Pujara could succeed in ODIs too - Dravid.....

Former India captain Rahul Dravid has said Cheteshwar Pujara, who succeeded him at No. 3 in India's Test side, could have what it takes to perform in ODIs as well. He was speaking at 'A Day with Dravid', an ESPNcricinfo event in which nine cricket fans got the chance to interact with him from across the world.

Pujara has an average of 65 after 13 Tests, having scored four hundreds and three half-centuries, and has drawn comparisons with Dravid. He hasn't made his ODI debut yet, but in 61 domestic one-day matches Pujara averages 56.97, with eight hundreds and 17 fifties.

"He's had a great start to his international career, in fact a much better start than I did," Dravid said. "I think he has been brought up in the old school of batsmanship. He is developing more shots and he approaches Test cricket in the same way as I did.

"He's got some good basics in place," Dravid said. "You can see that he is constantly improving and he is someone who will find answers to questions. He is going to have his ups and downs and face a lot of challenges adapting to different forms of the game and conditions. With his attitude and the way he is going about playing his cricket, I think he will find answers to a lot of these questions and one of them will be one-day cricket."

Dravid also said, during the event, that Test cricket needed needed better scheduling, and more matches for all teams, in order to survive. "One thing I'd like to see definitely is scheduling to be a lot better, and the ability for most countries to play a lot more Test cricket," he said. "I'd love to see all the teams get the opportunity to play a lot more cricket against each other. I think it will really see Test cricket come up and improve, and the only way for it to survive is to play it as often as possible."

He spoke in length about his desire to perform well abroad when he had started playing international cricket. He played first-class cricket in India for four years before making his Test debut in England, where he scored 95 at Lord's in 1996.

"I wanted to do well abroad in conditions that I wasn't used to," he said. "When I was growing up, one of my coaches stressed that you have to do well outside India to be judged a very good player. One of the things I found difficult adjusting to was bounce early on in my international career.

"When I went to Australia, South Africa or England for the first time, I would see some of the foreign top-order batsmen leave balls on length. As soon as the ball pitched on a particular area, they would leave it. Indian batsmen's instinct was to play at those balls because if you left those balls in India, they would probably hit the top of off or middle stump. That ability to adjust to that bounce and know which ball to leave instinctively on length, especially early on in your innings, was one of the most difficult adjustments to play."

Answering fans' questions on the contemporary game and the changes it has seen over the years, Dravid expressed his admiration for the players who can play the switch hit, but also said he wanted the rule to be fair for the bowlers.

"I can't imagine the way some guys pull that off," he said. "When I see someone like a [Kevin] Pietersen or [David] Warner pull it off, you can see the value of the shot like that. If you were to play the switch hit, then the wide rule should change as well. You should allow the bowler to bowl outside the off stump. I think it's an incredibly skilful and difficult shot to play and I'm all for it as long as you give the bowler protection as well."

Sun sets on Australian batting - Chappell.......

Australia may never again produce Test match batting talent on the level of Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke if numerous gaping "holes in the production line" are not addressed by Cricket Australia, the former captain Ian Chappell has said. The poverty of batting performance on a disastrous tour of India underlined problems in Australian batting that Chappell feels have been festering now for some years, exacerbated by the commercial evolution of the game.

Arguing that coaching appointments and the shuffling of players by selectors will not address the issue, Chappell has called for CA to look more closely at how batsmen are being developed, addressing matters such as the amount of short-form cricket being played by juniors, the array of pitches on offer in the Sheffield Shield and the impact of a muddled schedule tossing players from Twenty20 to Tests and back again.

"We are not addressing the fact that there are holes in the production line," Chappell told ESPNcricinfo. "For instance, I have seen the next lot of batsmen at the Under-19 level World Cup and I have not seen any change in what's happening. So I've got to ask the question, if our methods of producing batsmen don't seem to be working, and in my opinion they are not, why aren't we trying to do some other things?

"I don't hear these things being talked about and it's just a matter of will we change the coach, will we bring in a new high-performance [manager], those things are not going to make one bit of a difference. Fix up the core problem and then we might start to get somewhere. The problem with that being, if we fix up the core problem tomorrow, you are talking about another generation before you really start to reap the benefits. So there are some major problems that I see in Australian cricket and I don't think they are being addressed."

Citing the composure, stroke range and adaptability demonstrated by Clarke, Hussey and Ponting that was painfully absent from many of their batting descendants in India, Chappell said that Australian cricket may never see their like again.

"If you think about it, Ponting, Hussey and Clarke, you would have to say are the last of that sort of generation who learnt how to survive those tough periods," he said. "You know as a batsman when at times you have to get through half an hour, or it might be an hour, against a really good attack.

"The classic examples are - Clarke at Lord's in 2009. It was a magnificent innings against brilliant bowling from Jimmy Anderson and Andrew Flintoff. In my opinion, that's the best innings I have ever seen from Clarke. And Ponting's innings at Old Trafford in 2005 to save the Test match - 156 I think he got. Magnificent innings, back to the wall save the Test match type innings. That should be standard fare for other Australian Test batsmen. But at the moment you would say, when Michael Clarke retires, that may be the end of that style of batsman."

Team management on the India tour were critical of the players' discipline, not only off the field as publicised by the suspension of four squad members in Mohali, but also on it as team plans for how to tackle India's spin bowlers on turning pitches were not followed. Chappell said such issues were created by batsmen not growing into an adequate knowledge of their own techniques in all conditions, prompting panic when circumstances did not suit their games.

"It's easy to be patient when you know that you've got the technique and the wherewithal to cope with spin bowling under those conditions," Chappell said. "Because you know that eventually you can hang around long enough to start to pick up the runs and get things going and then the boundaries come. Then you've got a chance of making a big score.

"But if you don't have faith in your technique and your ability to survive, that's when the panic sets in. So it's got nothing to do with being impatient, it's much more to do with your technique and your non-belief in that technique that brings on the panic."

Chappell's words echoed those of Ponting himself when asked in 2011 about how Australian batsmen were losing touch with the art of concentration. "That's the big worry I've had about Twenty20 cricket, and even other shorter forms of the game being played at really developmental times in kids' careers," Ponting said. "Cricket for me, when I was growing up, if I was batting, it meant I was batting until someone got me out, and if that took them a week then that's how long it took them.

"The guys who played in my era that's what it was all about - not going out there and facing two overs and then being told that you had to go and stand in the field; that's not what cricket is. And that's the worry I have about a lot of the developmental phases. Even Under-17s and Under-19s now, they're playing T20 games in national championships, and at the detriment of two-day games.

"Good state players these days are averaging 35. If you were averaging 35 when I was playing, your dad would go and buy you a basketball or a footy and tell you to play that. So there's areas of concern there. I don't know how you change them."

Muralitharan disappointed with IPL ruling......

Royal Challengers Bangalore's Muttiah Muralitharan has expressed disappointment at the IPL governing council's decision to disallow Sri Lankan players from participating in matches in Chennai this season, a result of growing political tensions in Tamil Nadu stemming from the treatment of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka.

"It's a sad [day] for cricket as we are not allowed to play in a certain part of India. It is a government decision, if they cannot provide security for us, we have to be cautious," former Sri Lanka spinner Muralitharan told NDTV. "I have spoken to Royal Challengers, they do not have any problems. I can play the non-Chennai games."

Muralitharan, a Sri Lankan tamil, said he had never felt out of place. "I played for 20 years in the Lankan team, I did not have any problems as a Tamil. The government and the cricket board always supported me throughout my career even when I went through a lot of problems. Earlier there was a time of war between the Tamils and Lankans but now people are living in peace in my country. So the concerned authorities in India must come and see how we are living in Sri Lanka and forget what happened in the past. We don't want another war-like situation now.

"If they allow us to play, we will definitely play in Chennai. Chennai is like a second home for me as my wife Madhimalar is from there. It is a sentimental situation for me. We do not want to get into politics and we just want to play our cricket and entertain our fans."

Muttiah Muralitharan retired from international cricket in 2011 after the World Cup final in Mumbai, and has since played in various Twenty20 leagues. He has played all five seasons of IPL thus far, for Chennai Super Kings (2008-2010), Kochi Tuskers Kerala (2011) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (2012).

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

CUTE....

Linux, Mozilla to bring smartphones to markets this year.....

Sydney: Phones using operating systems based on the open-source platforms Linux and Mozilla's Firefox will be hitting the market this year, challenging the stranglehold of the two market leaders, Google's Android and Apple's iOS. 

Android and Apple account for more than 90 percent of the surging smartphone market, and third place is being contested by BlackBerry and Microsoft's Windows Phone, reports the Herald Sun. 

The Mozilla Foundation, developer of the Firefox browser and a new mobile operating system, claims to have 17 operators on board and plans Firefox OS phones in Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela. 

The key player being watched, however, is Samsung, which is the biggest smartphone maker with some 40 percent of all Android phones, but is planning new devices using Tizen, an operating system based on Linux. 

The Tizen Association, which also includes France's Orange, Japan's NTT DoCoMo, China's Huawei and US-based Intel, say the firms view openness as a key to raising the bar for user experience. 

Some analysts were surprised by Samsung's move, saying it's not clear if the South Korean giant is trying to distance itself from Google and Android, which is a free operating system but offers advertising possibilities to the Silicon Valley firm. 

Aapo Markkanen, an analyst with ABI Research, said Samsung is trying to break free from Google and that Tizen could be the key for that. Ubuntu, a Linux-based operating system promoted by British software firm Canonical, expects to have phones ready later this year. 

And Sailfish, another Linux variant from Finnish-based Jolla Mobile, has released its program for developers. 

Nokia, Google clash over plan to create ‘free-to-use’ video encoding technology....

London: Finland mobile maker Nokia and Internet search giant Google have clashed over software that is part of free-to-use video encoding technology.

Google wants its video coding program, called VP8, to be a core part of the WebM project that is making web-centred video production tools.

Nokia, however, says it owns key patents that define parts of VP8 and has filed an official objection to Google's plan.

According to the BBC, the independent WebM project was started to create video production and playback software specifically designed for use online.

Many of the tools currently used to do this are cut-down versions of similar programs used in TV stations and can be expensive to use.

By contrast, WebM tools would be free to use and the software would take account of the needs of websites, browsers and smartphones, the report said.

Chinese media criticises Apple customer-services.......

London: Chinese state-run media has launched a stinging attack on Apple by criticizing the tech giant’s customer-services.

An article in the People’s Daily accused Apple of an “empty and self-praising” response to an earlier critical report on the company by China’s state broadcaster.

The article was accompanied by a cartoon that showed a figure supposed to represent the US company saying: “Apple statement: empty,” the Telegraph reports.

Earlier this month CCTV, Beijing’s state broadcaster, screened a consumer rights programme which accused Apple of not replacing broken iPhones, but instead only fixing specific parts, to avoid giving customers a new warranty period.

China is Apple's fastest growing market and the second-largest after the US.

According to the paper, analysts said the attacks suggest that Beijing is considering doing more to encourage the growth of domestic smartphone companies and eat away at dominant foreign companies, such as Apple. 

Windows 8 update coming soon.....

Washington: Software giant Microsoft is likely to release an update to its new operating system Windows8.

The company first unveiled the tablet-centric Windows 8 OS at a conference on Sept. 11, 2011.

At the upcoming event, scheduled for June 26-28 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the company will discuss the future of the software, said one Microsoft veep, Fox News reports.

According to the report, Steve Guggenheimer, Microsoft's corporate vice president and chief evangelist, wrote in a blog post that “a Build, we’ll share updates and talk about what’s next for Windows.’

Mary Jo Foley, who covers Microsoft technology for ZDNet, said the company is supposedly aiming to release the software this summer.

“There's also a new snap view which allows two windows to be snapped side-by-side so that each takes up half the size of the display, as well as an option to have four apps displayed simultaneously. (If that four-app view ends up making it into Blue, I'll be very happy, as I really miss real windowing in Windows 8.),” he said. 

New Delhi: It was a riot of colours as revellers on Wednesday thronged streets and by-lanes to celebrate Holi with security force personnel along the borders and in Kashmir no less enthusiastic in applying 'gulal' and exchanging sweets. Gusto and bonhomie marked the festival of fun and frolic which passed off peacefully as police kept a hawk-eye vigil on revellers dancing to the accompaniment of drums. With clothes drenched in myriad hues, merrymakers thronged lanes and narrow alleys to celebrate the festival of colours, giving a go-by to old squabbles and distributed traditional sweets. People embraced each other wishing "Happy Holi" as unseen hands squirted them with a well-timed coloured water spray. Water-filled balloons were lobbed from rooftops and balconies as cries of "Holi hai" reverberated the streets as the festival bid adieu to winter to herald spring. Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde celebrated Holi with BSF jawans at an outpost near the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district. The minister arrived in the morning and went to Tanot Mata temple, about 150 kms from Jaisalmer, and visited the BSF post. The festival was celebrated by the Hindu community and security forces with traditional fervour and gaiety in Kashmir. Army and paramilitary troopers gathered in camps in the Kashmir Valley and danced to the beats of popular Holi songs from Bollywood and sprinkled colour on each other, far away from their homes. President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed the hope that the festival will strengthen faith in national values and promote oneness and harmony. "On the joyous occasion of Holi, I convey my greetings and good wishes to all my fellow countrymen. This festival which marks the advent of spring, is a harbinger of joy, hope and fulfilment for all," the President said. The Prime Minister said the festival of colours is the celebration of "life and goodness and gives opportunity to strengthen the spirit of brotherhood." Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hoped that the festival of colours would be a harbinger of peace, progress and prosperity in the state. BJP veteran LK Advani met visitors and party leaders at his residence in the national capital on the occasion. In Punjab's Amritsar district, BSF jawans celebrated Holi at the Attari international border. The Durgiana temple in Amritsar was tastefully decorated and people thronged it to celebrate the festival, so was the holy city of Anandpur Sahib. In the national capital, police personnel were deployed across the city. Police had issued warning against hooliganism in the guise of revelry. Commuters faced inconvenience in the morning as a handful of buses plied and Metro service resumed only after 2 PM. .......

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Wednesday offered full support to the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) if the need arose to stage matches at Kochi for the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that begins from April 3.

"The KCA had approached us that a probability could arise wherein Kochi could stage a few matches of the IPL. We have offered our full support, and complete security arrangements would be provided and other support systems also would be in place," said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting.

The KCA office bearers, led by its secretary T.C. Mathew, had on Tuesday approached Chandy after reports that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking that Sri Lankan players and officials be excluded from IPL matches to be staged in Chennai.

Jayalalithaa wrote the letter following increased political tension in the state over the treatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Mathew said that they are ready to host matches if there are any issues.

"We have already hosted IPL matches (fourth edition) in 2011 and we have no issues in organising it this time," said a confident Mathew.

The sixth edition of IPL has 10 matches in Chennai. Thirteen Sri Lanka players are included in various teams while Nuwan Kulasekara and Akila Dananjaya are members of the local franchisee - Chennai Super Kings.

The KCA is confident they can host the matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium at Kochi, which is the only one in the state of international standard and has already staged eight ODIs (one Day internationals) in the past 14 years. The last was held in January this year when the English team toured the country.

KCA also promised to host IPL matches if another venue, Bangalore, faced any difficulty in conducting matches.

"Assembly elections are going to be held in Karnataka in the first week of May and if they need our help to stage some of their home matches in view of security arrangements, we have told them that we are ready," said Mathew.

India soaks in colour as people celebrate Holi....

New Delhi: It was a riot of colours as revellers on Wednesday thronged streets and by-lanes to celebrate Holi with security force personnel along the borders and in Kashmir no less enthusiastic in applying 'gulal' and exchanging sweets. 

Gusto and bonhomie marked the festival of fun and frolic which passed off peacefully as police kept a hawk-eye vigil on revellers dancing to the accompaniment of drums. 

With clothes drenched in myriad hues, merrymakers thronged lanes and narrow alleys to celebrate the festival of colours, giving a go-by to old squabbles and distributed traditional sweets. 

People embraced each other wishing "Happy Holi" as unseen hands squirted them with a well-timed coloured water spray. Water-filled balloons were lobbed from rooftops and balconies as cries of "Holi hai" reverberated the streets as the festival bid adieu to winter to herald spring. 

Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde celebrated Holi with BSF jawans at an outpost near the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district. The minister arrived in the morning and went to Tanot Mata temple, about 150 kms from Jaisalmer, and visited the BSF post. 

The festival was celebrated by the Hindu community and security forces with traditional fervour and gaiety in Kashmir. Army and paramilitary troopers gathered in camps in the Kashmir Valley and danced to the beats of popular Holi songs from Bollywood and sprinkled colour on each other, far away from their homes. 

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed the hope that the festival will strengthen faith in national values and promote oneness and harmony. 

"On the joyous occasion of Holi, I convey my greetings and good wishes to all my fellow countrymen. This festival which marks the advent of spring, is a harbinger of joy, hope and fulfilment for all," the President said. 

The Prime Minister said the festival of colours is the celebration of "life and goodness and gives opportunity to strengthen the spirit of brotherhood." Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hoped that the festival of colours would be a harbinger of peace, progress and prosperity in the state. 

BJP veteran LK Advani met visitors and party leaders at his residence in the national capital on the occasion. 

In Punjab's Amritsar district, BSF jawans celebrated Holi at the Attari international border. The Durgiana temple in Amritsar was tastefully decorated and people thronged it to celebrate the festival, so was the holy city of Anandpur Sahib. 

In the national capital, police personnel were deployed across the city. Police had issued warning against hooliganism in the guise of revelry. Commuters faced inconvenience in the morning as a handful of buses plied and Metro service resumed only after 2 PM. 

Deepak Bhardwaj’s killing: Delhi cops recover car from Jind......

New Delhi: Delhi Police have reportedly claimed to have located the car that was used by two persons to escape after killing politician Deepak Bhardwaj at his farmhouse in the city’s Nitesh Kunj area. 

The Skoda car was picked up from Jind, Haryana late Tuesday night. Police have also identified the three shooters, saying they belong to Khera village in the Pooth Khurd area of northwest Delhi which is near the Delhi-Haryana border. 

Several teams of the Special Task Force (STF) are reportedly conducting raids in different places to nab them. Police said that they have got vital clues in the case along with the addresses of the assailants and are on the lookout for them. Delhi Police is being assisted by their Haryana counterparts in the case. breakthrough has strengthened the suspicion that a massive land deal with a rival builder could be the motive of Bhardwaj's murder. However, the cops have not yet ruled out the involvement of a close family member. The teams are conducting raids in Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttaranchal. 

Deepak Bhardwaj, 62, who made his fortune in land deals to acquire assets worth over Rs 600 crore becoming Delhi's richest candidate in the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, was shot dead on Tuesday morning at his sprawling farmhouse. The BSP leader was killed within minutes on his lawn when two men - a third was in the getaway car, a Skoda - pumped bullets into his head and chest after approaching him on the pretext of confirming a booking at the 28-acre venue for weddings, conventions and other events. The attackers then fled, with two men running out of the farmhouse, brandishing guns. The third person was driving the car. 

Bhardwaj suffered two bullet injuries in his head and chest and was declared dead at the Army Research and Referral Hospital. ANI 

Google Glass facing privacy and safety concerns.....

Washington: Google Glass, the US techology giant's revolutionary wearable computer is still months away from release, but there is a growing movement across America seeking to limit and in some cases ban the use of the glasses due to both privacy and safety concerns.

"We heard of many crashes caused by texting and driving, most involving our youngest drivers," Republican Gary Howell of the West Virginia state legislature told tech website CNET.

Howell has introduced a bill that would effectively ban the use of Google Glass by drivers behind the wheel of a vehicle, siting safety concerns.

"Last legislature, we worked long and hard on a no-texting-and-driving law," Howell told CNET.

"It is mostly the young that are the tech-savvy that try new things. They are also our most vulnerable and underskilled drivers," he said.

Google Glass resembles a pair of traditional eyeglasses, but with images displayed on the lens, it enables users to surf the web, send emails, text messages, and record photos and videos all by using voice commands.

"We are putting a lot of thought into the design of Glass because new technologies always raise new issues," a Google spokesman said in a statement.

In regards to safety, Google said in its statement the glasses offer, "tremendous potential to improve safety on our roads and reduce accidents".

For instance, Google has said its glasses will offer turn-by-turn navigation using voice commands to promote a more hands-free driving experience.

But putting the issue of safety aside, a growing movement online is concerned about the privacy implications surrounding the use of the stealthy glasses that could be used as a secret recording device.

"If the government installed CCTV cameras and microphones everywhere, all feeding information to a central control room you would probably characterise it as a privacy risk," the website StopTheCyborgs.org said.

"Is it any better if it's run by a corporation and the devices are attached to people's heads?"

Concerns that Google Glass could be used to secretly record private conversations and activities is what sparked the creators of StopTheCyborgs to encourage businesses across the country to preemptively ban the use of Google Glass in their establishments.

The site offers downloadable anti-Google Glass signs and links to contact politicians to promote legislation regulating the use of the glasses prior to the launch.

The 5 Point Cafe, a bar in Seattle, was among the first to post signs banning Google Glass on its premises in an effort to protect the privacy of its patrons, the bar's owner said.

"It is still very early days for Glass and we expect as with other new technologies, such as cell phones, behaviours and social norms will develop over time," a spokesman for Google told the Silicon Business Journal.

Google Glass is slated to be released later this year with an estimated retail price of around $1,500, according to media reports.

Yusuf Pathan ties the knot......

Mumbai: Out-of-favour India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan on Wednesday tied the knot with fiancee Afreen, at a family function here.

The 30-year-old big-hitting batsman had got engaged in a private ceremony at his farmhouse in Nadiad, 60 kms from Vadodara, last year.

Afreen was born and brought up in Mumbai but practises physiotherapy in Vadodara.

It is an arranged marriage and the match was decided after both families gave their consent.

Pathan, who has been out of the Indian team for some time now, has scored 1365 runs in 57 ODIs and 438 runs in 22 T20s. 

Saina Nehwal nominated for BWF Female Player of the Year award....

Kuala Lumpur: India`s Saina Nehwal was Wednesday nominated for the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Female Player of the Year award for 2012.

Along with Saina in the reckoning are World No.1 Li Xuerui of China, who copped eight titles in 2012 including the Olympic and year-ending crowns. 

Li`s compatriot Wang Yihan, who won the Olympic silver in London, has also been nominated besides the winning Olympic women`s doubles pair of Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei (China). Should a pair win, they will share the annual award.The World No.2 Indian, in 2012, won the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier, Denmark Open Super Series Premier, Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, and the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold to add to the bronze medal she won at the London Olympics.

Otherwise Chinese shuttlers dominated the nominations of the best badminton players of 2012.

In the list of the Male Player of the Year are two-time Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan of China and his perennial rival Malaysia`s Lee Chong Wei, the current World No.1 and a two-time Olympic silver medallist.

Others in the category are Olympic bronze medallist and winner of the BWF World Super Series Finals Chen Long (China), men`s doubles Olympic gold medallists Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng (China) and Lee Yong Dae and the now retired Jung Jae Sung (South Korea), who won the men`s doubles bronze medal at London Games.

The nominees for the Most Promising Player of the Year are Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei), Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), Kento Momota (Japan), Nozomi Okuhara (Japan), Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) and Busnan Ongbumrungpan (Thailand).

The announcement of the winners and the presentation of prizes will take place here May 18 following the BWF Annual General Meeting.

We are not addressing holes in production line: Chappell

New Delhi: Batsmen in the mould of, or, as talented as Michael Clarke or the retired Ricky Ponting, may never be seen in Australia again if the "holes in the production line" are not addressed by the country`s cricket administrators, says former great Ian Chappell.

"We are not addressing the fact that there are holes in the production line," Chappell said.
"If you think about it, Ponting, (Michael) Hussey and Clarke, you would have to say are the last of that sort of generation who learnt how to survive those tough periods."

Chappell questioned Australia`s methods of producing talented batsmen.

"For instance, I have seen the next lot of batsmen at the Under-19 level World Cup and I have not seen any change in what`s happening."

"So I`ve got to ask the question, if our methods of producing batsmen don`t seem to be working, and in my opinion they are not, why aren`t we trying to do some other things?" Chappell said.

He said that the "core problem" facing Australian cricket at the moment needed to be fixed first.

"I don`t hear these things being talked about and it`s just a matter of will we change the coach, will we bring in a new high-performance (manager), those things are not going to make one bit of a difference. Fix up the core problem and then we might start to get somewhere.

"The problem with that being, if we fix up the core problem tomorrow, you are talking about another generation before you really start to reap the benefits. So there are some major problems that I see in Australian cricket and I don`t think they are being addressed." 

As far as batting in tough conditions were concerned, Chappell cited two innings played by Clarke and Ponting during Ashes 2009 and 2005 respectively.

"The classic examples are -- Clarke at Lord`s in 2009. It was a magnificent innings against brilliant bowling from Jimmy Anderson and Andrew Flintoff. In my opinion, that`s the best innings I have ever seen from Clarke.

And Ponting`s innings at Old Trafford in 2005 to save the Test match -- 156 I think he got. Magnificent innings, back to the wall save the Test match type innings.

"That should be standard fare for other Australian Test batsmen. But at the moment you would say, when Michael Clarke retires, that may be the end of that style of batsman."

Referring to the Australian batsmen`s just-concluded disastrous tour of India, Chappell said, "It`s easy to be patient when you know that you`ve got the technique and the wherewithal to cope with spin bowling under those conditions.

"Because you know that eventually you can hang around long enough to start to pick up the runs and get things going and then the boundaries come. Then you`ve got a chance of making a big score.

"But if you don`t have faith in your technique and your ability to survive, that`s when the panic sets in. So it`s got nothing to do with being impatient, it`s much more to do with your technique and your non-belief in that technique that brings on the panic." 

Kapil Dev urges `over the hill` Tendulkar to embrace `painful` retirement....

Abu Dhabi: Former Indian captain Kapil Dev has urged batting great Sachin Tendulkar, whom he believes is well past his best, to take retirement from international cricket, adding the master blaster can be a great ambassador for cricket post retirement.

Dev said the important stage of Tendulkar`s career is over, adding he is now at the end of his career and one should appreciate that he is not going to play the way he used to.Dev added even if Tendulkar scored three consecutive centuries his thoughts won`t change about him, adding one has to know that age is not just a number and it doesn`t matter how much passion you have, you couldn`t stay so long as to block the progress of others.

Dev said this is not just about Tendulkar, but life in general, adding the Little Master can be a great ambassador of the game like Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid.

The former all rounder further added in order to get the best out of your retirement you can give back after it as well and Tendulkar must move on and beautiful things will happen to him, adding he wishes him luck, comfort and happiness because he has given so much to us that it is unbelievable and unparalleled but he must move on.

Dev added if you have other things going on in your life, then retirement is not so difficult, adding the word retirement is a painful phrase and even he used to feel it when people used to refer to him as `retired Kapil Dev` at the age of 35. 

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE......

The satanic leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus) is the smallest of 12 species of bizarre-looking leaf-tailed geckos. The nocturnal creature has extremely cryptic camouflage so it can hide out in forests.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE......

Pepsi IPL T20 Schedule 2013......