A tribulte to Australian Cricketer Phillip Hughes who recently lost his life.

Photograph: Chris Hyde/Getty Images C ricket Australia and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) remain in discussions over the future of the first Test between the two countries that was supposed to have started on Thursday in Brisbane.

The Indian cricket team has decided to remainhere instead of travelling to Brisbane, further indicating that the Adelaide Test appears likely to
become the first match of the India-Australia series.

The December 4-8 match at the Gabba was postponed indefinitely on Saturday, following the death last Thursday of Australia batsman Phillip Hughes.

Hughes died two days after he was struck in the head by a short-pitched delivery in a first class game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with his death causing an outpouring of emotion, sympathy and support from inside and outside the cricketing world.

"We know that there are many people who have purchased tickets to the test match who will be
wondering what happens next," Cricket Australia James Sutherland told the cricket.com.au website
on Monday.

"Once the situation has been resolved, we will advise them as a priority. Fans should simply hold onto their tickets until further notice."

Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke wipes his eyes as he cries. Photograph: David Gray/ Reuters
Local media reported that a decision on the Test was likely to be made later on Monday, with the India team expected to arrive in Brisbane to begin their preparations.

A two-day game against an Australian XI in Adelaide scheduled for last Friday and Saturday was cancelled following Hughes's death.

The funeral for the left-hander, who would have turned 26 on Sunday, will be held in his hometown of Macksville in northern New South
Wales on Wednesday, with the timing of that considered a major determinant in postponing the first Test.

Ricky Ponting consoles Simon Katich at St Vincent's hospital. Photograph: Joosep Martinson/Getty Images The fate of the first Test, however, had been in the balance even before Hughes died of his horrific injury as many of the Australia team were among his closest friends and few expected them to be mentally ready for the game anyway.

TV rights make an incoming tour by the India Test team by far the most lucrative in the world game so cancellation of the Brisbane match is unlikely.

There is precious little room for manoeuvre, however, with the second Test scheduled to take
place in Adelaide from December 12-16 with the third starting on Boxing Day (December 26) in
Melbourne and the fourth in Sydney running from January 3-7.

Ranchi: Soundly thrashed in the ODI series against India, Sri Lanka want to flush the disappointment out of their system as soon as possible, said skipper Angela Mathews, insisting that there are some positives to take home despite the 0-5 drubbing.

"Now we just got to flush it out of the system and take the England series on and from there move on," Mathews told reporters after the three- wicket loss in the fifth and final ODI last night.

"We wanted to give opportunities to some of the new comers. We did not have some of the senior players. We wanted to see who responded best.
The way (Lahiru) Thirimanne batted, I'm extremely pleased. He got his job in the last two games but I think we still have to improve in all
the three departments," he said.

Mathews rejected suggestions that their World Cup preparation had been derailed due to the one-sided result. On the contrary, he felt the
series gave them an opportunity to identify their World Cup-bound players.

"We have figured out who are our players going to be and we gave them opportunities we wanted
to try out. Playing in India is always special so we wanted to know who the guys are under pressure. We have an idea now," he said.

Mathews struck an unbeaten 139 as Sri Lanka put up a competitive 286/8 after opting to bat but Indian skipper Virat Kohli's 139 not out
outshone the visiting skipper's knock.

"It was a competitive game. We improved quite a bit from the last four games. It was tough to bat
on and the batters had to dig deep and get a good score to give something to bowl at. I thought we did that but our bowlers were a bit
too wayward," he said.

"I am pretty pleased with the way I batted. There were a lot of positives especially with the way Thirimanne batted. It was not the easiest wicket
to bat on. It was turning quite a lot. It was stopping and going up and down but we managed to get 286. So it was a good batting display," Mathews, who was adjudged man of the match, added.

Giving credit to Indian skipper Virat Kohli for holding the innings together, he said: "We tried to get him out as soon as he came in. We kept our fielders in, we tried but we failed. Kohli batted brilliantly and unfortunately we could not stop
him," he said on Kohli.

Sri Lanka now return home for a seven-ODI series against England that will begin in Colombo on November 26.

PTI

ABU DHABI: Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been reported with a suspect bowling action during the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday.

“The match officials’ report, which was handed over to the Pakistan team manager Moin Khan, cited concerns about the legality of the 34- year-old’s bowling action,” the ICC said.

Hafeez’s bowling action will now be scrutinised further under the ICC process relating to suspected illegal bowling actions reported in Tests, one-day matches and Twenty20s.

As per the ICC rules on dealing with the suspect action, Hafeez is required to undergo testing
within 21 days, and, during this period, Hafeez is permitted to continue bowling in international
cricket until the results of the testing are known.

Hafeez is the second Pakistani behind Saeed Ajmal, also an off-spinner, to be reported in a
major crackdown on bowlers with suspect actions the ICC launched in June this year.

Zimbabwe match referee Andy Pycroft was the common official in both the Ajmal and Hafeez
cases.

Hafeez’s action was also reported during a Twenty20 league in India in September this year, but the PCB said the bowler did some remedial work in the national cricket academy in Lahore.

He was not reported during the 2-0 win over Australia which finished last week.

Hafeez’s action was cleared after being reported in a one-day match against the West Indies in Brisbane in 2005.

Before the Australia series Hafeez said he has been bowling with the same action for 11 years.

“Look, I have not changed my action. It’s the same for 11 years now, so I am confident and have no worries over my action,” Hafeez had
said last month.

Abu Dhabi: Pakistan, who batted after winning the toss, were 194-1 at tea on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Mohammad Hafeez missed a hundred by just four runs as Pakistan lost their first wicket on 178 after a solid start on a placid Sheikh Zayed
Stadium pitch.

At the break Ahmed Shehzad was unbeaten on 89 and with him Azhar Ali on eight not out.

Pakistan kept the same XI they played during their 356-run win against Australia at the same
venue last week while New Zealand included both their spinners in the side.

AFP

Australia bounced back from their opening heavy loss to hammer South Africa by seven wickets and
square their Twenty20 series in Melbourne on Friday.

The Australians, beaten by the same margin in Adelaide on Wednesday, were superior with bat and ball to cruise to victory.

The home side restricted South Africa to 101 for seven off their 20 overs and had few problems reaching 102 for three in 12.4 overs to wrap up victory.

The series now goes to a decider in Sydney on Sunday. "That was as good Twenty20 bowling as I`ve seen
from our boys, we bowled to the conditions really well," Australia skipper Aaron Finch said.

"We used our pace and (leg-spinner) Cameron Boyce was unbelievable on a wicket that doesn`t traditionally spin a lot and he deserved his wickets and the man of the match."

The Proteas, who dominated the Australians in the Adelaide opener, were always under pressure after winning the toss.

Skipper JP Duminy played a lone hand topscoring with 49 off 51 balls with three fours and a towering six over the fence at the vast MCG arena before he was caught in the deep by Finch.

In the space of two overs, openers Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw were both back in the changerooms.

Two days earlier the pair formed a match- winning 129-run partnership that powered the Proteas to a comfortable victory in Adelaide.

In the space of 13 overs, Australia had four wickets - more than what they managed in Adelaide.

Leg-spinner Cameron Boyce flighted the ball well to snare the stumpings of Reeza Hendricks (18) and Farhaan Behardien (5) in taking two for 15
off four overs, while paceman James Faulkner claimed three for 25 off his complement of four overs.

"We were outplayed in all forms of the game and there`s a lot of learning we can take out of today`s match," Duminy said.

"We know we need to come up with something drastic for us to come back on Sunday.

"These kind of things are good for youngsters, just to experience winning and losing, today was
a particularly convincing victory for Australia so we need to take a lot of learning out of it."

The Australians rustled up the runs with 7.2 overs to spare with Finch unbeaten on 44 off 30 balls with eight fours and Shane Watson hitting 30 off 23 balls with five fours.

AFP

London: Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Friday hinted that a major proposal on sports,
which he has submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is set to be unveiled soon.

At the UK launch of his much-hyped
autobiography -- 'Playing It My Way' -- here, Tendulkar said the details of the plan would be released soon.

The Rajya Sabha MP ruled out any plans of entering politics but confirmed that he has been in talks with the Modi government on a proposal which he will reveal soon.

"I was a sportsman and will be a sportsman forever. I have handed over a proposal recently which presents my vision and the PM has been receptive," he told reporters at a launch event at the Lord's Cricket Ground.

"I have already given one proposal some time ago to the government. Recently also, I met the PM and shared my vision with him and he was
extremely receptive and immediately afterwards met with his team. We are working on something which you will know soon," he said.

While Tendulkar did not completely rule out coaching the Indian cricket team in the future, he stressed that he has already been unofficially
sharing his knowledge with current players and will continue to do so.

"Twenty-four years with cricket is a long time to spend away from family. I feel players are approachable to me and I am approachable to them.

We have been discussing over the phone on various issues and there were also a few players who ended up coming to Mumbai to work with me and we had a couple of sessions each, trying to figure out what could be corrected," said Tendulkar.

"It's about sharing your knowledge, sharing your thoughts and that's what I have been doing and I don't think I need a post to be able to pass on that message. The response that I have always received from players has been special because they respect me and the respect is mutual.

The 41-year-old batting legend said that the players were receptive to his advice. "Whatever I say, they listen to me and there's a healthy discussion on that. It's not that
whatever I say is the final word. It's nice to talk cricket. As long as I am able to do that, it really doesn?t matter whether I am the official coach of the team or not."

The former Indian cricketer was joined at the London launch of his book by ex-England cricket
captain Nasser Hussain, who Tendulkar described in his book as "the best captain" he has played
against.

Hussain asked him about the toughest aspect of writing the autobiography, given how private he
is as a person.

"I've covered most of my life I would say. The toughest bit for me to cover was my personal life with Anjali, which nobody knew about.

That was really difficult," Tendulkar responded. "The icing on the cake was when we won the 2011
World Cup, which I have covered extensively, including how I had a flower in my ear as I danced with my wife with a bottle of champagne
in hand. It [book] is a good insight into what I have been through in my life," he said.

Regarding the impact the book has already had in India, he said, "I have not tried to create controversies intentionally. Certain statements I
make in the book have made headlines but the idea was not to make headlines.

"During my playing days, I felt all my energy should focused in one direction, which is scoring runs and winning matches for India. And I
honestly didn't have the time or energy for anything else. But now my career is over I thought it was only fair I brought this out and
let people know what I have been through," Tendulkar said.

The publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, have claimed that the book has already broken all records for a hardback in India.

PTI

St John's, Antigua: Legendary West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts feels that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) should immediately send representatives to India and salvage the situation by speaking to the BCCI bosses as paying huge damages could end cricket in the Caribbean.

BCCI is apparently threatening to claim damages of close to USD 65 million along with severing off all bilateral series with the West Indies.

"I would not go the route of a task force right now. I would get people down to India to see if we can salvage anything. For me, that is more important right now than to set up a task force to find out what transpired between WIPA, the
players, and the board," Roberts told The Gleaner.

The Indians were expected to play five series against West Indies in the next eight years, including four visits to the Caribbean.

The West Indies, in addition to the tour-opening five-match ODI series, were slated to play three Tests and a Twenty20 international.

Stats highlights from the second day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at Abu Dhabi.

3 Number of Pakistan batsmen who have scored 8000-plus Test runs. Younis became the third, after Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq. In all,
28 batsmen have reached this milestone.

2447 Number of Test runs that Misbah has scored as Pakistan captain, a record. He went past Imran Khan (2408) during his innings of 101.

11 Number of hundred partnerships that Younis and Misbah have been involved in together. This is the most for any Pakistan pair . The previous
record was ten, jointly held by two pairs - Inzamam/Yousuf and Miandad/Mudassar Nazar.

5 Number of 200-plus scores for Younis, the second most by a Pakistan batsman. Miandad has six double hundreds. Younis however does hold the joint record, with Miandad, for the most 150-plus
scored by a Pakistan batsman - both have ten each. Younis is one of only 13 batsmen, across countries, to make five or more double hundreds.

1 Number of times that Nos. 3, 4 and 5 have made centuries in the same Test innings for Pakistan. Azhar Ali, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul- Haq posted hundreds, making this Pakistan's first such instance.

236 Number of runs posted by Younis and Azhar Ali for the third wicket. This is the highest third- wicket partnership for Pakistan in Tests against Australia. This is the fifth highest third-wicket partnership for Pakistan, in Tests played outside
Pakistan.

2 Number of batsmen who have made a Test hundred after the age of 40 in the last 20 years - Shivnarine Chanderpaul and now Misbah. He is
also one of only two sub-continental batsmen, after India's Vijay Merchant, in 1951, who have made a Test century afte Lr the age of 40 . Overall,

19 batsmen have done this 38 times.
28 Number of threes run by Pakistan's batsmen.

This is the most threes in a Test innings since 2001. The second most is 26, by Australia versus England, at Adelaide, in 2006.

570 Runs scored by Pakistan. This is their fourth highest score against Australia . This is also the second highest score by any team in UAE
and the highest there by Pakistan.