Harbhajan Singh has escaped any major disciplinary actions for his comments about Greg Chappell as the Punjab Cricket Association let him off with an advice “to exercise caution while talking to media.”The PCA had summoned him for a hearing over his comments, made on September 25, that Chappell’s strict regime had instilled fears and insecurity among members of the Indian team and that the Australian was using a divide and rule policy.After the hearing by the administrative committee the PCA president, I S Bindra, said that the bowler was told that his action was “not in line with the code of the Indian Board and the state association.”Harbhajan was given the reprieve apparently after he tendered an apology to the committee. Bindra added: “In hindsight he has realised he should have avoided airing his views the way he did in public.”Harbhajan was not allowed to take questions from the large number of media present. A statement released by the PCA said: “Harbhajan appeared before the administrative committee of the PCA to explain what he actually meant to say in his statement (on) Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy and on the coach Chappell’s working.”The administrative committee has decided to treat the matter as closed after Harbhajan has assured the PCA that he would never again do anything that would hurt him, the state association, the board and Indian cricket.”

After Pakistan’s resounding win over India, their fourth on the trot, Inzamam-ul-Haq gave credit to Salman Butt and the coach, and said that while Harbhajan Singh bowled well, the dew caused India problems later in the day.Butt, whose unbeaten hundred led Pakistan to victory, came in for praise from Inzamam. “We have got a very good opener in Salman Butt,” he was quoted as saying by UNI. “He looks [a good prospect] for our team. It was really a difficult target, but our openers kept their cool and pursued it with patience.”In a now-common doffing of the hat to Bob Woolmer, Inzamam said, “With Woolmer joining as coach we are working much more and that has led to the high confidence level we have now. We have also developed our fielding which has led to improved performance in difficult ground conditions.”His counterpart, Sourav Ganguly, was clearly disturbed by the loss. “We never looked like winning the game,” PTI quoted Ganguly as saying. “They took the game away from us.” He said that dew was a factor, but Pakistan’s performance was better on the day. “There was a bit of dew. It is expected at this time of the year. But I think they played better than us. They have beaten us four times in a row, obviously they have been playing better than us.”But Ganguly gave credit to batsmen on both sides, saying that his batsmen were “outstanding”, but that Pakistan “batted very well”.

New Zealand’s cricket team left for South Africa on Monday, pointing to speedster Shane Bond as a key to combatting South Africa’s batting firepower in the five match one-day series. Bond and Daniel Vettori, the left-arm spinner who is currently playing for the World XI against Australia, will be key to containing the strong South African batting line-up, Jacob Oram said.”With Bondy coming back it gives us a weapon we really haven’t had since the World Cup,” Oram said. “It’s suddenly a chance for us to attack and keep attacking. Throw Dan [Vettori] in there and it’s 20 overs of high-quality, world-class bowling.”After exploding onto the international scene against Australia in 2001-02, Bond was out of international cricket after suffering a stress fracture of his spine in 2003 until making a promising return on the recent tour to Zimbabwe. Despite injury problems Bond has captured 62 one-day wickets at an average of 17.16 in his short career.A key goal for the New Zealanders in the series – no Test matches will be played on the short tour – will be containing Graeme Smith, Hershelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis at the top of the South African batting order. “Those three are their big guns that we’ve got to try and target,” Oram said.The last time the two met in a one day series in New Zealand last year, New Zealand won 5-1 but Oram expects the next series to be tougher. “It was our first series win, it was pretty comprehensive, but it was also on our turf and we were playing very well at that stage. We have to prove ourselves over there now.”The tri-series final victory over India in Zimbabwe last month gives New Zealand a shot of confidence ahead of the South African series. Like Bond, Oram returned from a back injury in Zimbabwe but struggled to regain his form following his long lay-off since January.”It was always going to be tough in Zimbabwe coming back after eight months on the sidelines. I maybe shot myself in the foot thinking I could go over there and just get back on the horse. My goals were a lot higher than they should have been, and subsequently I got annoyed with myself. Looking back it was very good for me and a little bit of a turning point in my mental game.”New Zealand play warm-up matches against South Africa A on Friday and Sunday and a Twenty20 match against South Africa on October 21. The one-day series opens in Bloemfontein on October 23.

Scorecard

Phil Jaques struck a fine century for New South Wales as they continued their good start to the ING Cup and cemented their place at the top of the table. Jaques’ 100 powered NSW to a commanding total at the WACA and, despite the best efforts of Damien Martyn, Western Australia could not sustain the asking rate.NSW were given the perfect platform for a large total through an opening stand of 122 between Craig Simmons and Jaques, whose hundred came up from 109 balls. Corey Richards provided the other substantial score of the innings with a 61-ball 62, while Brad Haddin clubbed an aggressive 43 at better than a run a ball.Brad Williams’ 4 for 57 prevented even more damage being done at the end of the innings, while Darren Wates returned commendable figures considering the total. However, Michael Clark had a day to forgot as his 10 overs went for 83.Chris Rogers gave WA the start they needed after the early loss of Scott Meuleman while Martyn continued his impressive start to the one-day season. Martyn and Adam Voges, the promising young allrounder, carried the score to 3 for 200 and gave WA the chance to have a crack at the target.But Matthew Nicholson came back from receiving some punishment by taking three wickets against his former team, including Martyn and Voges to put NSW back in control. Aaron Bird also chipped in with three and only a last-wicket stand of 33 made the result appear closer than it was.

As exclusively revealed to Cricinfo last week, Tatenda Taibu will be playing his club cricket in Bangladesh for the next few weeks following his decision to retire from international cricket.Taibu, 22, has signed a one-month deal with City Club in Dhaka that will run from December 11 to January 12. He was due to leave Zimbabwe at the weekend but is believed to have stayed behind as the situation there took a major turn with an emergency meeting called by stakeholders.”The whole negotiating process was being handled by a member of the Bangladesh Cricket Board and all I can say is I am happy to be concentrating on my game again,” Taibu told the Zimbabwe Standard.The paper added that Taibu will get performance-based bonuses in addition to such perks as comprehensive medical cover and general upkeep.It is likely to be a brief stay as Taibu has said that his priority is Zimbabwe cricket and he hopes the mess there will be resolved soon. “I’m hopeful everything will be back to normal in local cricket by January for me to resume my international career. I love my country and the only time I have considered leaving is to play cricket, but always to come back. After my 30 days in Bangladesh are up, I will come back home and hopefully be available for a proposed series against Bangladesh in January and then the West Indies.”

As a ploy to apply psychological pressure on the opposition, Rahul Dravid said India is fully geared up for the forthcoming Test and one-day series against Pakistan.”This series would be a step towards the destination of becoming one of the best teams in the world and put to test our skills against a tough opponent”, Dravid told a packed news conference in the team hotel in Lahore.Dravid, however, made it clear that a victory against Pakistan would not make India a challenger to Australia as the top-ranked side. “I think both teams know that in order to challenge Australia we need to start winning overseas more regularly. What the Australians have done in recent years is hard to match.”India are touring Pakistan for the second time in as many years to play three Tests and five one-day internationals. They begin their campaign with a three-day warm up match at Lahore on Saturday.

Scorecard

Pakistan’s women cricketers narrowly lost the opening match of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka, falling by 14 runs. Chasing 179 to win, Pakistan needed 15 from the final over but lost their last wicket off the second ball.Sri Lanka reached a competitive total of 178 for 9 largely thanks to Dumila Dedunu, who top-scored with 52. Pakistan’s bowlers resticted the visitors to 130 for 7, before Inoka Galagedera (25) and Praba Udawatte (22*) helped their team to a total of some respectability. The leg-spinner, Urooj Fatima, was the pick of Pakistan’s bowlers taking 3 for 40.Pakistan’s openers, Tasqeen Qadeer and Sajjida Shah, got the home side off to a useful start with a partnership of 33, but Suwini de Alwis (4 for 24) and captain Shsikala Siriwardene (3 for 32) had Pakistan stumbling on 88 for 6. A seventh-wicket stand of 66 between Sana MirAsmavia Iqbal nearly won the match Pakistan, before running 14 runs short.Sri Lanka now meet India on Thursday. All teams will play each other twice with the top two teams going through to the final on January 4.

Reports that Andy Blignaut, who has been touted as the likely choice as Zimbabwe’s new captain, was not willing to play unless the board paid him the money owed from last year were confirmed by the player himself.Bliganut, who is in South Africa playing for the Highfeld Lions, was summoned home by Kevin Curran, Zimbabwe’s coach, to prepare for the ODi series against Kenya. “I told them I will not have anything to do with them until I am paid six months’ salary and match fees for two Tests and also for one-day internationals against India and New Zealand six months ago,” Blignaut said. “I have already made this crystal clear to them.”Those comments come hours after a Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman confirmed to Cricinfo that Blignaut had signed a new contract with the board and would be available to play in the matches.A number of separate sources had indicated to Cricinfo that Blignaut was not willing to play until these issues were resolved and, furthermore, that he was angry that the board had indicated in press releases that he was back in the fold.

Australia should field their preferred line-up for the first time on the tour in the fourth ODI on Friday after Andrew Symonds completed a training session at Durban on Wednesday. Symonds will have a fitness test today and was confident of returning after missing the opening three matches.Ricky Ponting recovered from a stomach problem to play in Sunday’s 24-run victory, which cut South Africa’s advantage to 2-1, as Symonds battled a hip-flexor problem. “I haven’t been given the all-clear but it’s progressing nicely,” Symonds told . “It’s not sort of pulling like it was and it didn’t feel like it was going to go again or anything.”Symonds was picked in the squad for the three Test tour starting next week and he said that was a reason for the gentle recovery. “I had to be careful because if I did it again that would have probably been the end of my tour,” Symonds said. “So I have been slightly frustrated.”

One up with one to go, against a team crocked before the series began, and further hit by Steve Harmison’s shin splints today – the picture looks rosy for India. As Rahul Dravid pointed out after the Mohali triumph, their’s is a problem of plenty, and it’s a happy problem for a team to have.The biggest issue for the team is its composition – six specialist batsmen and four bowlers, or five of each. With only a draw needed to seal the series, it’s a tempting thought to bolster the batting and drop a bowler, but the picture is unlikely to get any clearer until much closer to the match.Much of it depends on the pitch too. The last time a Test was played here, it lasted barely two days and a bit, and produced 40 wickets for 605. Talk to Sudhir Naik, the curator, and he assures such a situation won’t arise this time: “This is a true wicket. The match will definitely last four-five days.” A typical Mumbai pitch offers some bounce as well, which won’t be bad news for the bowlers. Out of the last eight Tests here, only one has been drawn, further reason for India to believe that six batsmen might be the way to go here.Either way, Piyush Chawla looks certain to sit out, making way for either a fit-again Sreesanth or VVS Laxman. If India play bold and opt for Sreesanth, Laxman, who missed most of the nets due to a delayed flight, might have to spend yet more time off the field. Once firmly slotted as the fifth batsman in the side, he has now relinquished that position to Yuvraj, who has quickly taken over the mantle of senior batsman.The lack of runs from the middle has been a worry, but Yuvraj himself wasn’t too concerned, and suggested that a change in fortune was round the corner. And what about the pressure of playing with five specialist bowlers, knowing that the team is one batsman short? “Obviously there is the thought in your mind that you are left with five batsmen, but you also see that Irfan Pathan and MS Dhoni can bat. There is that thought at the back of your mind, but you just play your normal game.”Yuvraj confidence was there to see in the nets too, as he tackled a fiery spell from Sreesanth, who showed no ill-effects of the flu which forced him to miss the Mohali Test. After a few warm-up deliveries bowled gently enough, Sreesanth let them rip off his full run, testing Yuvraj with a slew of short-pitched deliveries, but they were mostly handled with impressive poise. Next to them, Munaf Patel was charging in as well, a happy sign for those who have been lamenting India’s lack of firepower.More than the batting and bowling, though, what caught the eye was an extended session on close-in catching, led by none other than Yajurvindra Singh, a former international player who once took five catches, all fielding close to the bat, in a Test innings at Bangalore in 1976-77. It remains a joint world record.Here, he was offering tutorials to Wasim Jaffer, Yuvraj, Mohammad Kaif and Rahul Dravid, with Greg Chappell joining the gang as well. Repeatedly, he crouched low, very low, and stayed still – exactly as he suggested to Wisden Asia Cricket in an interview on close fielding – before covering his face with one quick motion, while still refusing to flinch as an imaginary ball was hit in his direction. Then Chappell did a Kaif – hopefully telling him what to do – standing knock-kneed and then jumping up – a style Kaif has patented as his own, and which makes for a fine spectacle but would hardly help the bowlers’ confidence. At a press conference later, all that Yuvraj revealed was that Yajurvindra offered them some “tips on in-field catching”. The next few days might reveal how well the players grasped those tips.After more than twenty minutes of theory, it was time for the practicals, as sharp catches were glanced in the direction of the fielders as they stood in a semi-circle. Jaffer, the home boy, did better than the rest; will the short-leg position be his at Mumbai?