The Bangalore-based Unibic stepped up the marketing on Monday of their Bradman Chocolate Chip Cookies, which were launched in March and named after the legendary batsman, with the blessing of the Bradman Foundation.The first batch of biscuits had not left the production line before Bradman’s family launched a scathing attack on the proposal. A statement issued on behalf of the family accused the Foundation of failing in its duty to safeguard Bradman’s image. “Sir Donald is a loved and missed family member, not a brand name like Mickey Mouse,” the statement said. “Sir Donald would be adamant in his opposition to this use of his name. So is his family.” Before his death in 2001, Bradman was strict in protecting the commercial use of his name.But the Foundation defended its decision, arguing that it had been signing licensing agreements for years. “In its operations, the Bradman Foundation has at all times gone to great lengths to preserve the good name and reputation of the person acknowledged as the world’s greatest cricketer,” the foundation said. “In 1992, Sir Donald Bradman authorised and encouraged the Bradman Foundation to embark upon a program of commercial use of his name to ensure the financial future and stability of the charitable organisation. The foundation jealously guards the use of the Bradman name and has taken court action on a number of occasions over unauthorised usage.”The Foundation admitted that its relationship with family members had been less than harmonious in recent years. “The Bradman Foundation has received from John Bradman [his son] a series of complaints about wide-ranging subjects since shortly after the death of his father in 2001. The foundation has endeavoured to deal with John Bradman in a co-operative and sensitive manner.” Unibic said a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the biscuits would go to underprivileged children in India.In 2000, John Howard, Australia’s prime minister, changed the country’s corporation law to prevent businesses falsely suggesting a connection to Bradman. The move came after a sex shop attempted to register the name “Erotica on Bradman”.

Zimbabwe Under-23 have found competing in the provincial South African competitions very difficult and once again took a major pounding, this time at the hands of Western Province in the Provincial Cup. Batting first they could only total 162, being bowled out in 41 overs. The tail did wag to some degree, with forties for Bernard Mlambo and Gregory Strydom, to give them a glimmer of hope, but Province proved to be too strong. They reached the target with 11 overs to spare having lost only one wicket. Myles Williamson top scored with 68 not out.

Andrew Flintoff has emphasised the importance of staging a comeback against Pakistan in the one-day series to finish the year on a positive note. England lost the Test series against Pakistan – a blemish on a year of unprecedented success in which Michael Vaughan and his team regained the Ashes.”I think it’s important we finish off the year well,” said Flintoff, ahead of the fourth one-day match at Rawalpindi on Monday. England won the opening one-day match by 42 runs, but fared poorly in the second going down by seven wickets – with both matches played at Lahore. They need to win the next two matches in order to clinch the five-match series.”It will be disappointing if we finish with the defeat after all the hard work we put in during this summer,” said Flintoff. “It’s disappointing the way in which we played since winning the first match. As a batting group we have not really fired, we didn’t post enough runs for the bowlers in the second game and in Karachi, Pakistan just batted well.”Flintoff, who starred in England’s Ashes win with 402 runs and 24 wickets in five Tests, said Pakistan batted much better than England in Karachi.”We were played out of the park (in Karachi) and Pakistan were excellent,” he said. “We have to play well on Monday if we want to level the series and go one up on Wednesday.”We have got the energy…we have come from behind before and played some good cricket over the past few years and we have to do it again. We have got two games and we have to win both, it’s as simple as that.”

In a dramatic finish, Auckland and Northern Districts somehow conspired to tie a game no team deserved to win. Daniel Vettori, the ND captain, ran out Chris martin for a duck on the penultimate ball of the match with the scores level at 275. For the second time in less than a fortnight, Paul Hitchcock scored a century against Northern Districts in the State Shield. Unlike the last occasion it was not enough to see his team win. Hitchcock’s 107 from 102 balls was the highlight of Auckland’s chase for 275 set by the home team, but he failed to find any significant support. Bruce Martin was the most effective ND bowler, taking 3 for 42 off his 10 overs. It was a great allround double for Hitchcock who took 4 for 45 earlier in the day. ND would have been disappointed it did not make better use of the 135-run opening partnership provided by Vettori (84) and BJ Watling (50). James Marshall provided a useful 42 while others made starts they failed to capitalise on.

Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has insisted that England can still become the best team in the world, despite the 2-0 loss to Pakistan earlier in the winter. England head to India today to India for a three-Test series, with the first Test starting at Nagpur on March 1, followed by seven one-dayers.England will be without Ashley Giles, their senior spinner, and will rely on Shaun Udal and Northamptonshire’s Monty Panesar, who has yet to make his debut, along with Ian Blackwell. Michael Vaughan has recovered from his knee injury and Simon Jones, who was sorely missed for the tour of Pakistan, is also fit.”Forget what happened in Pakistan, we can still be the best Test side in the world,” Fletcher told the . “We can still be No.1 in the world during my time as coach. I firmly believe that. It will help if we can stay clear of injuries to key players. But if we can do that from now on, then we can achieve that aim.”First, however, it’s very important that we go to India and win the series. I don’t care who you’re playing, winning is extremely important.”It’s also hard – no matter what the situation. That’s why it’s wrong to suggest that one tour is more important than another. All games have different pressures. That’s why we’re thinking only about the trip to India. We want to beat them in their own backyard.”Beating any team in their own backyard is an admirable feat; beating India, at home, is considered mission impossible by most touring sides. Australia were the most recent to achieve it, in 2004, and Hansie Cronje’s South Africa managed it in 2000. England haven’t won an away series against India since David Gower’s side in 1984-85. However, Fletcher is confident his current squad have what it takes:”India is one country we have not won in since I became coach and that’s a real target for the team to achieve this time,” he said. “What effect it will have regarding our next Ashes campaign is difficult to assess. But from my point of view winning is vital. I don’t think motivation was the problem in Pakistan and it certainly won’t be in this time.”We’ve beaten Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa and Sri Lanka away. So it would be nice to add India to that list.”

Jones, now fully recovered, recently spent some at Dennis Lillee’s academy in India which, Fletcher feels, will stand him and England in good stead.”It was handy for Simon to go out early to India because he’s gathered some useful information about various things,” he said. “I’ve had a chat with him. He’s quite happy that the ball did swing out there and he already has an idea what to do with the ball when we play.”Simon is a major component in our bowling attack because he has that added variation of reverse swing. He’s good for those sub-continental wickets because he skids the ball through at a quick pace.””I’ve often said that it’s a huge advantage to have a second change bowler who can hit 90mph. He will be a major player in India, just as he was during the Ashes series.”Giles failed to recover from his hip injury in time for England’s tour, leaving England’s spin attack bereft of experience. Udal, who turns 37 in March, has just three Tests to his name and made his debut in Pakistan last year. While it will be an invaluable learning curve for both Blackwell and Panesar, Fletcher is understandably anxious that the pressure on their young shoulders will become burdensome, in what is one of the hardest tours in the international schedule.”It is asking a lot to send them in against India and players who play spin-bowling very well,” he told BBC Radio. “Ashley Giles is going to be a huge loss. We need a left-arm spinner and those two are the next best in the country.”

Mohammad Sami, the Pakistan fast bowler, has been called up to join the one-day squad as a replacement for Shoaib Akhtar, who has been ruled out of the five-match series against India due to an ankle injury. Sami will join the squad later today and will be available for selection for the last two games, on Thursday and Sunday.Sami played the first Test of the series against India, but was dropped after putting in a listless performance, conceding 67 from just 12 overs. Though his career one-day stats are impressive – 105 wickets in 74 ODIs at 28.43 – his recent form has been dismal: in his last 15 matches, Sami has managed just 12 wickets at an exorbitant average of 52, and an economy rate of more than five. With Pakistan’s back-up seamers – Mohammad Asif, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Umar Gul – performing well, Sami was forced into the sidelines. Shoaib’s injury offers him another opportunity to translate his undoubted potential into performance at the international level.

Ricky Ponting has admitted that Australia will have to start taking Twenty20 more seriously with the ICC showing every intention of introducing a World Championship in the shortened form. In the early days of Twenty20 on the international stage Australia have tended to treat the matches as a light-hearted affair and with mixed results.They have convincingly beaten New Zealand and South Africa, but came unstuck against England in dramatic style, at the Rose Bowl, to launch their Ashes tour in 2005. Ponting has held the belief that Twenty20 matches should only be used at domestic level and, at a push, to start a tour and attract interest. However, with the ICC due to bring an international tournament a step closer, at their meeting in Dubai next month, Ponting realises a change of approach may be needed.”My position hasn’t changed, but it might have to change a little bit as we go on,” he told ahead of Australia’s Twenty20 clash with South Africa at Johannesburg. “If we’re going to be playing more and more of it, we’re going to have to look at starting to take the game a bit more seriously.”The way that it has been used … to promote the [Test and one-day] series, I think it’s been used well that way. But now with this world championship on, we’re going to have to look at it.”Ponting has previously said that if Twenty20 is overused the attraction will disappear, but the current evidence is that people will continue to flock into the grounds. “If we play it more internationally will it fade? I’m not sure. But everything so far would seem to indicate that it’s going to be pretty strong. Even the game we played in Australia they had a full house in Brisbane – 40,000-odd people.”I still think that might be because of the novelty factor; people want to go and have a look at it first time around. But the flipside … is that everyone we spoke to that was there that night had a great day. Maybe there is a long-term future for it.”

While quietly content at the manner in which India had seen off a feebleEnglish challenge in this game, Greg Chappell came out strongly in supportof a couple of his embattled batsmen. Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaifare both going through a prolonged drought, but Chappell was certain thatboth would emerge from it stronger.”Both Kaif and Sehwag are very experienced,” he said. “Both have theskills to succeed and we will give both as many chances as we possiblycan.” When asked about Kaif in particular – he now has four zeroes and 4in his last five one-day innings – Chappell harked back to his ownhorror-run in 1981-82. “I feel it’s more of a mental thing,” saidChappell. “The focus is not quite right, and the anxiety to succeeddoesn’t help you either.”When Chappell took over as coach last June, Kaif was one of the players tomake an immediate positive impression, with his excellence in the fieldand reputation as a hard worker. He also started the season superbly, andwas easily India’s best batsmen in the tri-series in Zimbabwe. However, ahamstring injury picked up in the Challenger Trophy final caused him tomiss the first five games against Sri Lanka, and he has found run-scoringa struggle since, with not even a half-century to his name.Despite some of his stars misfiring, Chappell ruled out wholesale changesor drastic experimentation with four more matches left to play in theseries. He did admit though that more of the squad players could be givenopportunities to prove their worth. He was especially impressed with theimpact made by Ramesh Powar when given his chance. “I am very happy withhis bowling. He’s a very clever bowler and got us important wickets inFaridabad. He’s fitting into the team very well.”Another to make the most of his fortune has been Suresh Raina, who led thechase in Faridabad, and followed it up with an assured 61 in Goa. Whenasked if Raina had done enough to warrant a move up the order, Chappellsaid: “We’ll have to see if it’s in his best interests. We’ve eased himinto the team, put him in some pressure situations, and he’s done well forus. Maybe he’s ready for more challenges.”The almost-inevitable and now-redundant query about a recall for SouravGanguly was met with a poker-faced “Who knows?” and he was visiblyirritated with yet another query about the pace at which Irfan Pathanbowled. “He’s not a fast bowler, but a swing bowler who has lot ofvariations. He took the wickets today with his change of pace, and we’revery happy with that.”Chappell’s curt response was understandable given how outstanding Pathanhas been in the limited-overs game in recent times. Ineffectual withthe SG ball in Tests, he’s a vastly different proposition when armed withthe white Kookaburra that he appears to swing almost at will. In his lastsix ODIs, he has taken 17 wickets and invariably given the team theperfect start.There was nothing perfect about England’s start, and Andrew Flintoffadmitted that his team had been batted out of the game by Yuvraj andRaina. The pursuit of 295 was further affected by the absence of KevinPietersen, ruled out this morning with a stomach bug. “When you lose aplayer of Kevin’s ability, it’s a big loss,” said Flintoff. “But you’vegot to get on with it.”He smiled wanly when asked about the sweep that caused his downfall, andsaid: “What I was thinking then [with gloved hand clutching helmet grilledin despair] … well, this is an inappropriate time and place to say it.”This is a very good Indian side. But there are four games left, and we’vestill got to believe that we can win it. If we win the next two, we’ll beright back in it. But the team knows that we’ve got a mountain to climb.”Unless he and Pietersen can emulate Yuvraj’s big hitting, and the bowlingimproves drastically, England could find that the rest of the series is asarduous as trying to climb Everest without oxygen.

James Franklin, the New Zealand fast bowler, has pulled out of his contract with Glamorgan after a routine scan revealed a tear in his knee cartilage. The news has left Glamorgan’s management frantically searching for an emergency overseas replacement 24 hours before Franklin was due in Wales.According to the , a Welsh daily, John Derrick, Glamorgan’s director of cricket, spent much time on the phone yesterday assessing the bowling options open to the county side. He has reportedly been faxed a list of possible alternatives from Athletes One, a London-based cricket agent.Glamorgan had been in a similar predicament in March after Michael Kasprowicz, the Australian fast bowler, withdrew his contract. The management has also sought a temporary replacement for Mark Cosgrove, the Australian batsman, away on Australia A duty from June 24 to July 26.Franklin, 25, was part of New Zealand’s 0-2 Test loss to South Africa recently. He took 15 wickets and scored his maiden hundred in the three-Test series.

Stephen Harmison, the England fast bowler, says he is all geared up for the Twenty20 clash against Sri Lanka at Hampshire’s Rose Bowl today. Back from a shin injury that sidelined him for several months, Harmison admitted he was confident that England’s recent injury woes had increased the team’s selection options.”The one thing we need is competition…we have always had a good 11 players but then if we have lost two or three players it has weakened the side, but now we have got all bases covered,” he told . “I think Duncan has got an A and B team covering nearly one to 11. He has got one-to-11 A side and one-to-10 B side because I don’t think you can ever replace Andrew Flintoff, but everybody else he’s got cover for which is what we want.”Harmison made his first appearance in England colours since March during a 38-run win over Ireland in Belfast on Tuesday and picked up 3 for 58. Despite conceding eight wides, Harmison said he could be a key factor in the five-match contest beginning on June 17. “I was flying in [against Ireland] and the ball didn’t go where I wanted it to go, but I still felt if I bowled quick enough the batsmen would struggle to handle the pace as other international batsmen could,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to playing if it’s against Sri Lanka, Pakistan or whoever I’m playing against for Durham. I just want to go out there and play a game of cricket. I’ve spent a bit of time on my backside watching television and shouting at the TV when England were playing Sri Lanka. Now I’ve got the chance to do what I do best and that’s to bowl for England.”Today’s Twenty20 fixture has been delayed so fans at the Rose Bowl can watch, on a giant screen, England’s second World Cup football match, against Trinidad and Tobago.Harmison hoped that England could repeat last year’s Twenty20 triumph over Australia here, a 100-run win that set the tone for the subsequent Ashes series, despite the distraction of the football. “Last year was a bit different because it was against Australia, but it’s the same situation because if you go well it takes you into the one-day series,” he said. “We’ll do our preparation and do what we have to do, but we’ll still be supporting England.”