James Anderson was the man to breathe life into English cricket until he ran out of steam against South Africa. Emma John finds out how he dealt with sudden celebrity status

Back in May James Anderson was so gilt-edged you could have floated him on the stockmarket. After two Tests against South Africa he looked like a dotcom disaster. It is fortunate that Anderson identifies his greatest asset as “being able to come back stronger”.Sitting in the Trent Bridge pavilion two days before the third Test Anderson has just returned to the England set-up from Lancashire’s last-over C&G semi-final defeat against Worcestershire. His appearance is as hale and hearty as ever but there is an exaggerated languor in his voice. He passes his hands over his face, rubs his eyes and the back of his neck. He looks tired. “I’m very, very tired,” he says.After the travel-play-travel of the NatWest Series Anderson had hoped for a week’s R&R but media obligations made it impossible. He wanted to find somewhere to live next season but there was no time to house-hunt and his parents had to choose somewhere for him. There has been scarcely time for an evening out. End-of-Test shebangs were curtailed affairs – “When you’ve lost, you don’t really want to stick around” – and Anderson’s own performances had fallen far short of those expected of him. It is no surprise he looks weary. He perks up only on mention of Glen Chapple, the surprise squad selection for that Trent Bridge Test. It is, he says with sudden energy, great to have him around. “I remember growing up watching Lancashire and wondering why he wasn’t in the England team then.”Rewind 12 months and opening the Lancashire bowling with Chapple was achievement enough for Anderson. He had still not come to terms with the fact that Peter Martin, the hero of his teens, was now polishing the ball for him. “He was the one guy that I really looked up to,” Anderson says. He talks of meeting him for the first time at a net session and sighs. “One of the Lancashire coaches said just listen to what he’s got to say. I didn’t know what to expect but he chatted with me as if I was a normal person. Now he texts me all the time saying well done. Weird.”The weirdness went on. He was chosen for the England Academy after only one county season but was called up to the England one-day squad the night before the Academy’s first fixture. “It was only when I started packing that it sunk in. I was rooming with Gordon Muchall from Durham and he asked me what I was doing because I’d only just unpacked. I said: `I’m joining the England squad.’ He didn’t believe me. He started laughing and told me to put my stuff back.”There followed an England debut (and getting beaten by Australia) and the World Cup (and getting beaten by Australia). He was asked to bowl the penultimate over of the nail-biting group match against Australia at Port Elizabeth ahead of Andy Caddick. It went for 12 runs. “It was probably the worst feeling I’ve ever had on a cricket field. Having fielded in front of the Barmy Army for most of the game, looking like we were going to win, then getting hit for 10 in two balls – which virtually won them the game – was horrible. Horrible.” Hot-footing it from the ground was a tempting option. “I really wanted to. But Nasser spoke to me after the game and he said stuff that was just perfect, just what I needed. I think if he hadn’t spoken to me I’d have maybe not come back the way I did this summer. That would have still been in the back of my mind.”Instead he took a five-for on Test debut against Zimbabwe and contributed star turns in England’s one-day tournaments. His hair – which had changed from blond highlights to a streak of red – became the talk of the tabloids. He was invited to the British Grand Prix to meet Michael Schumacher and, when he declined because of a pre-arranged birthday barbecue in his parents’ garden, Ferrari sent a helicopter to fly him to and from the race. No wonder his team-mates were giving him stick. We met for the first time the day before the NatWest Series final against South Africa. He said: “The boys say I `can’t do anything wrong’. Which isn’t true. It’s weird because I know that it’s not going to go on forever and that I’m going to go through a bad patch. But at the minute I just don’t want it to end.”The honeymoon period ended not with a whimper but a bang. He had the limelight snatched roughly from his grasp by Graeme Smith at Edgbaston. Until then even Anderson’s expensive first overs – his trademark flaw – had had a perverse charm, since he rarely failed to make up for them with wickets. But the Test series against South Africa held few magical moments for him. His inexperience was brutally exposed, not only by the batsmen but also C4’s analysts, whose graphics showed just how few of his deliveries were landing in the same spot. Michael Vaughan admitted before The Oval Test that Anderson would have been rested had injuries to others not prevented it.Anderson, however, says he was happy with the way he was bowling. “When you don’t take wickets people think you bowled badly but I had a dropped catch off Smith on eight [at Lord’s]. If you know you’re bowling well then you’ve just got to keep waiting till the luck is on your side.” He also refuses to blame nerves. “It’s lack of concentration. It takes me a while to get into the game, which it shouldn’t do. It’s one of the things I’m having to learn.” So is following the match: “I go to third man and just drift off.”

Commentators have been keen to detect a lack of confidence in Anderson’s on-field posture but it is more likely they are misconstruing a deeply laid-back demeanour. Whatever might be irritating him inside, he does not let it show. “Some of the England guys are so abrupt and they just come out with it, they say, `You’re annoying me’. I can’t do that. I keep quiet.” Photo shoots do not seem to be his bag, either. Forced to stand on a wobbly chair by a hotel pool, with befuddled, bikini-clad Americans looking on, Anderson is struck mute. The photographer struggles to prise a smile from his lips.”I don’t really like having my picture taken,” he claims. But he does not hold a grudge and by the time we sit to talk the laconic manner has fallen away and he is allowing himself a quiet giggle. At press conferences he can seem terse. The truth of the matter is that he likes to think about questions before answering them. He responds to fair criticism with a maturity and a self-possession that critics have either ignored or simply not noticed.The David Beckham comparisons, for instance, were flattering but beside the point. “I don’t want to be remembered as the David Beckham of cricket, I don’t want to be the next Darren Gough, I just want to be known as …” (he lowers his voice till it is scarcely audible) “… James Anderson.” One reason that Anderson – an Arsenal fan since he rejected the family homage to Burnley FC aged six because he preferred the red strip – changed his hair colour was that people thought he was emulating Beckham. Nor was the red streak a homage to Arsenal’s Freddie Ljungberg: “I just fancied a change. I didn’t do it because he had it.” Anderson does not wear trendy clothes to court publicity. He wears them because he likes them. When traditionalists like John Woodcock call him a “peacock”, they may assume that his bold appearance is a substitute for inner substance. They are wrong.At Burnley Cricket Club, on the fourth day of the Lord’s Test, the car park and driveways are full. Two weeks earlier 200 people came through the gate to watch Anderson captain his club side in a friendly, score a half-century and bowl a couple of overs of off-spin. Today, however, the cars are the usual overflow from Burnley FC’s Sunday fixture. The numbers in the pavilion swell halfway through Burnley’s innings as the football match finishes and spectators move from one ground to the other, sharing the scoreline and descriptions of each goal.Only a year and a bit ago Anderson was playing this same fixture against Rishton CC. He bowled Rishton’s pro Paul Adams before the rain swept in and ruined the match. Little could he or his team-mates know that within 13 months Anderson would again be bowling at Adams but watched by a couple more million people. Peter Holden, the Burnley scorer, certainly never thought such an achievement was possible when he was coaching the 14-year-old Anderson. “I’ll be completely honest, I’ve seen a lot of amateur cricket and I didn’t think James was any better than a lot of the lads we have,” he says. “But then when he was about 16 he put on a few inches in height and suddenly gained a yard of pace.”Anderson himself can offer no other explanation for the fact that, at 17, he found himself one of the quickest bowlers in the Lancashire league and picked for the Lancashire schools side. For the first time his childhood ambition to be a cricketer seemed a genuine possibility. A contract with Lancashire a year later forestalled any dilemmas about university or gap years. His talent was incubated in the Lancashire 2nd XI. For the darling of the ECB’s slimline system of excellence it is a surprisingly old-fashioned route.

Burnley CC has been Anderson’s home from home since he could walk. It remains an important touchstone for a young man whisked straight from the family hearth to the frequent flyer lifestyle of the England team. From the cricket, the karaoke and the summer barbecues have sprung lasting childhood friendships. At the end of the brutal first day at Lord’s it was his former team-mates he called for support. They repay the compliment by keeping his feet firmly on the ground: the two pictures of him in the clubhouse are stationed outside the gents loo and by the slot machine. Charlie Griffith, the great West Indian quick who in 1964 took 144 wickets at 5.02 for the club, keeps pride of place opposite the bar. And cricket, says Anderson, is “the last thing we talk about. We just talk about the usual stuff. Girls, TV.”The older members of the club say he is shy. “If you try to engage him in a conversation, he’ll give you one word answers,” says one. But his peers know better. “When people first meet him they think he’s shy,” says Gareth, one of his closest mates. “But if you’ve known him for 10 years like we have you know he’s a bit of a loony.”An up-and-down summer did not scar Anderson’s popularity nor the long-term assessment of his talent. Seven wickets at Trent Bridge were enough to keep people in mind of what he can do and the reception he receives from England crowds indicates public support. There is support, too, from his captain. “We have to remember this is his first loss of form,” says Michael Vaughan. “He has never gone through a loss of form for Lancashire. It is a lot harder for him but he will be a stronger guy for it.” At the end of August he was voted the Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year by an unprecedented unanimous vote. He received the award at a London dinner from the afore-mentioned Woodcock but by now the red streak was black (although he was threatening the return of the blond highlights). The red had gone partly because it had been unlucky for him and partly because he did not want to look like a footballer.His curious bowling action – he appears not to be looking where he is bowling the ball – also generates plenty of discussion; Bob Willis told viewers that Anderson can last only five years with his current action. “I’d not heard that,” he laughs. “Nah, I’m not worried. I’m working on stuff all the time actually, and our bowling coach [Troy Cooley] is big on biomechanics, so if I am going to get injuries he’ll tell me about it.” He says his pace comes from keeping his head down. “I’ve tried bowling with my head up all the way and it just floats out.” What about looking where he is bowling? “My eyes are shut when I deliver the ball anyway.”Not even at his lowest point for England did he want to get away, to return to county cricket for some extra schooling. “When all you’ve wanted to do is play for England, when you get there you don’t want to do anything else.” If anything, his problems have stemmed from trying too hard. “Some days it’s not so good and you just get angry and try and bowl faster and faster and you lose it.” With luck he has not lost anything so much as temporarily misplaced it.The October 2003 edition of The Wisden Cricketer is on sale at all good newsagents in the UK and Ireland, priced £3.25.Click here to subscribe.

There were four early results on day 2 of the third round of the Inter-Department Qualifying Tournament on Wednesday.Sui Gas swamped Pakistan Education Board (PEB) by an innings and 11 runs after resuming at 234-1 in reply to the students 127 and declared at 318-1 after Ali Hussain remained unbeaten on 103 and Sufyan Munir hit a run-a-ball 100* laced with 12 fours and three sixes. In their second innings the students were dismissed for 180 when Sajid Ali picked up 4-35 and Imran Tahir and Wasim Khan equally shared six wickets.At historic Bagh-e-Jinnah, ZTBL defeated PAF by an innings and 68 runs as Imran Abbas slammed 176 off 205 balls and then their paceman Imran Sabir struck with 7-72 to dismiss the airmen for 207.KRL disposed-off Pakistan Army by an innings and 106 runs at the Pindi Club Ground. KRL declared at their overnight score of 252 taking a 169-run lead and then Yasir Arafat, Jaffar Nazir and Ali Naqvi bowled out the Army for a paltry 63.PIA won their third successive match by sinking the Navy team by an innings and 92 runs. Fazl-e-Akbar, Saqlain Mushtaq and Umar Gul took three wickets each while bowling out the sailars for 111 after PIA had secured a first innings lead of 203.Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq returned to domestic cricket for PTCL to score a fine 69 but this effort was not enough to earn his team a first innings lead at the Pindi Stadium as Wapda went ahead by 52 runs.Scores in brief (day 2 of 3):Pool A
At PCB Academy, Navy 86 (Nadeem Babar 27, Hammad Khan 24, Najaf Shah 4-13, Fazl-e-Akbar 3-37, Saqlain Mushtaq 2-8) and 111 (Fazl-e-Akbar 3-15, Saqlain Mushtaq 3-19, Umar Gul 3-46) vs PIA 289 in 77 overs (Yasir Hameed 79, Ghulam Ali 40, Bazid Khan 38, Kamran Sajid 28, Imran Farhat 26, Faisal Iqbal 20, Mohammad Waheed 3-54, Mohammad Ali 3-64). PIA won by an innings and 92 runs.
At Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, Pakistan Customs 245 in 79.4 overs (Aamer Bashir 75 [7×4, 146b], Azhar Shafiq 68 [9×4, 113b], Riaz Sheikh 6-68) and 7-1 vs Pak PWD 232 in 81.5 overs (Faisal Athar 85, Saad Wasim 37, Shahid Mahmood 4-109, Junaid Zia 3-33, Imran Ali 3-62).
At UBL Sports Complex, DHA 251 (Saqib Zia 68, Wajid Ali 66, Aamer Yousuf 4-47, Rizwan Fareed 3-55) and 71-7 (Aamer Yousuf 5-24) vs Dewan Farooq Motors (DFML) 135 (Javed Qadeer 42, Rizwan Saeed 3-25, Azam Hussain 3-28).Pool B
At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Wapda 275 in 82.4 overs (Hasan Adnan 73, Tariq Aziz 63, Mohammad Zaman 33*, Rizwan Malik 30, Mohammad Khalil 5-86, Mohammad Hussain 4-84) and 4-1 vs PTCL 223 ( Inzamam-ul-Haq 69, Naved Latif 47, Aqeel Ahmed 3-42).
At Pindi Club Ground, Army 83 in 28.2 overs (Yasir Arafat 5-30) and 63 (Yasir Arafat 3-13, Jaffar Nazir 3-19) vs KRL 252-2 in 59 overs declared (Mohammad Ramazan 105*, Ali Naqvi 71, Saeed Anwar Jnr 65). KRL won by an innings and 106 runs.
At KRL Stadium, POF 139 in 46.1 overs (Imran Ali 41, Rizwan Akbar 5-58, Alamgir Khan 3-18) 96-3 vs ARL 290 in 82.2 overs (Asim Butt 78 not out, Alamgir Khan 42, Nauman Aman 35, Rashid Latif 5-100, Nadeem Ahmed 3-17).Pool C
At LCCA Ground, KPT 263 in 80 overs (Maisam Hasnain 81, Rashid Hanif 43, Farhan Iqbal 32*, Sajid Aziz 5-52, Shoaib Maqsood 3-83) and 16-4 vs HEC 185 (Shoaib Maqsood 79, Atif Ijaz 49 not out, Adeel Malik 3-43).
At Gymkhana Ground Okara, Service Industries 230 in 80.1 overs (Rizwan Ahmed 55, Masood Asim 55, Farhan Asghar 30, Qaiser Abbas 4-25, Shabbir Ahmed 3-54) and 21-1 vs NBP 255 (Kamran Akmal 87, Hanif-ur-Rehman 61, Asim Butt 4-82, Jamshed Ahmed 3-58).
At Bagh-e-Jinnah Lahore, PAF 72 (Rao Iftikhar 6-36, Mohammad Saddique 4-20) and 207 (Naseer-ud-din 85, Imran Sabir 7-72) vs ZTBL 347-7 in 70 overs declared (Imran Abbas 176 [18×4, 205b] , Atif Ashraf 86, Faisal Naved 57 [7×4, 68b], Naseer-ud-din 3-101). ZTBL won by an innings and 68 runs.Pool D
At Jinnah Stadium Gujranwala, LEO International 172 in 72.5 overs (Shoaib Nasir 63, Faisal Ashraf 51, Abdul Rauf 5-51, Arshad Khan 3-31) and 97-6 (Abdul Rauf 3-45) vs Allied Bank 339-5 in 55.4 overs declared (Manzoor Akhtar 94, Wajahatullah Wasti 65, Usman Tariq 61, Alay Haider 36*, Ijaz Ahmed 30).
At Jinnah Stadium Sialkot, PEB 127 (Mohammad Irshad 5-47, Wasim Khan 2-48, Imran Tahir 2-4) and 180 (Shahid Pervez 50, Sajid Ali 4-35, Imran Tahir 3-31, Wasim Khan 3-69) vs Sui Gas 318-1 in 58 overs declared (Mohammad Hzfeez 92 [16×4, 92b], Ali Hussain 103* [12×4, 165b], Sufyan Munir 100* [12×4, 3×6, 100b]). Sui Gas won by an innings and 11 runs.
At Saga Ground Sialkot, Habib Bank 426-5 in 80 overs (Younis Khan 191 [32×4, 2×6, 217b], Hasan Raza 103 [13×4, 90b], Saleem Elahi 80 [8×4, 135b]) vs Saga 233 (Shaiman Anwar 72, Ashraf Ali 50 not out, Kabir Khan 4-67, Abdul Rehman 4-72) and 52-1 (Tauqeer Hussain 32 not out).

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will field a near full-strength ING Cup team against the Southern Redbacks on Wednesday at the Gabba.Australia `A’ players Martin Love and Wade Seccombe will play in the day/nighter and travel to Hobart on Thursday morning to prepare for the three-day tour match against India starting on Friday.Redbacks pace duo Shaun Tait and Paul Rofe will do likewise, enabling both teams to field their first choice line-ups.Bulls captain Jimmy Maher, Australian One Day star Andrew Symonds and pace spearhead Michael Kasprowicz will play their first domestic one-day games this season for Queensland.Former Queensland allrounder Mick Miller will play his first match for his adopted State this season, joining a powerful line-up that includes former Test batsmen Greg Blewett and Zimbabwean Andy Flower.Wednesday’s game starts at 2.30pm with gates opening at 1.30pm. Tickets are available at the gate.Both teams will also meet in the Pura Cup match at the Gabba starting on Friday. Queensland will name its Pura Cup team on Wednesday.XXXX Queensland Bulls: Jimmy Maher (c), Stuart Law, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, James Hopes, Nathan Hauritz, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, Damien MacKenzieSouthern Redbacks: Greg Blewett (captain), Mark Cleary, Mark Cosgrove, John Davison, Shane Deitz, Andy Flower, Mark Higgs, Ben Johnson, Graham Manou, Mick Miller, Paul Rofe, Shaun Tait

ScorecardDay 1
Bulletin – Smith and Gibbs destroy demoralised West Indies
Quotes – Smith: ‘It meant a lot to both of us’Day 2
Bulletin – Kallis breaks new ground as South Africa dominate
Quotes Kallis – ‘The team comes first’
News Sir Viv overruled by Sir Brian?Day 3
Bulletin – West Indies stumble in follow-on
Quotes Ntini – ‘My role is to take wickets’Day 4
Bulletin – Sarwan and Gayle halt West Indies slide
Quotes Simons – ‘You’ve got to give West Indies credit’Day 5
Bulletin – West Indies slump to defeat
Quotes Lara – ‘Time for a contracts system’

Canterbury 265 for 8 (Harris 78, Wiseman 51*) v Central Districts
ScorecardCanterbury might lead the State Championship, but their one-day conquerors, Central Districts, gave them a healthy welcome back to the four-day game at Rangiora today.The second round of the competition started with the top three teams beginning a series of games against the bottom-placed three teams, from which the two top sides will contest the final next month.Canterbury also had the disadvantage of being without one of the key runscorers this summer. Michael Papps, who is now part of the international one-day side, is now likely to miss the remainder of the championship programme. Aaron Redmond was promoted to opener for Canterbury, but he scored 1 and was out by the time 10 runs had been scored. It was left to Chris Harris, the perennial run gatherer, to restore the side’s fortunes as he scored 78 off 127 balls, an innings which included three sixes and nine fours. Paul Wiseman was unbeaten on 50 at stumps, the ninth half-century of his first-class career, while Regan West, the left-arm spinner, took 2 for 28 from his 20 overs.
ScorecardNorthern Districts, after a dreadful one-day season, attempted to confront their batting demons head on when choosing to bat first against Wellington at the Basin Reserve. The start had been delayed due to bad weather, and once play started it finished early.Nick Horsley provided early impetus to the innings with 30 off 44 balls, while Grant Robinson was 43 not out at stumps, and carrying much of ND’s hopes for setting Wellington a reasonable target. Iain O’Brien finished with 2 for 33, and Mark Gillespie 1 for 28 for Wellington.
ScorecardAuckland were asked to bat first at the revamped University Oval at Dunedin when play finally got started after the scheduled lunch break. Warren McSkimming took 2 for 32, while Jeff Wilson returned from his injury frustrations and bowled with fire to take 1 for 20. Matt Horne scored 35 while Aaron Barnes was 28 not out at stumps. Play ended early when bad light set in.

Sri Lanka’s top order let their side down to fall 19 runs short of a modest target set by West Indies in the Super League match at the Fatullah District Stadium.Sri Lanka won the toss and put West Indies in. Accurate bowling restricted progress and it wasn’t until the 29th over that they reached the 100 mark. Despite having wickets in hand, West Indies were unable to up the tempo in the closing overs, and finished on 200 for 7 after 50 overs. Captain Denesh Ramdin top-scored with 51.Sri Lanka’s top order have struggled for runs in this tournament – and today was no exception. The first four batsmen were back in the pavilion for 21 as fast bowler Lionel Baker’s extra pace and bounce created chaos. Chamith Kulasekara and Suraj Mohammad rallied to take Sri Lanka to 164 for 7 with four overs remaining. But then Baker returned to dismiss Kulasekara for 64 and Mohammad for 37, to swing the match decisively back in West Indies’ favour. Baker fittingly picked up the final wicket in the last over of the match to finish with figures of 6 for 39 as Sri Lanka were all out for 181.Baker, the Man of the Match, was pleased to find his rhythm with the ball. “It’s a great feeling to win today and it is good to start the Super League in good form,” he said.Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s coach, the former Test legspinner DS de Silva, was critical of his side’s batting display. “If we are going to succeed in this tournament, the top order batsmen must make runs together. At the moment our batting has been failing and today it cost us the match.”

Australia 120 and 320 for 5 (Martyn 104*) lead Sri Lanka 211 by 229 runs
Scorecard

Damien Martyn batted studiously throughout the first half of the third dayto keep Australia in front in the second Test at Kandy. Australia lost twowickets in the morning – including Adam Gilchrist’s for 144 – and anotherafter lunch, but Martyn ensured that the innings didn’t fall away with hisseventh Test century, an epic of patience and concentration. Australiareached 320 for 5 before torrential rain washed out play for the day.Australia’s lead – already a sizable 229 considering that Sri Lanka haveonly successfully chased over 200 on two previous occasions in theirhistory – is not yet large enough to guarantee the series on a pitch thathas grown increasingly placid but Sri Lanka, who have indicated that theywould be satisfied chasing 300, are fast running out of time.Martyn’s marathon 104 not out spanned nearly seven hours and 273 balls. Herode his luck – he was dropped on 0 and 65 – and battled hard for his runs,content to play the anchor role as his colleagues scored more freely. It washis second consecutive hundred of the series and provided furtherjustification for Australia’s selectors’ reluctance to dump him during his century-less25-month spell.Australia started the morning cautiously, wary of the pitch after torrentialrain last evening. The surface remained dry, though, and there was littleassistance for Sri Lanka’s bowlers. Nevertheless, Martyn, on 65, was missedfor the second time in the innings by Mahela Jayawardene, who failed tolatch on to a ball that came low to his right.Martyn soldiered on, almost entirely in defensive mode. But MuttiahMuralitharan provided the breakthrough that Sri Lanka needed, as AdamGilchrist missed a ball that straightened, and was adjudged lbw. Gilchristhad scored 144 from 185 balls and hit 19 fours and three sixes, a finereturn to form after a wretched start to the series that included twoconsecutive ducks (226 for 3). Gilchrist’s wicket ended a 200-run stand for the third wicket, a record for Australia against Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka pressed for another wicket, but Darren Lehmann was once again inan aggressive mood, cracking four fours in his 36-ball 21. But HashanTillakaratne’s first bowling change of the morning did the trick, asChaminda Vaas, operating off a short run with a 70-over old ball, foundsufficient movement to beat Lehmann’s bat and trap him in front (255 for 4).Ricky Ponting (29) came out to bat at No. 6 after intensive treatment on his strained upper back. He did not appear to be inconvenienced by the injury, though, as he danced down the track to Muralitharan and launched into a lofted drive over the corrugated iron-roofed stands at long-on.Sri Lanka took the new ball in the 88th over of the innings, about 10minutes before the lunch break. The harder ball did the trick too, althoughsomewhat fortuitously as Dave Orchard, the umpire, detected a thin Pontingedge when television replays indicated that Vaas’s delivery had just brushedhis midriff (304 for 5).Sri Lanka pressed for another wicket to expose Australia’s tail butAndrew Symonds, playing and missing frequently against the seamers, hung onfor close to an hour for his six runs as Martyn inched towards his century. Martyn eventually reached his hundred with a thick edge, before play was suspended, first for bad light and then for heavy rain.Play will resume at 10am on Friday.

India will tour Bangladesh in December to play a Test series, as well as a one-day series. The tour has been scheduled from December 13 to January 12, in which time two Tests and three one-day internationals will be played.According to Ali Asghar, the Bangladesh cricket board president, there was also a proposed triangular series, involving Zimbabwe, in the pipeline.Bangladesh last played India in 2000-01, when they made their international debut. While Bangladesh lost the Test, they scored 400 in their very first innings and then conceded only a 29-run lead, before collapsing for 91 in the next innings. But this time around, Bangladesh, who have improved dramatically in the last year, could give India a tough time. They put up high scores consistently in Australia last year, and then posed major problems for the home team during their tour of the West Indies.India were originally scheduled to tour Bangladesh in April this year, but postponed the clash due to the series against Pakistan, reported. The Indian and Bangladesh boards then agreed to defer the series until December.This series adds to India’s cluttered itinerary, which takes off with the Sri Lankan edition of the Asia Cup, beginning on July 16. India then play Australia and Pakistan in a one-day tournament in Holland, which is followed by more one-dayers against England. The ICC Champions Trophy comes next, after which India host Australia and South Africa in October and November.Schedule

First Test December 15-19

Second Test December 23-27

First one-dayer December 30

Second one-dayer January 1

Third one-dayer January 2

The 15-man side for Sri Lanka’s President’s XI, which will take on the South Africans in a three-day game, has been announced. Six players with international playing experience have been named in the team to give it a more competetive appearance; Thilan Samaraweera, who captains the side, Michael Vandort, Russel Arnold, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Rangana Herath and Dilhara Fernando.The match, to be played at the CCC grounds from July 30-August 1, will kick of the five-week long tour, which includes two Tests and five one-dayers.Sri Lanka President’s XI Thilan Samaraweera (capt), Michael Vandort, Tharanga Paranavithana, Russel Arnold, Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), Chamara Silva, Chanaka Wijesinghe, Rangana Herath, Umesh Wijesiriwardene, Dilhara Fernando, Tharanga Lakshitha, Reserves: Chanaka Welagedera, Gihan de Silva, Dinuk Hettiarachchi, Hasantha Fernando.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has approved the restructured graded-payment system for the international cricketers. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the board, confirmed this after the working-committee meeting in Kolkata. However, the board rejected a request to increase the non-playing members’ match fee by 20%.The players will be divided into three grades, receiving Rs5million (US$108,000 approx), Rs3.5million (US$75,000 approx) and Rs2million (US$44,000 approx) respectively on an annual basis. Apart from this the players will continue to receive their match fees.Dalmiya said the players could have signed the documents before their departure for Holland, but it could not be done since John Wright was unavailable. quoted Dalmiya as saying, “Had this confirmation come two days earlier, the contracts could have been signed by now. Now let us see if it could be done tomorrow. Otherwise it would be done after the team returns from England.”Wright, Sourav Ganguly, Syed Kirmani (the chairman of selectors), and SK Nair, the secretary of the BCCI, will decide the slotting of the players into the various grades.