LEICESTER: India's Sachin Tendulkar starts his walk to the pavilion after being out to James Ormonde who celebrates as India play Leicestershire in a World Cup Cricket warm up match at Grace Road in Leicester on Friday — AP/PTI

Lanka to change opening tactics
COLOMBO, May 7 — With barely a week to go for the World Cup, defending champions Sri Lanka are considering a change in tactics to tackle the swinging ball in English conditions.

Col Harcharan Singh is new hockey coach
CHANDIGARH, May 7 — Olympian and world cupper Harcharan Singh is the new chief coach of the Indian hockey team.

Dravid, Jadeja help India score 219
LEICESTER, May 7 — Electing to bat, the Indian XI made 219 for 7 wickets in 50 overs in their first World Cup warm up match against Leicestershire here today.

'Little hope' of trophy going to Asian team
LONDON, May 7 — The coach who inspired Sri Lanka to their World Cup success three years ago argued yesterday there was little chance of the trophy remaining in the Indian sub-continent.

Harmeet to play in Kuala Lumpur
CHANDIGARH, May 7 — Harmeet Singh Khalon of Punjab, who plays from Chandigarh Golf Club is all set to defend his title in the Panasonic Saujana Open Golf Championship to be held at Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from May 18 to 20.

Bevan focused on Cup, not ratings
CARDIFF, Wales, May 7 — As a kid, Michael Bevan would have dreamed of one day becoming the world’s best cricketer. But now that he’s rated world No 1 in the limited-overs game, he’s trying to ignore it.

Nefedova, Shruti storm into final

NEW DELHI, May 7 (PTI) — Russia’s Anna Nefedova played her best tennis on the Indian circuit to upset third seed Rushmi Chakravarthy and stormed into the final of the ITF Women's Futures Tennis Tournament here today.

The 16-year-old Russian calculated her moves and rallied brilliantly to edge past Chakravarthy 2-6 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 18 minutes in the first semifinal tie of the Delhi leg.

Earlier, after a miserable first set loss, fourth seed and Bangalore-leg winner Shruti Dhawan came back strongly to beat unseeded Archana Venkatraman 1-6 6-2 6-1 for her second straight final.

Dhawan will take on Nefedova in the title clash tomorrow with the advantage of having beaten her in Bangalore.

Imphal National Games champion Chakravarthy started confidently breaking Nefedova in the fourth game by tiring the opponent with long rallies and backhand slices. Chakravarthy rushed to 5-2 lead serving an ace in the seventh game before Nefedova’s double-fisted return fell wide across the court.

Chakravarthy was lucky twice hitting the netchord the eighth game before taking the set 6-2.

Games went with serve until fifth game when Nefedova, who looked composed despite losing the first set, hit powerful groundstrokes to which, a tiring Chakravarthy had no answers. She lost her serve in the fifth game and again in the seventh when Nefedova smashed a breathtaking forehand passing shot.

The Russian teenager blasted seven aces throughout the match as against Chakravarthy’s two. Nefedova closed the second set 6-2 to take the match into the decider.

The two traded breaks in third and fourth games of the third set and after holding for 4-4, Nefedova earned two breakpoints and Chakravarthy, who was finding it hard to keep pace with the relatively slow court, returned wide.

Serving for the match, Nefedova raced to 40-0 lead and thumped a perfect down the middle serve which Chakravarthy meekly netted in.

The second semifinal had a script similar to the first as Shruti Dhawan rallied from one set down to beat Archana Venkatraman in one hour and 30 minutes.

Playing on court ‘A’, a slower surface compared to the outside courts, Dhawan had hard time getting her ground-strokes. She had played all her initial matches on the faster outside courts.

Archana broke a listless Dhawan in the fourth and sixth games to pocket the first set 6-1. Dhawan fought back in the second set breaking her opponent in fourth game hitting good forehand crosscourt winners.

Archana broke back in the next but failed to keep her own in the sixth as she double-faulted and was broken at love. A charged-up Dhawan stretched Archana on either flank as the latter, who had a three-setter yesterday against second seed Sai Jayalakshmi, started to tire.

Dhawan benefited from a doubtful call on Archana’s serve and went on to the win the set 6-2. It was no looking back after that for the fourth seed who opened up a 3-1 lead with two breaks and cruised to a 6-1 verdict in the decider.

UNI: Nefedova, talking about the match, said that although it was hot it did not affect her much.

"I have played in this type of weather earlier also in Florida."

On her encounter with Shruti she said: "The match is a big one. It is my first final in India and I want to give it my best."

In the other semifinal, Shruti, who seemed to have a late revival, won a well-fought match.

Shruti goes in for a double tomorrow pairing with Sheetal Goutam. The pair clashes with the top-seeded duo of Sai Jayalakshmi and Rushmi Chakravarthi in the doubles finals.

Talking about her tomorrow’s singles match Shruti said, "I am going in with a positive attitude and will give it my best."

Results: Singles (semifinal) - Anna Nefedova b Rushmi Chakravarthi 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 Shruti Dhawan bt Archana Venkataraman 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Doubles (semifinals): Sai Jayalakshmi/Rushmi Chakravarthi b Radhika Tulpule/Janaki Krishnamoorthi 6-2, 6-3 Shruti Dhawan/Sheetal Goutam b Archana Venkataraman/Arthi Venkataraman 6-4, 6-0.

The singles and doubles finals will be played tomorrow.

The players who carved a niche for themselves

CHENNAI, May 7 (PTI) — The proudest moment in a cricketer’s career always is when he is declared ‘man-of-the match’.

It is an inebriating feeling to be adjudged the best player of the match, with 21 other competitors applauding the recipient as he walks up to the stage to receive the award.

The effort to win such a coveted honour, which includes a trophy and cash prize, involves sweat and toil but it is worth the trouble as it is a recognition and a cherished memory.

The award is not always given for a match winning performance and the awardee can be from a losing side too, and the winning side present during the ceremony recognises it.

One could visualise the feelings of such players selected for the award in a World Cup final and for the whole World Cup, the pinnacle of the game.

Clive Lloyd, Vivian Richards, Mohinder Amarnath, David Boon, Wasim Akram and Aravinda de Silva share a common feeling that they were the men of the finals in the last six World Cups. The award going to players from the winning side.

Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya (1996) and Martin Crowe of New Zealand (1992) were the men of the series, introduced in the 1992 World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

These players carved a niche for themselves playing a dominant role in winning that award.

As far as the man-of-the-match awards go, West Indies, Pakistan and England have one thing in common — they have won the award a identical 24 times each.

While Graham Gooch and Vivian Richards have been adjudged five times each, India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Australia’s David Boon have been pride possessors of the trophy four times each. Tendulkar’s feat has come from just two World Cups and he is expected to easily surpass the leaders.

Rarely has the award been shared by two players, Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Sharma (1987) and Saleem Raza and S. Dukanwala UAE — 1996) were adjudged joint winners.

Gavaskar’s 103 not out against New Zealand at Nagpur on October 31, 1987, and Chetan Sharma’s hat-trick of wickets (a record till date) put them on even keel, while Saleem Raza’s 84 and Dukanwala’s 5 for 29 against Holland at Lahore on March 1, 1996, put them on level terms for the award.

Here we recall these heroes’ achievements in the finals:

1975 West Indies vs Australia: Clive Lloyd: 102 runs at Lord’s. Lloyd walked out to the crease with the West Indies on 50 for three to join his boyhood idol, Rohan Kanhai and Lloyd’ known as "panther" for his gait returned to the pavilion to a standing ovation after a masterly 102 in 82 balls (12 fours and two sixes).

1979: West Indies vs England: Vivian Richards: 138 at Lord’s: the ground was packed with the West Indian supporters, Richards battered the English bowlers treating them with utter disdain. England had the match in their favour with the West Indies 99 for four. But Richards (138 not out) put on 139 runs with Collin King (86).

Richards’ match winning knock made amidst calypso beats had 11 fours and three sixes and the West Indies went on to take lease of the World Cup for yet another term of four years.

1983: India vs West Indies: Lord’s. Mohinder Amarnath: 26 runs and 3 for 12), Amarnath, man of the match in successive matches before he was adjudged man of the final stood out with his all round performance. He struck at a stage when the match was slipping away from Kapil Dev’s hands. Wicketkeeper batsman, Jeff Dujon was proving a real threat to India’s dream win and it was Amarnath who gave the breakthrough. Then, a late outswinger took Malcolm Marshall’s edge and Sunil Gavaskar held the catch at first slip. After Kapil Dev claimed Andy Roberts, Amarnath hit the last nail in the West Indies coffin trapping Michael Holding leg before.

1987: Australia vs England — Calcutta. David Boon (75). Boon provided the solid foundation for Australia after captain Allan Border opted to bat first. Boon’s 75 off 125 balls may not be considered spectacular but he remained the top scorer in the final and Border rated it as one of the most responsible knocks he had seen.

1992: Pakistan vs England: Wasim Akram (33 and 3 for 49) at Melbourne, like India’s win in 1983, Pakistan was not rated to win the cup 1992. With the three previous World Cup winning teams biting the dust it was the best chance for England, who were making their third appearance in the final.

But Pakistan, thanks to a devastating spell by Wasim Akram, the team’s captain now in the 1999 World Cup, dashed of England’s hopes. Pakistan set a decent target of 250 and yet once again, the team batting second were mauled.

In Pakistan’s third over, Ian Botham became the first victim. England made a recovery and appeared to be on course for a win with Neil Fairbrother and Allan Lamb showing confidence. Here Akram came up with two unplayable deliveries and that sealed the contest.

1996: Sri Lanka vs Australia: Lahore: Aravinda de Silva —107 not out, contrary to belief that the team batting second loses, Sri Lanka won the toss and put in Australia, who made 241 for 7 in 50 overs. The Lankans had moved over to Lahore from Calcutta for the final by default against India with the crowd not allowing the game to be completed (after India’s dismal show making 120-8 in 34.1 overs against 251-8 in 50 overs).

The Lankans exhibited proficiency in their batting and flawless fielding to win the cup. The Aussies were spellbound with the manner in which the Lankans recovered after losing openers Jayasuriya (9) and Romesh Kaluwitharana (6) early.

Asanka Gurusinha and De Silva bolstered their innings with superb planning, making most of star spinner Shane Warne’s bowling. The pair added 125 before Gurusinha departed after making 65. De Silva went on to score the third hundred in a World Cup final and finished with an unbeaten 107 from 124 balls including 13 fours, a remarkable strike rate.

Jayasuriya was adjudged the most valuable player of the tournament.

Lanka to change opening tactics

COLOMBO, May 7 (PTI) — With barely a week to go for the World Cup, defending champions Sri Lanka are considering a change in tactics to tackle the swinging ball in English conditions.

The islanders feel their hard hitting opening batsmen Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana, who turned cricket tactics upside down by going after the bowling in the first 15 overs, may not be able to score at a rapid rate in England due to the conditions that help the ball swing.

Considering this, the team management was contemplating a change to more conventional methods of scoring in World Cup, a view expressed by the state-run ‘Daily News’ today in a report from Northampton, where the team is currently stationed.

"Sri Lanka may not be able to score at a rapid rate in the initial 15 overs as they have done in the sub-continent. They may have to change over to more conventional method of run-making by keeping the wickets intact till slog overs by which time the ball would have lost its shine and swing," it said.

The swinging ball could be the main reason for the poor starts the Lankans got off to during their England tour last year. Sri Lanka ran up scores like 102-3, 67-4 and 82-1 but still went on to win the Emirates triangular trophy involving England and South Africa with a late back up, it said.

Another move under consideration was a combination of conventional and unorthodox opening pair.

Team manager Duleep Mendis has been quoted as saying in the same report that Sri Lanka would try one or two different combinations in its batting order in the initial warm up matches and then settle down for a regular pattern in the last two games against Leicestershire on May 9 and 11.

"We want to ensure that everyone is comfortable in the positions they bat," Mendis said.

The reigning champions would begin their defence of the title against hosts England in the World Cup lung-opener at Lord’s on May 14.

Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga said he planned to play all the batsmen in the three warm up matches to give them a feel of the conditions. "The county bowling sides are relatively stronger than what we have encountered so far. That is one reason why we would want to expose all our top order batsmen," he said, adding changes would be made only in the batting line-up.

"Although these are warm-up matches it would be good for our morale if we can win them," he said.

Coach Mendis has also expressed his complete satisfaction at the way the team went about strengthening its fielding.

The fielding continues to show vast improvement under new Australian coach Trevor Chappel who was hired recently, reports said.

Swing bowlers may not dominate

CALCUTTA, May 7 (PTI) — Even before a single ball has been bowled in the seventh World Cup to be held in England, the batsmen seem to have a slight psychological advantage over the bowlers despite the May-June English conditions being conducive to swing bowling.

The reason why the bowlers feel let down is that the Duke’s balls to be used in the forthcoming World Cup had been altered in design and are now held together with a smaller seam than in the past.

The smaller seam may mean that the ball may not swing as much as it used to. It would also mean that the galaxy of medium pacers hoping to extract the heavy conditions in England would have to work much harder now.

The bowlers have always felt that one-day cricket was more a batsman’s game with the rules favouring the willowers to make the matches high-scoring affairs, the logic being that spectators would be keen to see strokes being played.

Field restriction in the first 15 overs of the innings, stringent wide rules and no-balling of balls bouncing over the batsman’s shoulders have put the bowlers at the receiving end.

Although a few critics have favoured allowing the bowlers with one bouncer per over in one-day internationals, the rule-makers have not given the bowlers something to cheer about yet.

South African speedsters Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, who were the first to notice the altered design on the Duke’s balls, believe that the World Cup may not be dominated by seam bowlers to the extent that many players had predicted.

The seam (six lines of stitches) helps a ball move in the air and off the pitch. The heavy atmosphere and soft wickets in May-June in England help the ball to swing more.

The roughness of the seam causes air disturbance after the ball is released, helping it move. Narrowing of the seam would mean a smaller rough area and less air disturbance which would cause less movement.When the seam stands slightly above the surface of the ball, it causes friction with air as it travels. Flattening of this elevation would cause less friction and less movement.

"The ball will deviate less off the seam. It is very important for a new ball to have a prominent seam to aid movement. Otherwise, it would be very difficult," former Test cricketer Arun Lal says.

The logic behind altering the seam of the Duke balls was mainly to get high-scoring matches which has not happened often in the three England-hosted World Cups so far.

Of the total 114 World Cup matches in England so far, there have been totals of 250 or more only on 24 occasions.

Pakistan’s 338 for five against Sri Lanka at Swansea in 1983 stands as the highest innings total in England so far while Canada’s 45 against England at Manchester in 1979 is the lowest innings total. There have been only a total of 25 century partnerships in England.

All this was in 60-overs-a-side matches. The current edition will have 50 overs per side.

Former national selector Sambaran Banerjee, however, feels it would not make much difference. "It is good for the game because one-dayers are basically a batsman’s game. It would lead to an entertaining World Cup," Banerjee says.

"I don’t think the narrower seam would make a big difference. What Donald and Pollock have expressed is their personal opinion," he adds.

Managing Director of Dukes Dilip Jajodia has admitted that the balls have been altered a little but denied that it was done specifically for the World Cup.

"For balls sent overseas we use linen thread as opposed to a cotton thread used on balls in England. But as far as we are concerned the difference should be minimal", Jajodia was quoted as saying.

Col Harcharan Singh is new
hockey coach
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 7 — Olympian and world cupper Harcharan Singh is the new chief coach of the Indian hockey team.

A Colonel in Indian Army, Harcharan represented the country in all major tournaments, including World Cup and Olympic Games in the 70s. He was a member of the 1975 World Cup champion Indian hockey team. An extremely speedy and dependable left winger, Harcharan played for ASC and Services on the national circuit.

After retirement from international hockey, Harcharan Singh has been associated with the training of both ASC and Services hockey teams. He was specially summoned here from Siliguri, where he is posted at present to take up his new assignment which starts on May 16 when the next phase of training of the Indian team for a dual tour of Germany and Belgium gets under way at the Sector 42 hockey stadium.

The IHF chief, Mr KPS Gill, who briefed newsmen here today, also announced the future plans of the IHF besides naming 27 probables for the next camp to be held here. Twelve more probables will be announced at Bangalore after a couple of days where some of the national probables are undergoing training separately.

Harcharan Singh will be assisted by CR Kumar and Mir Ranjan Negi.

The probables named today are: Y. Ravindra (CRPF), Edward Alloysuis (P&S Bank), Dilip Tirkey and Lazarus Barla (Indian Airlines), Anurag Raghuvanshi (Uttar Pradesh), Rajinder Singh (Customs), Navsher Singh (Railways), Baljit Singh Saini (P&S Bank), Anwar Khan (Railways), S.S. Gill (Bombay), Ramandeep Singh (Punjab), Shamshul Juha (Uttar Pradesh), Sandeep Singh (P&S Bank), Sunil Yadav (Uttar Pradesh), Baljit Singh Dhillon and Daljit Singh Dhillon (Punjab), Gagan Ajit Singh (Air India), Samir Dad (Indian Airlines), Ajinder Pal Singh (Railways), K. Horo (Services), Parminder Singh (P&S Bank), Deepak Thakur (Air India), Sarabjit Singh and Gursewak Singh (Punjab), Ajitpal Singh (University), Amarjit Partap Singh (University) and Harbhajan Singh (BSF).

The probables will assemble on May 17 and will undergo training here till May 24 when final selection of the team to Germany and Belgium will be made. The final team and its captain will be announced immediately after the trials. The players will reassemble on June 6 prior to their departure for Germany where they will play four Test matches between June 8 and 13.

Germany are preparing their team for the next edition of the Champions Trophy to be held at Brisbane in Australia in June. The visit of the Indian team will provide them good match practice before the Brisbane tournament.

After Germany, the Indian team will leave for Belgium where it will play four Test matches between June 15 and 20 before returning to India. In the meanwhile, the remaining probables will be divided into two sections and will attend separate camps at Patiala with Rajinder Singh and Satinder Singh as coaches while the other group will move to Amritsar where Balwinder Singh and Sushil Sharma will supervise the coaching camp.

The players from these two camps will be considered for the team that will undertake a tour of South Africa to play five Test matches between August 14 and 22. In the meanwhile, the main team on return from the European tour will continue training for a double leg four-nation tournament to be played at Canberra and Sydney from September 16 to 26.

India will not participate in any tournament outside the country after March next year. Instead, the teams who play well but fail to qualify for the Olympic Games in Sydney shall be invited to play training games here. None of these games shall be telecast. India will bear expenses of these teams.

For the physical training and fitness of the players in national camps, the IHF has asked Services Sports Control Board to provide physical trainers from its Pune college. The players will be tested for flexibility, agility and other parameters to maintain them in proper shape for the 2000 Olympic Games. The manager of Indian teams for Germany and Belgium tours and South African tour will be announced later.

India will also organise the world (under 18) festival at Chennai in the last week of December and first week of January. The Indian team for the World Youth Festival will form the nucleus of its team for the junior World Cup qualifier to be held next year. The next edition of the Junior World Cup is scheduled to be held in 2001. India were runners-up in the last Junior World Cup held at Milton Keynes in England.

The Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) has also given permission to India to organise the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Hockey Tournament in October this year. The tournament will be held either in Chandigarh or Ludhiana subject to the availability of new Astro-Turf. Both Kenya and Egypt have already confirmed their participation in this new international tournament.

In between, India will also participate in under-21 Junior Challenge Cup tournament to be held in Poznan, Poland from August 22 to 29.

The junior national championship will be organised by the Maharashtra Hockey Association at Pune next month. The championship is being organised at no cost to the IHF.

The star of the junior World Cup runners-up Indian team, Rajiv Mishra, has still not recovered from his injury and is still under treatment at Calcutta. He is expected to be well again soon.

To apprise the players in the national camp for the Germany and Belgium tour, the IHF also plans to invite at least one foreign coach so that the players know the difference between domestic umpiring and international umpiring.

Mr Chandrasekhar, senior vice-president, IHF, will be the camp commandant for the Chandigarh camp and he will be assisted by Mr Gurdishpal Singh, a national junior selector; Mr J.P.S. Sidhu, Joint Director of Sports, Chandigarh; Mr Rajinder Gandhi, an international umpire; and Mr A.S. Kohli, the camp coordinator.

Dravid, Jadeja help India score 219

LEICESTER, May 7 (PTI) — Electing to bat, the Indian XI made 219 for 7 wickets in 50 overs in their first World Cup warm up match against Leicestershire here today.

Scores:

Indian XI: 219 for 7 in 50 overs (R Dravid 60, M Azharuddin 43, A Jadeja 54, J Ormond 2/48, D Williamson 2/47, T Mason 2/49).

Sachin Tendulkar played his first competitive match in the run-up to the World Cup here today but failed with the bat.

Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, who will open India's innings in the World Cup, starting next week, fell to paceman John Ormond with the scoreboard reading 19 for two in the first warm up game against English county champions Leicestershire.

The Indians had won the toss and elected to bat.

Teams:

Indian XI: M. Azharuddin (Capt), S. Ganguly, S. Tendulkar, R. Dravid, A. Jadeja, Robin Singh, N. Mongia (wk), A. Kumble, A. Agarkar, J. Srinath and D. Mohanty.

Leicestershire: B.S. Smith (capt), D.L. Maddy, I.J. Sutcliffe, A. Habib, D. Stevens, J.M. Dakin, D. William Son, P.E. Robinson (wk), T.J. Mason, D.J. Millins and John Ormond.

Scindia reopens captaincy debate

NEW DELHI, May 7 (PTI) — Former cricket board president Madhavrao Scindia today opened up another debate over the captaincy barely a week before the start of the World Cup in England, saying under Ajay Jadeja the Indian team had a "different complexion".

There was a distinct spark in the team and everyone looked motivated under Jadeja's leadership, Scindia said at a function to launch a book on World Cup cricket by commentator and sports journalist Ravi Chaturvedi.

"I hope the Indian team under Mohd Azharuddin would have the same complexion and spark during the World Cup, " he said.

Scindia also had a dig at the increasing commercialisation of cricket and said the Indian team was a "talented" one and had come up with good performances in the midst of its "hectic schedule and promotional commitments".

The 400-page book simply titled "World Cup cricket", chronicles the history of all the six World Cups and includes complete scorecards.

In his comments, Chaturvedi criticised the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's apex body, for its handling of the bribery and match-fixing scandal.

He said though the ICC had set up a committee to investigate the scandal, its handling of the Shane Warne-Mark Waugh affair and the earlier investigation in Pakistan was "distressing".

'Little hope' of trophy going
to Asian team

LONDON, May 7 (AFP) — The coach who inspired Sri Lanka to their World Cup success three years ago argued yesterday there was little chance of the trophy remaining in the Indian sub-continent.

Dav Whatmore also ruled out the possibility of batsmen dominating the World Cup as they did in 1996.

"I would have thought this tournament will have more bias towards the bowlers than the last World Cup," said Whatmore, who is now coach at English county Lancashire.

"I expect players who can do a little bit with the ball at pace to cause a lot of problems."

He forecast the English weather would have a big influence on matches, adding: "Even in June, when the final takes place, there are usually cold conditions and the ball does behave differently here than it does for players in countries like India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

"I know there are a number of players from both India and Pakistan who have experience of English conditions, which is bound to help them, but I still think it will be a far harder task this time for a country from the sub-continent to win the World Cup just because of the differing conditions they will experience.

"The quality of the batsmanship will always come through in any conditions, but I think players could struggle to maintain any consistency — I can't see any player going through the tournament consistently getting runs because of the conditions.

The 12-team tournament gets underway here on May 14, with Sri Lanka taking on hosts England.

Whatmore, a former Australian Test player, said: "I know when it starts. I will miss it.

"A tournament of this quality is great and the adrenaline that is produced by being at the heart of it is very difficult to describe. It is a very important five-week period and I'm sure I'll be wishing I was involved, but that's life".

Harmeet to play in Kuala Lumpur
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 7 — Harmeet Singh Khalon of Punjab, who plays from Chandigarh Golf Club is all set to defend his title in the Panasonic Saujana Open Golf Championship to be held at Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from May 18 to 20.

Harmeet had won this prestigious Championship last year.

Harmeet will also participate in the Pan West Malaysian Amateur Golf Championship to be held at Royal Perak Golf Club in Ipoh, Malaysia, from May 13 to 16.

The two tournaments attract the best amateur field of golfers from the Asia Pacific Region, including Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Singapore etc.

Amit Luthra of India is also a past winner of this championship.

Harmeet's company, Oil India Limited and the Petroleum Sports Control Board, are sponsoring his participation in the above two tournaments.

Bevan focused on Cup, not ratings

CARDIFF, Wales, May 7 (AP) — As a kid, Michael Bevan would have dreamed of one day becoming the world’s best cricketer. But now that he’s rated world No 1 in the limited-overs game, he’s trying to ignore it.

"I don’t think about it to a large extent," the Australian limited-overs star said. "Whether or not that’s the case, I’ll let other people decide."

The middle-order batsman-cum-allrounder has been at the centre of his country’s experiment with a dedicated limited-overs squad and has played some valuable innings on doing what he does best and that is scoring runs, quickly, and taking the occasional wicket.

"I’ll just try and go out there and play my way," he said. "I just try to bat to the situation."

"When we’re in trouble I bat accordingly. If you need to score quick runs, then I can do that as well."

The stage of the match dictates how you play and you have to be sensible enough to adapt.

His philosophy on the game is simple. But achieving the benchmark he sets for himself is not as simple as it sounds.

"If the ball is there to hit, you hit it," he said. "I try and work to a strike rate of 100. I like to think that I can score at a run-a-ball and if I do that, then I’ve done my job."

Bevan, who turns 29 on Saturday and will hope to mark it with a big score in a World Cup warm-up match against Glamorgan, said having the reputation of a one-day specialist or the pressure of being considered No 1 in the world wouldn’t faze him.

And while some other leading batsmen in the tournament have pointed out their bowling nemesis, be it Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan or Saqlain Mushtaq, Bevan said he had not really thought about it.

On any given day any bowler can be bowling really well. Or it might be that you’re not hitting it very well, that’s more the case really. So I can’t name one bowler over any others," he said.

Bevan has played in the Lancashire league and for Yorkshire and Sussex in the English county competition. That is experience he considers valuable but not crucial to the outcome of the tournament.

"Most of the guys in the team would have played on English wickets before so they’ve all had experience here," he said.

Apart from his batting, the Australian cricket academy graduate is also called on to supplement the bowling attack with his left-arm spin and has taken 31 wickets in limited-overs games at the economy rate of 4.95.

"I think I’m basically the bowler who comes on when we need a wicket or as a last option really," he said. "I maybe come on for three or four overs and try and get a wicket."

"If I bowl well (here) it might be a larger role than that," given the choice of grounds in England. He said he’d play at Lord’s any time.

"I think Lord’s is by far the best ground in cricket," he said. "It’s the home of cricket and everyone loves playing there."

"To be there for the final will be something special."