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Greg Chappell: ‘I wish Indian cricket and all those involved with it much joy and success in the future’ © AFP

Greg Chappell brought the curtain down on a controversial tenure as India’s coach by announcing today that he would not be seeking an extension of his contract, which had ended along with India’s participation in the World Cup. Chappell informed the board president of his decision on Wednesday, citing “family and personal reasons.”Chappell, 58, had served as coach since June 2005.Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, said that Chappell had informed him about his decision in the afternoon. “Chappell’s contract is over. It was up to the World Cup”, Pawar told reporters. “I got a telephone call from him in the afternoon. Due to his family and personal reasons he was not interested in continuing the contract. He thanked BCCI for the opportunity.”Chappell’s decision follows India’s early exit from the World Cup, and the resulting war of words in the media between Chappell and senior players. The BCCI had convened a meeting in Mumbai on Friday and Saturday to review the team’s performance in the Caribbean, and was expected to take several hard decisions.Chappell had been asked to attend the meeting – he is in Mumbai and is likely to keep that appointment – and present a detailed report on his tenure. The past few days have seen the Indian media carry what it claimed to be extracts from Chappell’s report that were scathing of the performance of senior players. That led to reactions, again in the media, by unnamed senior players.What resulted was a clear divide, as reported by Cricinfo, between Chappell and the team management, including captain Rahul Dravid, and the senior players.The simmering controversy seemed to boil over on Wednesday morning when published an interview with Sachin Tendulkar – known for avoiding comment on controversial topics – in which he made several pointed remarks about Chappell.”We do realise that we played badly and, as a team, we take full responsibility for that”, Tendulkar said. “But what hurt us most is if the coach has questioned our attitude.”Within hours of that interview being published, Chappell announced his decision to not seek an extension of his contract.There is no word from the BCCI on a possible successor. India’s next assignment is a Test and one-day series in Bangladesh next month and the Board may appoint an interim coach while scouting for a long-term prospect.Chappell’s tenure included a record-breaking run of India winning 17 ODIs while chasing, and a Test series win in the West Indies. It saw several young players, including S Sreesanth and Dinesh Karthik, breaking through into the national side to some acclaim. But it also had its share of controversy, which appeared to stem from a hardline, no-nonsense attitude.His tenure began with a bitter and public feud with Sourav Ganguly, who was team captain when Chappell took charge but was sacked, after Chappell suggested he sit out a match on a tour of Zimbabwe, within four months.Ganguly returned to the national team during last year’s tour of South Africa. He was among the runs then, and ensured his selection to the World Cup side; he continued scoring in the Caribbean but the team management was apparently unhappy with his slow scoring rate.In his letter, released to the media, Chappell, said, “I am grateful to the players with whom I have worked in this time for the challenges that they presented me with and which I tried to meet in a professional, methodical and interesting way in the interests of the team and the individual.”He went on to thank the support staff who worked with him for their efforts. “I would like to make special mention of my support staff without whom I would not have survived the rigours of the past 22 months,” he said. “Ian Frazer and Greg King deserve special mention for their efforts as do John Gloster, S Ramakrishnan and Ramesh Mane. I am particularly grateful for the wonderful support of my family, especially my wife Judy, who has enjoyed the experience as much as I.”Chappell also had a word for the people of India who followed cricket so passionately. “The people of India deserve a special mention as they are the ones whose attention, enthusiasm and love and support drive the great game, and business, of cricket in this country, and around the world,” he said. “I thank them all, especially those who have written to me and the thousands who have gone out of their way to come up to me with well wishes.”

Faisalabad, last year’s Twenty20 winners, will look to add another trophy in their kitty © Getty Images

The Faisalabad Wolves, defending champions and favourite to retain the domestic one-day title, will clash with Lahore Eagles in the ABN-AMRO Cup final at the National Stadium in Karachi today.Faisalabad, who also clinched the Quaid-e-Azam Cup last season, have remained unbeaten leading into the final and topped the points table with 24. Lahore won four of their six matches and remained in second place comfortably. Faisalabad lost hold of their Twenty20 Cup title to Sialkot Lions earlier this month, but their captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, and Mohammad Hafeez, a former Pakistan opener, have been in good form and have plenty of experience.Lahore were one of the losing semi-finalists last season. They can, however, take inspiration from the success of their Lions team in the second-tier Silver League. After a promising performance, the Lions reached the final which was shared with Islamabad Leopards due to a wash-out. Among the ranks are only two players from last year’s final – Arsalan Mir and Jahangir Mirza – but Lahore’s strength lies in their young players.The winners of the final will pick up US$4,150 plus the trophy, while the runners-up will collect approximately US$2,000. In addition, individual awards of US$415 will be given to the Man of the Match and the tournament’s Best Batsman, Bowler, Fielder and Wicketkeeper.Faisalabad Wolves (from:) Misbahul Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Ali, Asif Hussain, Naved Latif, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Salman (wk), Tauqir Hussain, Imran Khalid, Samiullah Niazi, Saeed Ajmal, Asad Ali, Mohammad Zahid, Abdul Mannan, Sabir Hussain.Lahore Eagles (from): Aamir Sajjad (capt), Mohammad Ashfaq, Abid Ali, Muntazar Mehdi, Arsalan Mir, Kamran Sajid, Jahangir Mirza, Sohail Ahmed, Shahbaz Butt (wk), Waqas Ahmed, Junaid Zia, Usman Malik, Mohammad Khalil, Jamshed Ahmed, Sajid Ali.

Inzamam-ul-Haq: one of the best for Pakistan© Getty Images

Inzamam-ul-Haq played his first Test innings as a 22-year-old, in England in 1992. Though he’d made his mark in the World Cup earlier that year, in his first Test series, he did little to suggest that 13 years later, he’d be recognised as one of the finest batsmen ever to play for Pakistan – the scores in his first series were 8*, 0, 8, 26, 5, 19. Inzamam, however, had Imran Khan’s backing, and that faith was soon justified – his first half-century came in his next series, in New Zealand, and four innings after that, in the West Indies, Inzamam made 123, the first of his 20 centuries. The Bangalore Test will be Inzamam’s 100th, a feat achieved by 30 others, but only by three other Pakistanis – Javed Miandad, (124), Wasim Akram (104) and Saleem Malik (103). (Click here for Inzamam’s career summary.)

Inzamam is easily among the most successful batsmen for Pakistan. Only Javed Miandad has scored more runs and has a better average. (Click here for Pakistan’s leading Test batsmen in terms of average.)

Of the 20 hundreds he’s scored, 15 of them have led to Pakistani victories. It’s an unusually high percentage, and among batsmen with at least 15 centuries, it’s been bettered only by Don Bradman and Steve Waugh, while Matthew Hayden and Mark Waugh share the same percentage. In fact, in the top ten, Inzamam and Gordon Greenidge are the only non-Australians.

	100s in wins	Total 100s	Percentage
Bradman	23	29	79.31
Steve Waugh	25	32	78.13
Inzamam	15	20	75.00
Hayden	15	20	75.00
Mark Waugh	15	20	75.00

Not surprisingly, Inzamam averages 76.51 in victories, which is fourth-highest among batsmen who have been part of at least 20 wins. And when Pakistan win by an innings, Inzamam’s average of 202 is on top of the heap (min. qual: five such wins).

In victories	Tests won	Runs	Average
Bradman	30	4813	130.08
Dravid	28	2926	79.08
Sobers	31	3097	77.42
Inzamam	41	3902	76.51
Greg Chappell	38	3595	70.49

In innings wins	Tests won	Runs	Average
Inzamam	12	1419	202.71
Sobers	11	1345	168.12
Bradman	14	2003	166.92
Samaraweera	7	423	141.00
Gower	7	739	123.17

As the table below shows, Inzamam has also been almost constantly improving his stats. After ten Tests, his numbers were rather modest, but gradually he has pushed up those numbers now to rather imposing levels.

	Runs	Average	100s
After 10 Tests	466	31.06	1
After 20 Tests	1174	43.48	3
After 30 Tests	2047	45.48	4
After 40 Tests	2656	45.01	5
After 50 Tests	3139	43.59	6
After 60 Tests	3848	43.23	8
After 70 Tests	4807	46.22	12
After 80 Tests	5600	47.05	15
After 90 Tests	6574	49.42	18
After 99 Tests	7238	48.90	20

As a captain, Inzamam averages 41, which is a fair average, but is almost nine runs less than the corresponding number when he isn’t leading the side. The difference is the highest among all captains for Pakistan. These are early days on the job for him, though – he has only done it 12 times – and it’s quite likely that the average will climb up by the time he is done.

Batsmen captains	Ave as captain	Ave as batsman	Difference
Inzamam	41.15	50.12	-8.97
Mushtaq Mohammad	33.39	42.06	-8.68
Miandad	50.09	53.54	-3.45
Zaheer	45.47	44.68	0.79
Malik	52.35	42.15	10.20

The old adage claims that all publicity is good publicity. But that might not be the case as far as the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is concerned. As the furore over ticket prices for next spring’s series between West Indies and England rumbles on, some tour operators are claiming that sales have slowed markedly since the Draconian levy on ticket prices was announced.What has angered tour operators was that the WICB only told them of the levy in October, long after they had begun advertising and selling holiday packages. The companies were further incensed when they were told that only one company – London-based New Century Marketing – would be handling tickets sales."The minute the levy was announced, sales dried up and we are now getting cancellations," Don Gooding, a senior consultant at London’s Barbados Journeys, told The Nation newspaper. "We are taking cancellations higher than I would have expected."New Century Marketing have repeatedly claimed that the levy has had no effect on sales, but another agency, the high-profile Kuoni Travel/Sports Abroad, disputed that."Our sales have dropped considerably since," Nick Abbott-Charles told The Nation. "Within the last month, we’ve taken about ten per cent of the bookings we felt we would have got. Things have slowed down. The phones are not ringing and it’s worrying." Kuoni was intending to send 700 people to the Caribbean, but so far has sold only 300 packages.A number of individuals have said that they have decided to eschew the official tour groups following the announcement of the levy and would travel in the hope of picking up tickets from locals – the levy is only being applied to ticket sales abroad. "I’ll offer two or three times the face value – which will still be far less than the rip-off prices demanded by the board – and I’ll get a ticket, no worries," said one would-be spectator. "The locals touts will make a killing."The WICB might have stumbled on the price-hike as a good way of bringing in vital cash to help prepare for the 2007 World Cup, but it could be at the cost of damaging the region as a holiday destination. "At the end of the day, tourism is going to suffer," Abbott-Charles said. "This is big business … [the authorities] are making up in one area but losing out considerably in another."But not everyone is so downbeat. Mack Campbell of Carib World told The Nation newspaper: "We’ve had some cancellations, but to be honest, we’ve had more bookings coming in since the prices were announced.Carib World, who are based in Hertfordshire, will send around 500 spectators from England to the Barbados and Antigua Tests, but Campbell admitted that he was not going to be asking for more tickets. "We’re happy with the number of people we’re going to be bringing out … we’ll draw the line there and take no further risk on it."

The Ranji Trophy league match between Mumbai and Saurashtra fizzled out into a dull draw on the fourth day of the game at Mumbai on Tuesday.Mumbai, overnight on 384/6, were bowled out finally for 410, with Amol Muzumdar missing out on his century by seven runs. He was the seventh wicket to fall, with the score on 392. Thereafter, none of the tailenders could contribute significantly, and the innings folded within nine overs of the start of play on the fourth day.Saurashtra’s second-innings batting effort was nowhere near as impressive as its first-innings one. Only Sitanshu Kotak chipped in with yet another dreary, slow knock, making an unbeaten 42 off a mammoth 257 balls. The rest of the batting subsided meekly, and the visitors were reeling at 152/9 at the close of play.

Robert Croft – five wickets puts Glamorgan on road to win Photo © CricInfo

Glamorgan have started well in their quest to score 309 to defeatNorthamptonshire at Cardiff and attain their fourth consecutive championshipvictory.The task had not appeared to be so easy when the visitors stood at 277-6 halfway through the afternoon, but Northamptonshire’s last four wickets fell in 27 deliveries without addition to the score.
When the home county set out to score the highest total of the match to win Matthew Elliott and Steve James gave them a flying start by hitting 36 runs from the first six overs. Darren Cousins then had Elliott lbw causing Elliott and Mike Powell to be more cautious for a time (while still punishing the badball).The Australian reached his second fifty of the match from 86 deliveries and included seven fours. He was given fine support by Powell with whom he took the total to 125-1 at the close. The Welshmen still needed 184 runs to win but Elliott (66 n.o.) and Powell (37 n.o.) were in good form. When Northamptonshire resumed in the morning on 110-2 Robert Croft took the first three wickets to go down and finished with 5-108 from 46 overs: it was his second five-wicket return of the summer but the first in the championship.Mal Loye had not increased his overnight 42 when he snicked a ball from Croft in the day’s first over and Elliott held the catch. After Jeff Cook was l.b.w David Sales batted responsibly towards his fifty but when he tried to drive Croft he skied the ball to be caught by Darren Thomas over his head.With Graeme Swann’s departure l.b.w the hosts seemed to have the upper hand only for TonyPenberthy and David Ripley to halt their progress. The latter, who was batting with a runner because of an ankle injury (leading to David Sales having to keep wicket for the first 13 overs of the Glamorgan innings), hit 33 of the 64 runs they put on in 28 overs. Ripley swept at Thomas and was caught by Adrian Dale coming in from the boundary, after which Northamptonshire collapsed dramatically.

Leicester City have made contact for former Celtic midfielder Scott Brown, The Daily Record’s Scott Burns reports.

The Lowdown: Celtic eyeing move

Brown officially parted ways with Aberdeen earlier in the week and was swiftly linked with a return to Celtic Park in a coaching capacity.

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Reports suggested that the Hoops would be willing to create a coaching pathway for their former captain, possibly in the senior academy and B-team or coaching Celtic’s Under-18 side.

Ange Postecoglou appeared to be open to the former captain returning to Glasgow, however, ex-Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers has already made the first move.

The Latest: Leicester contact

As reported by Burns on Wednesday afternoon, Leicester have made contact with Brown.

Rodgers has reportedly offered the Scot the chance to head down to the Midlands to spend time with him and his coaching staff ahead of a possible move.

The Verdict: A blow?

It seems as if the Foxes are one step ahead of the Hoops when it comes to offering Brown a new home, which could be a blow for Celtic chiefs.

Postecoglou spoke highly of Brown on Thursday, and a return to Lennoxtown could be a shrewd move as he looks to continue his coaching development.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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However, it seems as if he may well be heading down south with Rodgers over the coming weeks, so Celtic may have to play the waiting game when it comes to their club legend’s next move.

In other news: ‘Seems that’ – Journo now drops more Parkhead exit news on ‘horrendous’ Celtic ‘waste of money’. 

Scorecard

A determined Nick Jewell ensured Victoria’s win © Getty Images

Nick Jewell ground out a match-winning 91, batting for nearly six hours as Victoria jumped to the top of the Pura Cup table with victory over South Australia. Chasing 264 on the final day, the Bushrangers reached their target with four wickets in hand and fittingly Jewell was there at the finish.David Hussey made an important contribution, adding 53 from 45 balls after two quick wickets had breathed life back into South Australia. Again the Redbacks had a sniff when Hussey and Cameron White (0) were bowled by consecutive Mark Cleary deliveries and the home side was 5 for 168.But Jewell, batting on his home club ground at St Kilda’s Junction Oval, held the innings together with assistance from Andrew McDonald, the first-innings century-maker, who added 36. Matthew Wade was with Jewell at the finish and struck the winning runs, reaching 13 not out.Victoria began the day still needing 220 with nine wickets in hand, and a very useful partnership between Jewell and the night-watchman Peter Siddle put them on track. Siddle, who on the third day had taken a career-best six wickets, threw in a career-best score of 28 for good measure.He was eventually out lbw to Ryan Harris, who soon trapped Brad Hodge (2) in front as well. Harris and Cleary each finished with three wickets but the Redbacks’ undoing was their inability to remove Jewell, who sits behind Hussey as Victoria’s second leading run scorer this summer.