Mentor Viv impressed with Symonds

Melbourne: West Indies great Sir Vivian Richards feels flattered that new generation players such as Andrew Symonds look at him as a source of inspiration. The former West Indies captain believes he could still be a mentor to them. “He’s (Symonds) definitely one of the players I enjoy watching. I was chuffed when he came and said ‘thank you so much for the inspiration’ and said ‘you were one of my heroes’,” Richards was quoted as saying by a local daily. “What more can you say when someone in the present game still believes that someone in the past can still be a mentor, because there’s a lot of folks who think that what went by, is dead,” he added.

Ricky to return

Calcutta: Cricket Australia (CA) on Friday advised that Australia captain Ricky Ponting will return home from the West Indies on Friday. Ponting is unlikely to be available for Sunday’s final ODI, says A Staff Reporter. “Ricky has a tendon injury in right wrist and will be flying home to see a specialist in Melbourne,” CA physiotherapist Justin Steer said. Michael Clarke will take over as captain while Mike Hussey will be his deputy.

Inty PCA coach

Chandigarh: The Punjab Cricket Association Friday appointed former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam as coach of its senior team. The Hoshiarpur born 67-year-old Alam had earlier worked with Punjab during the 2004-05 and 2005-2006 seasons and guided the team to Ranji finals.

Coach Reeve

Wellington: Former England allrounder Dermot Reeve has been named coach of New Zealand first-class side Central Districts, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Friday. The 45-year-old Reeve moved to New Zealand after admitting publicly to cocaine addiction in 2005.

Nehra deal off

London: English County Worcestershire on Friday called off a deal with Indian paceman Ashish Nehra after he demanded more money than agreed to for joining the team in the second season.

Kalighat win

Calcutta: Riding a five-wicket haul by off-spinner Sourasish Lahiri, Kalighat reached the final of the J. C. Mukherjee Trophy on Friday, defeating Sporting Union by 234 runs, says A Staff Reporter. They will play East Bengal in the final on July 7 and 8.

Brief scores

Kalighat 472 beat Sporting Union 238 (S. Lahiri 5/80, S. Sanyal 3/39).

P. Sen fixtures

Calcutta: The schedule for the P. Sen Trophy was announced on Friday. The tournament will start on July 9 and the final will be held on July 12. Despite DKS’ threat to pull out of the tournament, the fixture has been prepared including them. A senior CAB official said he was yet to receive any letter from DKS in this regard.

The Fixtures

July 9: BNR vs Combined Universities, Sporting Union vs Town Club; July 10: DKS vs Kalighat, Aikya vs CAB President’s XI; July 11: Semi-finals; July 12: Final.