Ponting has no love for Border, Chappell

Ricky Ponting has not made peace with former Australia captains Ian Chappell and Allan Border and has no plans to for quite some time. A stewing Ponting denied he is ready to offer an olive branch to the former Test captains following the huge outcry over his controversial tactics in the fourth Test in India. Among the torrent of criticism over his decision to speed up the slow over-rate, instead of ruthlessly chasing a series-levelling victory in Nagpur, Ponting was cut deepest by that from Chappell and Border. The pair believed Ponting put himself ahead of the team cause by bowling part-timers to ensure he would not be suspended.

I have not spoken to either of those two gentlemen and probably wont for a while. I dont mind anyone questioning tactics of mine but the thing that worried me the most over this whole issue was the fact that everybody seemed to be saying I was putting myself ahead of the team and I thought that was a bit unfair because anyone who knows me would say otherwise.

Ganguly, Bhajji avoided Nagpur fearing defeat: Gilchrist

After hinting that Sachin Tendulkar was a sore loser, former Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist has taken a swipe at the then skipper Sourav Ganguly and spinner Harbhajan Singh, suggesting that the duo had chickened out of their 2004 Nagpur Test fearing a defeat on grassy wicket. When I got to the middle, Ganguly was not there.

Dravid was in his blazer, ready for the toss, Gilchrist wrote in his autobiography, True colours. He wrote - Where is Sourav?, I said.

Rahul could not answer definitively; between the lines I perceived that Sourav might have pulled out from fear of losing a home series.

Harbhajan was out of Nagpur Test with a flu, which he seemed to have contracted when he saw the grassy wicket...I still do not know to this day what was wrong with Ganguly and Harbhajan. One of the most successful wicket-keepers ever, Gilchrist, who is also known for his sportsman spirit, mentioned that speculation was rife that the hard green top was a result of the quarrel Ganguly had with the head of local Vidarbha Cricket Association.

Old bookie links may stop Mushtaq appointment as England bowling coach

The England appointment of Mushtaq Ahmed may not go through as his old bookie links are being raked up by the unforgiving English press. Justice Qayyum who enquired into the betting and bribery scandal long ago found the former captain Salim Malik guilty of match-fixing and banned him for life, recommended that Wasim Akram should be deposed from the captaincy, which he was, and levelled some outspoken criticism at Mushtaq Ahmed, the leg-spinner who was appointed last week to be spin-bowling coach for England.

Warne meets his hologram

The leg-spinner was touring the museum in Melbourne when he met the lifesize three-dimensional exhibit. It is part of a new display called Cricket Found Me, focusing on his career. In the high-tech exhibit, a life-size hologram of the cricketer tells audiences about the high points of his career, with a bit of self-mockery thrown in. He admits he was a little fat when he made his test debut, while he also plays down his ball of the century that bowled Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes. Other notable moments as replayed by the hologram are the hat-trick he took at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1994 and his triumph in the 1999 World Cup.

Stanford apologises for frisky behaviour with England WAGs

Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire, apologised to England players for being a little frisky with their WAGs (wives and girl friends). He was seen to grab Emma Prior, wife of wicket-keeper Matt, before putting his arm around the girl friend of Alastair Cook during England match against Middlesex in Antiguaas teams warmed up for the T-20 winner take-all $20 million cricket match on Nov. 1.

Oz fans T-shirts cause a ripple at Mohali

A group of Australian fans, who had come to watch the Mohali Test match, got into trouble with the police over some objectionable things written on their T-shirts before they were let off with a warning and told to change their dress. The police said - We found some Australian fans wearing these T-shirts. The slogans written were Beer with Mahatma, Bets with Gupta, Dancing with Indira and still getting runs.

We took strong objection to it and summoned them. The fans said the slogan had been given to them by one of their Sri Lankan friends. They apologised before us, saying their intention was not to hurt sentiments of anyone. We let them off with a warning and sent them to their hotel to get their dresses changed.

Ponting bruises Lee ego

Ricky Ponting has never been afraid to bruise the ego of a superstar teammate - and that was highlighted when he made his displeasure with Brett Lee clear when the Australian spearhead was overlooked for the entire first session of day four at a time the tourists desperately needed wickets. It was one thing for Ponting not to open the morning with his misfiring quick who has the miserable return of four wickets at 59.25 in 75 overs after two Tests. But to completely shun him, and even turn to modest part-timer Mike Hussey for bowling relief, well, that was as big a slap in the face as a fast bowler with almost 300 Test scalps can get. Lee is a 10-year veteran who has also played 70 Tests - 51 more than the combined experience of fellow frontline bowlers Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Cameron White and Shane Watson. Lee was belatedly given the ball after lunch - and claimed the scalp of a slogging Sourav Ganguly - but by then the psychological and public damage had been done. Of course, if Ponting loses confidence in a teammate, it's his right to bowl whoever he wants.

Bhajji apologises

Under attack for taking part in a TV reality show dressed as Ravana, cricketer Harbhajan Singh apologised for his act and vowed never to do anything that could hurt religious sentiments of any community.

He said - I apologise if my actions have hurt anybody. It was not my intention to hurt sentiments of anyone, which includes members of my own community. It will be my sincere endeavour not to repeat such things in future.

The cricketer said he would soon visit a gurdwara and a temple to pay obeisance and take a vow that he would never repeat such things in future. Responding to his apology, the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, which had slammed the cricketer for his act on the TV show, said his gesture was well taken.

Sachin never plays for records: Kambli

With just 15 runs separating Sachin Tendulkar from becoming the highest individual Test scorer, his childhood friend and once teammate Vinod Kambli said standing on the threshold of milestones have never put the master blaster under pressure as he never played for records. He said - Sachin lives for cricket and he never thinks about records. He just enjoys playing cricket and never feel pressure for records. Kambli, who has played in 17 Tests and 104 ODIs, feels Tendulkar can easily serve the country till the 2011 World Cup to be held in the subcontinent. Sachin can surely continue till the 2011 World Cup. He has achieved everything in his long cricket career and I want him to announce his retirement after winning the World Cup, he said.

Do not expect usual Mohali wicket, says curator Daljit Singh

The Mohali curator Daljit Singh warns not to expect the typically hard and bouncy wicket at Mohali in the second Test. He said the wicket around would be somewhat different from its usual seam-friendly nature.

He blames the irregular rains, which the town had been experiencing until the start of this month. He said - The unexpected heavy rains left us with little time to work on wicket and ground.

We have tried our best to produce a pitch that suits all, but do not expect a regular Mohali wicket this time around. The pacers will still be able to extract something out of it. There will be nothing in it for finger spinners, but the wrist spinners could extract some bounce from the track.