warne would have plenty of opportunities to take wickets tomorrow. "Shane is a quality bowler," he said. "He could extract something out of the wicket even though there is not a lot of rough on it. There is a lot of assistance for the bowlers if you can put the ball in the right spot. It still has got bounce, which is important. There is enough in it to keep you very interested."Gillespie added that Australia will be looking at every opportunity to force a win, and that anything over 350 would be hard to get. However, John Dyson, Sri Lanka’s coach, was sceptical of Warne gaining much assistance from the pitch. "This wicket has not been as friendly to spin bowling as the ones back in Sri Lanka," Dyson claimed. "Obviously the batsmen reckon it is a little bit easier to play Shane than some of the other pitches they’ve faced him on."Assessing the situation of the game, Dyson said: "It is very much in favour of the Australians. They can dictate what happens. We’ve got to try like crazy to limit their scoring and make it extremely difficult for them to score." He continued, "I think we did pretty well after tea for a while, then [Damien] Martyn came out and played a superb innings at the finish."At the start of the day I was hopeful of getting a lead and unfortunately it didn’t work that way," he added. "[Thilan] Samaraweera batted extremely well to get us where we finished up. It was unfortunate to lose Kalu [Kaluwitharana] early and a little disappointing with the tail. In the last nine months we had a few matches where the tail had really kicked. Unfortunately it didn’t today."

Adaptability has become a byword for New Zealand teams over the last 10 years, and it will be required again of the side captain Stephen Fleming leads into the first Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.For a country, headed only by Zimbabwe as the least-resourced in terms of player numbers in the cricket world, New Zealand have had to demonstrate their quick-fix, or in the local vernacular, their No 8 wire mentality where doing things on the cheap has become an art form, time and again.Injuries hit a country like New Zealand hard. When they involve key players, they are a double loss – not only for their own value for their contribution of skill and experience but also because their replacements tend to be still finding their feet while attempting to learn their craft at international level.The absence of key players has been probably the one constant in Fleming’s 49-Test career as captain.He’s learned how to cope and even if he doesn’t enjoy not having his first choice firepower to call on, he at least understands the problems his newer charges are having.So it is again, as New Zealand go into a match, in the tough conditions expected in Sri Lanka at this time of year, without Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan – only the latter missing on matters of form rather than injury.For all that, the use of stand-ins over the years has given New Zealand a wider pool of players to have at least experienced more than a few Tests, and it is drawing on this resource to get results that will determine the fate of Fleming’s men in this series.In all respects, runs are the greatest requirement, and they have been the most inconsistent aspect of New Zealand’s play throughout their Test history.Nothing has changed. Fleming needs to continue on the scoring spate that has marked his play of the past summer. Mark Richardson needs to maintain his Test average of 47.17, if not improve on it. Matt Horne needs to regain the touch of a few years ago when at least one century a Test series was not too much to ask. Mathew Sinclair needs to remind his side’s supporters why he has scored two double centuries in Tests.To do that in Sri Lanka means coming to grips with spin challenge that will be mounted by the home team with Muttiah Muralitharan leading the way. In recent times, New Zealand have done better against spin bowling than might earlier have been the case in its history. Doing it again will be a key again this time around.The bowling attack is possibly stronger than has been fielded in Sri Lanka since the days of Richard Hadlee and his supporting metronome in Ewen Chatfield.Shane Bond gives Fleming an artillery barrage considerably more powerful than in recent times. Whether Ian Butler gets the chance to support him, and to build on his still developing international stature, will be determined on the choice of bowling attack for the match.It is certain that Daryl Tuffey will open with Bond, and probably fit more into the support-type role for the fast man that was so successful for Hadlee and Chatfield.Daniel Vettori has already shown his appetite for the action that will make his tour and he should offer New Zealand the chance to at least gain some semblance of parity in the spin-bowling stakes.Paul Wiseman may partner him with his off-spin if Butler is not chosen. Should Wiseman get his chance, it may well be a career-defining opportunity for him.The New Zealanders know they are unfashionable on the world Test front, and they know their status as third-ranked side on the International Cricket Council Test Championship table is under-rated by many.Fleming is especially conscious of this. But at the same time, he knows New Zealand have gained results worthy of that standing. They have been unbeaten in a Test series in Australia, they have beaten the West Indies away, they have beaten England and Zimbawe away. They have beaten India and the West Indies at home and they have shared series with England and Pakistan at home.If they can win the first Test of this series, they will have enhanced their position on the Test ladder.Most countries would be fearing the worst with players like Cairns, Astle and McMillan missing, but New Zealand go into the first Test far from an already beaten unit.

* BCCI’s letter seeking India’s participation in ATC reaches MEAThe Sports Ministry has forwarded the letter from the Board of Controlfor Cricket in India, asking for the Government’s permission to playagainst Pakistan at Karachi in the Asian Test Championship (ATC) matchin September, to the Ministry of External Affairs which will take afinal decision on the issue.Sports Minister Uma Bharti said on Friday that her ministry hadreceived BCCI’s letter dated July 26 and forwarded it to the MEA whichwill take a final decision in consultation with the Ministry of HomeAffairs. BCCI president AC Muthiah met Bharti on Friday to know theGovernment’s response to the letter. “She (Bharti) told me that thematter was under consideration,” Muthiah said after the meeting.”The Government has already said that it would allow the team to playagainst Pakistan in multi-lateral tournaments but a final decision onATC was still to be taken,” he said, adding that he expected thedecision by the third week of this month.To a suggestion whether India and Pakistan can play the ATC match at aneutral venue like Colombo, Muthiah said it would be unacceptable. “Ifwe don’t play Pakistan in Karachi, the tournament will have to becalled off. Pakistan wants us to play in their country. We also wantPakistan to come to India,” he said.* Utpal to lead CAB in Buchi Babu tourneyVeteran left arm spinner Utpal Chatterjee will lead CricketAssociation of Bengal in the All India Buchi Babu invitation crickettournament to be played at Chennai from August 12.The following are the other members of the team: Ritesh Jaiswal(wicket keeper), Rohan Gavaskar, Amitava Chakrabarty, SaikatMukherjee, Subhamoy Das, Souvik Mukherjee, Subhradeep Ganguly, SanjibSanyal, Sourashish Lahiri, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Shib Shankar Paul,Sabir Ali and Pradipta Majumder. Stand bye: Soumen Singh. Coach:Karsan Ghavri. Manager: Dipen Rudra.In case Ghavri, who is now in Mumbai attending to his ailing mother,cannot make the trip to Chennai, Dattatreya Mukherjee will take up thecoaching responsibility. The team will leaves Kolkata on August 13.CAB play their first match against ONGC from August 16.* Hyderabad CA team for Buchi Babu tourneyA Nanda Kishore will lead Hyderabad Cricket Association in the AllIndia Buchi Babu invitation cricket tournament to be held at Chennaifrom August 12.The other members of the team are: Arvind Shetty, Anirudh Singh, DVinay Kumar, N Arjun Yadav, J Shivaji Yadav, Mohd. Ibrahim Khaleel,Noel David, Fatima Reddy, Mohd. Ghouse, T Suman, S Vishnu Vardhan, ATRayudu, Ahmed Quadri, B Anoop Pai. Manager: Girish Rao. Coach: ArshadAyub.HCA start their campaign with a first round match against MRF to beplayed from August 16.