Ranatunga for ‘Sir’ Sachin

Colombo: Arjuna Ranatunga shares British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s view that Sachin Tendulkar should be knighted.

“I think he is one of the top batsmen produced by the cricketing world. He has achieved a lot and I don’t think any cricketer will have problems if he gets the coveted title,” said the former Sri Lanka skipper.

Ranatunga, who is also the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman, lauded Tendulkar’s sportsman spirit. “He is a good sport. I have played a lot of cricket with him. We never had any problems with umpiring decisions. Whenever he is out, he always walks.

Ranatunga said Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev also deserve to be knighted.

First Test vs SA from March 26

Mumbai: South Africa will play the first Test of their tour of India in Chennai from March 26-30, the BCCI said in a statement released on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the remaining two matches in the three-Test series will be played from April 3-7 in Ahmedabad and April 11-15 in Kanpur.

The visitors will open with a three-day fixture against India A in Mumbai from March 20.

ITINERARY

March 20-22: Three-dayer vs India A; March 26-30: 1st Test in Chennai; April 3-7: 2nd Test in Ahmedabad; April 11-15: 3rd Test in Kanpur.

CA-PCB meeting

Karachi: A senior Cricket Australia (CA) official has confirmed that the heads of the Aussie and Pakistan cricket boards are likely to have talks in the next three or four days on the March-April series. The series runs the danger of being cancelled due to security concerns raised by the touring side.

Peter Young, the media manager of CA, told Geo Television on Wednesday that the heads of the two boards will have formal talks on the series but it could be either over telephone or across the table in Dubai.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, meanwhile, denied growing rumours of a possible rift in the team, saying he had no issues with Shahid Afridi. Some newspapers reported that Malik and coach Geoff Lawson didn’t want Afridi in the team.

Lions squad

Mumbai: Injuries to Worcestershire wicketkeeper Steven Davies and his county colleague Kabir Ali have forced the ECB to call up Essex wicketkeeper James Foster and pacer Steve Kirby (Gloucestershire) and Charlie Shreck (Nottinghamshire) for the England Lions squad for the Duleep Trophy.

REVISED ENGLAND LIONS: Michael Yardy (Sussex, Capt), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Joe Denly (Kent), James Foster (Essex), James Hildreth (Somerset), Ed Joyce (Middlesex), Steve Kirby (Gloucestershire), Graham Onions (Durham), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Alan Richardson (Middlesex), Charlie Shreck (Nottighamshire And Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire).