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The Pakistan team management has denied the rape allegation levelled at a team member, but the board has launched an investigation into the matter. has reported that the unnamed player accused of the crime denied it through his manager.The board has asked Haroon Rashid, the team manager, for a report before it begins the investigation. Zakir Khan, the manager of cricket operations for the PCB, who was alerted to the allegation by his Australian counterpart, said, “The fact is nobody knows what is the real story,” and admitted that they were baffled.”I cannot say anything more until we get to the bottom of what has happened,” said Zakir. “It has taken nearly three weeks for this woman or girl or whoever she is to come up with this. There is no police report and nothing else. We don’t know what is the legal procedure, so we will definitely be consulting people, lawyers also, on how to tackle this situation if it is true. It’s distressing for everyone.”The woman, who wanted anonymity, reported the matter to the Centre Against Sexual Assault, who informed Cricket Australia (CA) a while ago. A spokesperson for CA said that they had informed the Pakistan management of the allegations this late because the preparations for the tsunami relief game had been intense.”We should have told the Pakistan team management and we didn’t,” said the spokesperson. “There’s no excuse for that, although I should say that the last two weeks have been probably the most extraordinary two weeks in Australian cricket history in terms of what we’ve done and the outcome.”Bob Woolmer admitted that the team members were shocked when they heard the news. “There was stunned silence really. Everyone sort of looked at each other. Personally I don’t think anyone in the dressing-room was involved.”It’s totally against Islamic law. It’s totally against everything they believe in.”

Hard work and perseverance pays in any field. And cricket has been nodifferent. Sanjay Bangar finally saw it pay off at the VidarbhaCricket Association stadium at Nagpur on Sunday.Talking to newsmen after the end of the day’s play, the Railways’ allrounder appeared more than satisfied on reaching his first Testcentury against the visiting Zimbabweans. “It was a wonderful feeling.I dedicate this to my mother who is no more and my family members,”said the 29-year-old cricketer from Beed, Maharashtra.Having rung home after the delightful knock, Bangar poignantlyrecollected all the years of hard work, and the support from coachJohn Wright and skipper Sourav Ganguly that helped his cause. “I wouldlike to thank the team management and my captain who have helped mereached my first Test hundred. I was in the nineties when the call fora declaration had arrived. Yet I was given the chance of going in forthe much needed runs before the innings concluded.”It had been quite a struggle for Bangar after having failed to performto his fullest potential in his first Test against the Englishmen atMohali. Having finally made a return to the national side at the costof the latest sensation Virendra Sehwag, Bangar did prove his worth tothe five wise men who make up the BCCI Selection Committee.A prolific run-getter that he has been in the domestic circuit inrecent times, Bangar asserted that “the double century against TamilNadu (in the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals) did boost my confidence.”Bangar also said that he was not under any kind of pressure whileplaying with Sachin Tendulkar. Scoring at a faster clip than themaster batsman, Bangar smashed 12 boundaries and two sixes on his wayto his first Test hundred in just his second Test.”Sachin helped me a lot with minute instructions – where to go forruns, how to be comfortable while at the crease, which bowler to goafter and a few more,” the modest cricketer said.On whether he became nervous at any point of time in the nineties, hestated, “I just went for my shots, it was my day. There wereinstructions to collect as many runs as possible in the next twentyovers and that is exactly what I tried to do.”He accepted that he tried to protect his wicket on Saturday to startafresh on Sunday. “We were already five down and still needed to getsome runs on the board,” he explained.As for the ground, Bangar felt that the VCA had always been lucky forhim.Asked if Sourav Ganguly had under-bowled him in the first innings, heshrugged away the suggestion, saying, “I cannot comment. It was theteam management’s decision.”

After enjoying the first sweet taste of success on their winter tour when they beat Sri Lanka at Brisbane on Tuesday morning, the England team have now moved onto Perth where they face the team from the sub continent again on Friday morning.Ian Blackwell one of three Cidermen players in the victorious side shared his thoughts with me on that welcome change of fortune."Finally the first England win has come on Australian soil. It was obviously a much needed victory for all concerned which hopefully gives us much more confidence going into Friday’s match," `Blackie’ told me.He continued: "Sri Lanka were quite poor by their standards but we did play very well. Of course there can still be improvements and I hope this young side can gel and become a much greater side by the time this tour has finished."Talking about the new young bowlers he said: " I believe we have found two very good bowlers who could play regularly. Both James Anderson and Steve Harmison bowled with considerable pace that helped knock over their middle order."Regarding his own performance he told me: "Personally the game went OK but it would have been nice to have cashed in even more in those last five overs. I probably would have if Mr Fernando hadn’t pulled off the most remarkable blind catch I have ever witnessed!!!"Looking ahead to the match in Perth he told me: "All the boys are upbeat and believe the Sri Lankans are there for the taking, especially without `Murali’. They seem to be a different team without him, and lack penetration in the spin department. Lets hope we can build some momentum now and put a run of wins together, starting Friday," a sentiment that will be shared by all England supporters.

Don Bradman’s baggy green cap, as worn during the 1946-47 Ashes series, has been sold for £35,250 at an auction in London. The buyer, a private Australian collector who lives in London, said he plans to add the cap to his private cricket collection but also hopes to display it in Australia.”As we were getting ready to auction the cap off, there was a hum of excitement in the room,” said Rik Pike, a spokesman for the London auctioneers, Christie’s. “And the bidding took a couple of minutes. After we sold it, there was a clap in the room, which you don’t always have.”Bradman’s teammate, Keith Miller, claimed the pair swapped caps before the first Test against England in November 1946, but Christie’s is sure of its authenticity. A bat, used by Bradman to score 232 in the fifth Test at The Oval in 1930, was sold for £29,375 to another collector.

When Sadagopan Ramesh square-drove Jacob Oram to the fence early on the second day, it was a shot that released two years of frustration. Despite averaging nearly 38 from 19 Test matches, he was banished to the cricketing wilderness by a selection committee that believed he did not have the technique or the stomach to face quality fast bowling. At Rajkot, on a wicket that had decent carry and bounce, he showed that he had the ability to make runs. At the end of the day, the five wise men that make up the selection panel must swallow all talk and recognise the fact that there is nothing more important than the ability to put runs on the board.In a near chanceless display – he was dropped by Scott Styris off Daniel Vettori when on 96 – Ramesh proved that the he had in it in him to score runs when it mattered the most. Over the last two Ranji seasons, he has made just one first-class century, against Kerala, but he is the first one to admit that big games do the trick for him. “Probably the motivation factor is much higher in a big game. The stakes are higher in a big game and I have never thought of the consequences,” he said. ‘What if I fail?’ – that question never came into my mind. Maybe that clicks for me in the big games.”There was more than one occasion during the day when Ramesh played and missed. With Daryl Tuffey bowling well from one end, Ramesh flirted with danger, proffering half-hearted strokes at some deliveries that were best left alone. But any batsman worth his salt will tell you that this is bound to happen when you spend four-and-a-half hours at the crease to make 110 from 206 balls. But then, people who have watched Ramesh over a period of time will tell you his biggest strength is his ability to put the odd setback behind him. He does not mull over nicks that could have been. He merely gets on with what he knows best – driving the ball when it is pitched up. On the day, 19 boundaries came off his blade, and no one but the cruellest man would suggest that he got more than his fair share of luck.Showing the full face of his Woodworm Wand he drove magnificently down the ground, both past mid-off and mid-on. Occasionally, when the bowling flagged, he unveiled the cut, a shot he had shelved sometime ago because the percentages did not work out. The hook shot, a rarity in modern Indian batting, was also on display, and reached the fence unerringly, even if it kept the outfielders interested every now and then.More than any of these strokes, though, it was the runs on the board that brought a wide grin to Ramesh’s face. “I would not say I am relieved because I could have added another 40 or 50 runs. It’s just that I have been waiting for this opportunity for so long. I am happy that I was able to grab the opportunity." On Saturday, the selectors pick the squad to play the first Test against New Zealand at Ahmedabad, and they were present in full strength to watch the innings. In that sense, the timing of this innings could not have been better. But Ramesh is not one to hang onto these sorts of thread. He refused to be drawn out when asked if he had done enough to make it back to the Test team. “I will come to the ground tomorrow,” he said, almost as though nothing had happened. “I take the day as it comes. If I see my name in the reckoning or in the team, I will be very happy about it but otherwise I am not the sort to dream about all these things.”Dream or not, Ramesh clarified several points that were raised against him. At several moments in the day, he did not get much of the strike or was bogged down by spells of good bowling. But he did not throw it away. On 30, 44 and then finally 84, he was stuck, unable to get the runs flowing. He took half an hour to get to his 85th run. And then, of course, the three-figure mark loomed. “Every batsman becomes conscious of the three-figure mark once he crosses 80,” conceded Ramesh. “I know there is a big difference between 99 and 100. I have gone through that. So I wanted to get to the three-figure mark today.”Finally, despite putting a strong hundred on the board, there was carping about the manner in which he was dismissed – and replays showed clearly that the ball missed bat and went off shoulder – and his footwork. Laid-back as ever, Ramesh pooh-poohed such doubts. “I have got to the three-figure mark, so don’t start that talk again,” he said, breaking out in a wide grin. “I have tightened up my game a bit more. But it’s for the people to judge, not for me to talk about. After all, they are only watching me, I can’t watch myself bat.”Jacob Oram, another left-hander to make a century on the day, was full of praise for the manner in which the India A openers handled the New Zealand bowling. “I thought they played very well. They left the ball well but at the same time, they put away the bad ball, especially Ramesh. He was very good on the drive and played very well on a wicket that was still helping us with the new ball.” Very true, Jacob, very true. You might just be seeing a bit more of this bloke in the days to come.

On the afternoon of the first day of the Kolkata Test there appeared amoment that will surely find its way into all future histories of SouthAfrican cricket. At the fall of Jacques Rudolph’s wicket there arrived atthe crease the slim, bearded figure of Hashim Amla, the first player ofIndian origin to play for South Africa. Amla’s proud father, Dr MahomedH Amla, was present to witness his son’s brief but assured debut innings.I met Mr Amla on the second afternoon to speak to him about his son andabout the story of the Amla family in South Africa, of which Hashimrepresents the third generation. In some ways it is a classic immigrantfamily’s tale.”My father, Hassim, emigrated from Surat to South Africa in 1927, alongwith his two brothers,” said Mr Amla. “He was only fourteen then. By thattime there was already a tradition of Indian workers coming to SouthAfrica, mostly as farm labourers – it had been happening since 1860. Myfather worked for a while in a retail store, then as a commercialsalesman. My mother was South Africa-born, but her family too came fromSurat. I was one of ten children.”Those were different times. As children we were interested in sport, butwe never could think of a career in it. In any case there were noopportunities to represent your country because of the political system inplace then. It’s only since the nineties that opportunities have becomemore widely available to all South Africans. Hashim was lucky that, justat the time when he was growing up, everything had begun to change. Therewas a system in place and if you had talent, you could make it. Althoughwe were now South African, in some ways we still remained an Indianfamily. We have Indian food at home, and are respectful of Indiantraditions. In fact some people said to me yesterday that some of hisshots were very Asian in their execution, very wristy – even though helearnt his skills on South African pitches.”Hashim went to a school that had a cricketing background – Barry Richardswent to it, and also the swing bowler Richard Snell – and there theyspotted his talent early. He was only 16 when he was chosen to play a gameagainst the visiting England team. After that, every time a team came on atour and an invitation side was arranged to play them, Hashim would bepicked for it. In one such game he took 80 off the Australian team. So youmight say that even though he is quite young, he’s been waiting for hisopportunity for quite some time.”Mr Amla was born in 1950, and grew up in a world of segregation that hasnow thankfully been dismantled. He reflects on how much has changed in thespan of his lifetime. “Hashim is lucky that he did most of his growing uppost-1990, in a new South Africa. Now he is the first player of Asianorigin to represent the national team, and there’s another player, a kidnamed Imran Khan, who may soon be the second.” He observes that the largerforces of history have a great deal to do with the chances thatindividuals get. “Several high-calibre black players of an earliergeneration never got any opportunities. Basil D’Oliviera had to seek hisfuture in another country. So much has changed in South Africa.”So there is that side of the Amla family story, that can be placed withinthe history of twentieth-century South Africa, but, as with any immigrantfamily, also another side, with its roots in India. “I don’t think thatwhen my father arrived in South Africa, at the age of fourteen,” saysMr Amla, “he would have ever imagined in his wildest dreams that his grandsonwould one day play cricket for South Africa, and, what’s more, actuallycome to India to make his debut.”There is a symmetry to this story that seems to please Mr Amla very much.”This is my first visit to the country as well,” he says. “Unfortunatelyit is a short trip and I have to return to my practice as soon as the tour isover. But these have been days I will never forget. I need to come backagain.”Wisden Asia Cricket