Tendulkar not thinking 100th hundred

Sachin Tendulkar is one century away from reaching 100 international tons and has an opportunity to achieve that on a historic occasion at Lord's, where India and England will play the 2000th Test later this month. Tendulkar, who has 51 centuries in Tests and 48 in ODIs, however, said the landmark wasn't preoccupying his build-up to the game.

"I am not thinking of records," Tendulkar told theDaily Telegraph. "I am just thinking of enjoying this tour. The secret to any performance is not in chasing records. I think about, 'What is the best way to enjoy the game, and how can I enhance that enjoyment factor?'

"If I enhance the enjoyment then, naturally, the standard of play becomes higher. To me, that is more important. If I am playing well, things can happen. I don't need to go around chasing them. It is a process. You construct a solid foundation and build on it."

Tendulkar opted out of India's tour of the West Indies, where they won the ODI series 3-2 and the Tests 1-0. It was India's first international assignment after their World Cup win, of which Tendulkar was an integral part. "I was extremely delighted. It was something I had always dreamt about," Tendulkar said of India's triumph in his sixth World Cup. "You start playing cricket, and one day you walk away as part of a world champion team.

"I took up playing serious cricket because in 1983, we won the World Cup, and that was a big turning point in terms of considering cricket a full-time profession. That moment was a decisive one. I felt, 'I want to play for India one day'. It was a huge boost. From then I started working hard."

When asked of his plans for the future, Tendulkar said it was important he left behind a good legacy whenever he chose to leave the game. "For me, it's not about breaking records or creating new ones. It's about adding value to my team. Records will be set by me, they might be broken by someone else.

"They're not going to stay permanently. But the impression that I leave on people will last forever, I feel. The impression that I leave behind - to me that is important. If I can motivate the next young cricketers, that will be a big contribution."

In the end both teams said they are happy. From the outside it appeared West Indies should be a happier unit than India who never quite stamped their authority. They won the series but was that ever in doubt against this West Indies batting line-up? This series was about testing out the youth for India but barring Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma, not many stood up.

And their decision to pull out of the chase on the final evening without really having a go at it was puzzling. And revealing. West Indies lost the ODI and the Test series but they slowly reached a point where they were fighting as a unit. The victory lap with thousands cheering them on at Dominica signalled that. The crowd recognised that the team had fought.

Sometimes the way the opposition views you at the end can give a fair idea about how the battle went. Here is Duncan Fletcher on West Indies: "I think they have improved all the time. I think Ottis Gibson is doing a great job. I have come here before with England and watched them in England and watching the way they just have put it together, they are definitely moving up. I wouldn't like to be another touring side and come out here and face them if this improvement continues. The bowlers did very well. The batters slowly got better and better as the series went. I was also impressed with how they put it together off the field. How they did the warm-ups. They acted as a team and they looked like a professional unit which is good to see."

Here is what Sammy said about India: "With 15 overs to go and 86 runs required, and considering the calibre of players they have like Dhoni and guys who could hit the ball, I thought they would give it a go being one up … I was surprised they shut the shop." India left you with that kind of strange taste in the mouth.

West Indies would have gained a lot from this tour. The bowlers impressed and the middle order is slowly beginning to take a solid shape. Marlon Samuels played an innings of substance in the second Test, Shivnarine Chanderpaul showed he has plenty to offer as a batsman, Darren Bravo showed glimpses of his talent, and Kirk Edwards came to the fore. The main worry will be the openers. Adrian Barath showed he has problems against the seaming delivery and he still hasn't found a stable partner. Sammy led the team with passion, bowled his heart out but as long as he doesn't contribute with the bat, the questions will continue. Ian Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler, reckons he has done enough to continue in this team as a captain for another year till West Indies unearth another leader.

India's strengths are obvious. Ishant Sharma impressed and the bowlers were pretty good though by the end they were down and out physically. The batting was mixed. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina did what the other was supposed to do. Many felt Raina would show weakness against the short ball and that Kohli would grab his opportunity. The reverse happened. M Vijay failed, S Badrinath never got a chance in the Tests after his poor performance in the ODIs, Abhinav Mukund showed grit and seized the opportunity.

The series started and ended with two vital dropped catches. If Sammy had caught Rahul Dravid in the first Test who knows what might have happened there? If Dravid had caught Chanderpaul in the final Test what could have been the result? Those turning points indicate how well-fought the games were. India usually always dominated because West Indies' batting was weaker but it wasn't a cakewalk by any means.

India were lifted out of the hole in the first Test by Raina and Harbhajan Singh; Dravid played the rescue act in the second innings; VVS Laxman was the saviour in the second Test. It was never easy. It was that kind of series. The pitches were tilted towards the bowlers and the groundsmen should be thanked for providing us with an enjoyable series.

India won but with this West Indies batting line-up, they would see the 1-0 margin as an opportunity lost.

India favourites in Dominica's Test debut

Big Picture

India are 1-0 up with one to play, and with better weather might have sealed the series in Barbados, but the scoreline obscures some worrying realities. In four innings they have not once reached 300, that despite inordinate contributions from the old firm of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. India's IPL generation, with the notable exception of Suresh Raina, has stumbled in what is arguably the easiest overseas assignment a Test side can currently hope for. It is a cause for some concern, considering the inevitable change of guard the middle-order will go through in the next couple of years.

The story is inverted in the bowling department: the youngsters have pulled their weight, while the spearhead hasn't. Praveen Kumar has impressively transferred his seam mastery to the red ball; Ishant Sharma has banished the pain of two seasons of under-achievement, with a series of sparkling spells from which there should be no turning back. Harbhajan Singh, however, has slipped into a comfort zone - both for himself and the batsmen facing him. There is a chance he will not reach the 400-wicket milestone in the Caribbean, despite having needed only seven wickets to get there at the start of the series.

After the crushing disappointment in Jamaica, West Indies have plenty of positives to take out of Barbados. Fidel Edwards, on a comeback trail, is a work in progress, but there was enough evidence to suggest he is close to the finished product. Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo have stuck to the task, rarely allowing India's line-up to dictate terms. The problem for the hosts, though, lies in the batting and there were signs of improvement in Barbados. Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo - two players who exemplify the flamboyance of Caribbean batsmanship - showed they have the ability to grind out innings. It is a crucial step forward, given Ramnaresh Sarwan's alarming decline, Chris Gayle's continued absence and the drop in Shivnarine Chanderpaul's once-immense powers. Can Lendl Simmons and Adrian Barath follow the example set by Bravo and Samuels? If the openers continue to wobble against the new ball, expect India to make it 2-0 without much strife.

Sangakkara slams 'corrupt' administration

Kumar Sangakkara has made an extraordinary, scathing attack on the "partisan cronies" at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) who have blighted the sport in his country and who led him to resign the captaincy after only two years in charge, following the World Cup final in April. Sangakkara was delivering the MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture at Lord's on Monday.

In an hour-long speech that earned him a standing ovation, Sangakkara charted the unique history of cricket in his country, and called on SLC to root out its corrupt practices and recognise the huge role the sport now needs to play in promoting reconciliation at the end of a 30-year civil war.

Sangakkara pinpointed the country's most powerful moment of national unity - the World Cup final victory over Australia in 1996 - as the moment the sport's administration changed "from a volunteer-led organisation run by well-meaning men of integrity into a multimillion-dollar organisation that has been in turmoil ever since".

His speech could fetch him serious repercussions but the board's only response so far has been to state that it is unable to comment given that the team is currently on tour in England.

Sri Lanka's ongoing tour of England has been dogged by controversy ever since Sanath Jayasuriya, now an MP with the ruling UPFA party, was recalled at the age of 41 to play in the one-off Twenty20 and the first ODI at The Oval, despite having been out of the side for nearly two years. Without mentioning names, Sangakkara voiced his concern at the direction the sport in his country is now heading.

"Players from within the team itself became involved in power games within the board," he said. "Officials elected to power in this way in turn manipulated player loyalty to achieve their own ends. At times board politics would spill over into the team causing rift, ill feeling and distrust.

"Accountability and transparency in administration and credibility of conduct were lost in a mad power struggle that would leave Sri Lankan cricket with no consistent and clear administration. Presidents and elected executive committees would come and go; government-picked interim committees would be appointed and dissolved."

Last week, Sri Lanka's sports ministry dissolved SLC's interim committee, following allegations of financial mismanagement that left the co-hosts of the recent World Cup with a US$ 69 million bill. That announcement followed the ICC meeting in Hong Kong, at which a directive was issued, stating that cricket boards had to be free of political interference by June 2013, or face the prospect of sanctions.

"After 1996 the cricket board has been controlled and administered by a handful of well-meaning individuals either personally or by proxy, rotated in and out, depending on appointment or election," Sangakkara said. "Unfortunately to consolidate and perpetuate their power, they opened the door of the administration to partisan cronies that would lead to corruption and wanton waste of cricket board finances and resources.

"It was and still is confusing. Accusations of vote buying and rigging, player interference due to lobbying from each side and even violence at the AGMs, including the brandishing of weapons and ugly fist fights, have characterised cricket board elections for as long as I can remember.

"We have to aspire to better administration. The administration needs to adopt the same values enshrined by the team over the years: integrity, transparency, commitment and discipline.

"Unless the administration is capable of becoming more professional, forward-thinking and transparent then we risk alienating the common man. Indeed, this is already happening. Loyal fans are becoming increasingly disillusioned. This is very dangerous because it is not the administrators or players that sustain the game - it is the cricket-loving public. It is their passion that powers cricket and if they turn their backs on cricket then the whole system will come crashing down."

Crucially for the future of Sri Lanka, that public consists of supporters from both sides of the bloody civil war that was finally concluded last year. However, as has been seen by the numerous Tamil protestors who have made their presence known during the current Test and ODI series, there is a danger that the current state of the sport will breed disenchantment rather than foster unity.

"Cricket played a crucial role during the dark days of Sri Lanka's civil war, a period of enormous suffering for all communities," Sangakkara said. "But the conduct and performance of the team will have even greater importance as we enter a crucial period of reconciliation and recovery, an exciting period where all Sri Lankans aspire to peace and unity.

"It is also an exciting period for cricket where the reintegration of isolated communities in the north and east opens up new talent pools. The Spirit of Cricket can and should remain a guiding force for good within society, providing entertain and fun, but also a shining example to all of how we all should approach our lives."

Government to intervene in Gayle-WICB standoff

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government have decided to intervene in the West Indies Players Association's (WIPA) ongoing dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over the future of former captain Chris Gayle. The move comes on the heels of Gayle's public and emotionalstatement against the board over his continued exclusion from the team, including a request for government intervention.

CARICOM chairman Dr. Denzil Douglas said the heads of government had agreed to resurrect the prime-ministerial sub-committee on cricket to try to work out a solution. "Today we had to take certain decisions with regards to the impasse that seems to be ongoing between the regional players association and the WICB," Douglas told the CMC Sports Wire. "We believe that West Indies cricket has not been one of the vehicles of which the Caribbean man today can be proud of moving himself upwards."

CARICOM's announcement came after Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo's scathing criticism of the board in reaction to Gayle's statement. "It comes back to who owns West Indian cricket," Jagdeo said. "The board thinks it owns West Indian cricket, my belief is that it belongs to all of us, the people of this region.

"[In] many countries, when you have failures consistently, the board goes because sometimes it is the problem. Here it does not seem as if this is going to happen.

"Gayle is being treated unfairly by the WICB. You can't not tell him anything; he needs to earn too, and then you have a tour coming and when he goes off, he gets another contract then you're concerned that he has left the region."

Jagdeo also claimed the board was following its own agenda against some of the players, and was highly critical of coach Gibson's interference with senior cricketers.

"This can't be right. Something is wrong," Jagdeo said. "It is all about pettiness and the culture of going with people who are compliant and I think we need to change a lot of these people. We need to have term limits there too. We need to have serious term limits on these boards."

The Gayle-WICB standoff was sparked off when coach Ottis Gibson criticised the senior batsmen following the team's quarter-final exit at the World Cup. Gayle was subsequently ignored for the Pakistan series, along with fellow seniors Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Gayle travelled to India to participate in the Indian Premier League - where he was the player of the tournament - leaving the WICB disappointed since they were under the impression he was undergoing rehabilitation.

Gayle reacted by slamming the board in a radio interview with KLAS Sports, saying he had been left with no option but to sign an IPL contract since the WICB had disrespected and mistreated him by not checking with him over his fitness before announcing the squad. He was consequently left out of the squad for the India games as well, and a heated meeting with the board - also attended by WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine - did little to improve matters, prompting Gayle's impassioned release that stated he was going to seek options outside the West Indies to further his cricketing career.

Some of the toughest pitches I've faced' - Dravid

Rahul Dravid has described India's Test series against West Indies as a tough learning experience for the younger batsmen and he hopes it will hold them in good stead for the future. India have not posted 300-plus in any of the four innings so far, but they lead the three-Test series 1-0 heading in to the final match.

"It's been tough for the batsmen," Dravid said. "It's not been easy for young batsmen to come in and face the new ball on these tracks. I have played four tours here and this has been some of the toughest tracks I have faced. Guys will learn a lot from this experience. It will hold them in good stead. As I was telling some of them they probably might not play on these kinds of tracks."

The likes of Virat Kohli and M Vijay haven't really come to the terms with the pitches and neither man has made 50 runs for the whole series. Vijay battled hard for nearly two hours in the first innings of the Test and Kohli fought hard in the second innings but neither converted their starts. Abhinav Mukund made 48 in the second innings but couldn't carry on. Dravid felt that the within the context of the series, India's batting had held up well.

"It's been a tough, hard series from the batsmen's perspective," he said. "The tracks have been slightly tilted towards bowlers, which is good. The West Indies'

Sangakkara slams corrupt administration By ESPN New's Feed

In an extraordinary address at the MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture at Lord's, Kumar Sangakkara has launched a scathing attack on the "partisan cronies" at Sri Lanka Cricket who blight the sport in his country, and who led him to resign the captaincy after only two years in charge, in the wake of the World Cup final in April.

In an hour-long speech that earned him a standing ovation, Sangakkara charted the unique history of cricket in his country, and called on Sri Lanka Cricket to root out its corrupt practices, and recognise the huge role that the sport now needs to play in promoting reconciliation at the end of a 30-year civil war.

Sangakkara pinpointed the country's most powerful moment of national unity - the World Cup final victory over Australia in 1996 - as the moment that the sport's administration changed "from a volunteer-led organisation run by well-meaning men of integrity into a multimillion-dollar organisation that has been in turmoil ever since."

The current tour of England has been dogged by controversy ever since Sanath Jayasuriya, now an MP with the ruling UPFA party, was recalled at the age of 41 to play in the one-off Twenty20 and the first ODI at The Oval, despite having been out of the side for nearly two years. Without naming names, Sangakkara voiced his concern at the direction the sport in his country is now heading.

"Players from within the team itself became involved in power games within the

Sarwan dropped for final Test

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies batsman, has been dropped for the third and final Test against India in Dominica. Kieran Powell, a 21-year-old batsman from Leeward Islands, has been named as his replacement.

Sarwan, 31, has struggled since his return to the Test squad after nearly one-and-a-half years for the series against Pakistan in May. He managed only 54 runs in four innings against Pakistan, and his form nosedived further in the series against India, in which he scored only 29 runs over the first two Tests. Sarwan seemed to have been informed of his axing soon after the second Test in Barbados ended in a draw. An hour after bad light ensured a draw, Sarwan tweeted: "Wishing the guys all the best in Dominica! Miami here I come."

Clyde Butts, chairman of the selection committee, expected Sarwan to make a strong comeback. "Ramnaresh is having a difficult time and it is best for him to make way and allow a player in better form to contribute to the team totals," he said. "We have no doubt about Ramnaresh's class as a batsman, he has proven himself countless times in the past and we are certain that he will return stronger in the near future."

Sarwan's replacement, Powell, played two one-dayers for West Indies in 2009, when the entire first-choice team pulled out of a home series against Bangladesh and the Champions Trophy in South Africa due to a contract dispute. He was among the first batch of players to train at the Sagicor High Performance Centre after it was established in 2010. He has played 23 first-class matches since his debut in 2008 and averages 38.91.

Chandimal century seals crushing victory By ESPN New's Feed

Sri Lanka 249 for 4 (Chandimal 105*, Jayawardene 79) beat England 246 for 7 (Cook 119, Pietersen 41) by six wickets

As South Africa's former coach, Mickey Arthur, once put it: "Mother cricket has a funny habit of biting you in the bum if you mess with it". Sri Lanka's 21-year-old matchwinner, Dinesh Chandimal, was clearly oblivious to those words of wisdom, as he and his fifth-wicket partner, Angelo Mathews, gave England a brief glimmer of an unexpected reprieve, before completing a crushing victory in the third ODI at Lord's.

In the end, victory was sealed with six wickets and ten balls to spare, but Chandimal's quest for a maiden Lord's century - which he sealed with a cathartic six over long-on in the 48th over, after Mathews had played out a maiden at the other end - left more than a few anxious faces up on the dressing-room balcony.

Mathews and Chandimal seemed oblivious to all the gesticulations from on high, and perhaps they had a point - despite the artificial drama, this was one-day cricket at its most one-sided. After choosing to bat first, England's 246 for 7 always seemed at least 40 runs below par, despite a determined 119 from 143 balls from England's captain, Alastair Cook, a player whose one-day credentials remain under severe scrutiny - not least from his No. 1 critic, Mike Atherton, whose post-match interview for Sky was noticeably terse after his recent denunciation of Cook as a "plodder".

Being a realist, Cook will himself know he still has plenty to prove. His guts and determination were not in question in this performance, but aside from another broken promise of an innings from Kevin Pietersen, no-one in the

England eye quick recovery By ESPN New's Feed

It has taken just two matches for Alastair Cook to experience the full spectrum of emotions England one-day captains are routinely subjected to. A near-perfect performance at The Oval was followed by a shoddy one at Headingley, where Sri Lanka outgunned the home side in every department. It seems difficult to remember - especially after their World Cup showing - that England were actually making significant progress as an ODI side last year. After their Champions Trophy eureka-moment in autumn 2009, when they decided to shelve the caution that left them out of step with the modern game, they won five series in a row.

Though Cook is looking for a similar consistency, the brazen approach that underpinned England's success then won't always deliver. At The Oval, once rain