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Irfan Pathan in 2003, L Balaji in early 2004, Sreesanth in 2005, Munaf Patel in 2006, and RP Singh in 2007. Over the last five years Indian fast bowlers have emerged, won Tests, sustained injuries, got dropped, made comebacks, and got injured again. Somewhere along the line, Zaheer Khan was reaffirmed as the spearhead of the attack while Ashish Nehra has been forgotten. India’s fast-bowling machinery resembles a political sham: promising much before fizzling out.A series is beginning tomorrow and India have one dependable quick (Zaheer), another erratic one who is coming back from injury (Munaf), and a tyro who has also only recently recovered (Ishant Sharma). Sreesanth, a proven match-winner, is injured, along with RP Singh, who was a revelation on the England tour. Pathan has been sent back to the grind of domestic cricket, and VRV Singh, a young fast bowler, also has injury problems. Ranadeb Bose, the highest wicket-taker in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy, has shown signs of being a limited medium-pacer while Ishant will need to add control and movement if he expects to cut it at the highest level.With seven challenging Tests ahead – the final four in Australia will require them to play three fast bowlers – India have to address several serious questions. When their first-choice fast bowlers are fit, both physically and mentally, India have a handy and even threatening pace attack. But bowling fast is an injury-prone business and the Indian bowlers have proven to be more brittle than most. And when a couple of them get injured, the thinness of India’s bench-strength has been exposed.The irony is that India’s success away from home this decade has been dependent on their fast bowlers. Pathan and Balaji played significant roles in the historic victory in Pakistan in 2003-04, while Rahul Dravid felt Munaf and Sreesanth had performed better than any other pair over the previous ten years during the 2006 tour to West Indies. Sreesanth single-handedly swung the Wanderers Test in India’s favour last year, and England’s batsmen struggled to pick the prodigious swing from RP Singh and Zaheer this summer.So have India handled their bowlers judiciously? RP’s case gives us a few answers. Over the last five months he’s bowled 268 overs in 18 one-dayers, three Tests and the World Twenty20. Sreesanth, dropped for the ODIs in England, and Zaheer, who missed the World Twenty20, at least had enforced breaks. Nobody, it seems, thought of giving RP a decent rest.Munaf’s case is even more damning. He was a problem during the ODI series in England for which he was chosen even though he wasn’t fully fit. Venkatesh Prasad, India’s bowling coach, openly questioned Munaf’s inclusion and suggested he wasn’t impressed with the selection. That was the latest in a long line of injuries that have blighted Munaf and nobody, it seemed, could determine when he was fit. Now, on the back of only three first-class games, one of which was a poor performance in the Irani Trophy, he’s almost certain to share the new ball in the first Test which begins tomorrow.The most worrying aspect, with less than a month to go for the tour of Australia, is the lack of fast-bowling options. The recent Challenger Trophy showed the paucity of talent – Pankaj Singh and V Yomahesh impressed but have a long way to go before being selected- and it’s tough to imagine Praveen Kumar and Joginder Sharma surviving Test cricket.Apart from winning against Pakistan, India also need to ensure against injuries over a possible 15 days Test cricket and hope that their crocked personnel return stronger. He’s yet to turn on the ignition but Kumble must already feel like a racer driving on empty. After 17 years, though, he may be used to it.

The former Glamorgan captain, Hugh Morris, has been unveiled as the new managing director of the England cricket team, while Mike Gatting and the former England women’s captain, Clare Connor, have been handed major new roles at the England & Wales Cricket Board, as part of the wide-ranging managerial restructure as recommended in the recent Schofield Report.In the wake of England’s 5-0 Ashes humiliation in January and their subsequent early exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean, Ken Schofield, the former chief of the European PGA Tour, was commissioned to chair an inquest into the state of English cricket.He drew up a list of 19 recommendations, chief among which was: “The establishment of a new management structure within the ECB with full accountability and responsibility for the selection and performance of the England cricket team.”Morris, who played in two Tests for England in 1991, has been the ECB’s deputy chief executive since December 2005. He was also a member of the seven-man Schofield committee, having retired from playing in 1995 to take up a role of technical coaching director with the ECB. His new role gives him responsibility for all aspects of England team affairs – including the thorny issue of discipline, which was addressed last week by the incoming ECB chairman, Giles Clarke.The selection of players with injury problems would also come into Morris’s remit – a problem that has become especially acute in recent months given Andrew Flintoff’s ongoing struggle with his ankle. By acting as a liaison between the players and the head coach, the intention is that players would be better placed to admit to injuries without jeopardising future selection.Gatting, who played in 79 Tests and captained England on their last victorious Ashes tour in 1986-87, has been handed the role of Managing Director Cricket Partnerships, which will cover first-class as well as recreational cricket, with a view to enhancing communications between the various levels of the game.Connor, who retired in 2006, succeeds Gill McConway as the Head of Women’s Cricket and will represent ECB on the ICC Women’s Committee. It promises to be a tough act to follow. McConway is responsible for such innovations as the Super Fours – which were credited with assisting in boosting England to No. 2 in the world – as well as finding the team a permanent home at Taunton and bringing about the deal for the team buses to be England-branded – an innovation which was taken on board by England men and the England boys Under-19s.ECB chief executive, David Collier, said: ‘I am delighted that Hugh, Mike and Clare have accepted these positions. Their experience as captain of their counties and England together with their knowledge of the Cricket Foundation, Chance to Shine, Club cricket and the Lord’s and Lady Taverners will greatly strengthen the Cricket Department within ECB. These appointments were recommended within the England Review and approved by the Board this summer.”

Emily Drumm has pulled out of the Invitational XI Twenty20s in England with a recurrence of her hamstring injury. Drumm, New Zealand’s prolific batsman, nearly quit the game in 2005 after damaging her leg during the World Cup but fought her way back to recovery.She had been injury-free for two years until two weeks ago when she damaged her leg playing touch rugby. “The game is really good for fitness and I thought I was Jonah Lomu at one stage, flying down the wing!”More seriously, she is fearful that, on past experience, the suggested period of a few weeks’ recovery will in fact take much longer. And now she is toying with the idea of quitting. “Maybe someone’s trying to tell me I should retire,” she said, although she was smiling when she did so.What is for certain is that she will miss the curtain-raisers against the England XI at the end of June, which will be played before two men’s county matches. “I have just withdrawn from these games,” she told Cricinfo, “so it’s very disappointing as they are my favourite form of the game. It’s good for women to try to play a more aggressive game.”And regardless of whether she recovers in time for New Zealand’s tour in August, she will not be playing. The management have stipulated that players must play in New Zealand state cricket to be eligible for the tour, but as Drumm has been over in England for the past years, she is ruled out – despite playing county cricket for Kent.”It’s extremely disappointing,” she says, although that will not stop her from watching the series. “I will help them out when they come over here if I can.”

Incoming South African selection convenor Joubert Strydom said that Jacques Kallis’s omission from the hosts’ Twenty20 World Championship squad was done in the light of the country’s “nightmare” schedule in the next 18 months.South Africa go to Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, England and Australia in the next 18 months and Strydom said: “Jacques is a crucial part of our Test and one-day plans and we don’t want to sacrifice him in the Twenty20 format”.Kallis, who has scored at better than a run-a-ball in his half-dozen Twenty20 appearances at domestic and international level, is a relatively slow starter at the crease and found himself in the middle of a storm over his perceived slow scoring during the World Cup.In 20-over cricket, Kallis would probably be best suited to moving up to the top of the order, but Strydom said South Africa had several other options for those positions and, although the allrounder’s bowling skills would be missed, it was not worth risking him in the competition.”Once we decided to rest Jacques, there was no debate about how heavily we rely on him as a bowler or whether he could bat up front ahead of quite a few guys competing for places there.”Strydom also explained the absence of any recognised death bowlers in the South African squad.”In 20-over cricket, if you’re bowling in the same area all the time, even the blockhole, it becomes very easy for the batsman. He knows which length to expect and he can line you up”We will be experimenting a bit. We will be using guys who take the pace off the ball, like Graeme Smith or JP Duminy, while also trying a guy like Morne Morkel for the death-type bowling. Because he is so tall, he bowls a different length to most bowlers and he is able to push the batsman back.”In limited-overs cricket now, you see guys like Shaun Tait and Lasith Malinga being effective when they bowl a bit shorter. A lack of bounce or excessive bounce is effective.”If you’re going to be aiming for the blockhole, then it has to be with pace and reverse-swing.”

Muhammad Akmal Siddique, the father of Pakistan’s wicket-keeper-batsman Kamran Akmal was attacked and injured by assailants in Lahore over the weekend.They reportedly shot at and injured Siddique before fleeing the area. Some armed men held up Siddique outside the Data Darbar shrine and drove him towards Sheikhupura Road. As he put up resistance, the gangsters shot and injured him and drove away with the vehicle, as well as taking away cash and a cell phone.Having been left on the road, Siddique was taken to the nearby Mayo Hospital where he was admitted and is now said to be in stable condition. Akmal, who eventually played such a vital role in Pakistan’s fine five-wicket win in Port Elizabeth, was told about the incident during the Test.

The full quorum of the ICC is meeting in Karachi on January 12 to discuss the serious threat to its finances posed by the Indian government’s decision to impose restrictions on the exclusive telecast of cricket matches by private broadcasters.The Indian government had recently announced that the telecast of all major sporting events involving India, including cricket matches, should be shared with Prasar Bharati, the state broadcaster. The Indian cabinet in taking the decision had stated: “For ensuring the widest availability in India of national or international sporting events of national importance to be held in India, no television channel shall carry a live broadcast of whole or part of any event … unless simultaneously Prasar Bharati has also been offered the terrestrial and DTH broadcasting rights.”What is even more worrying is that the Indian government has said that this ruling will apply retrospectively to existing contracts.By demanding that matches be broadcast by a number of channels, the value of the rights is significantly reduced and the ICC has explicitly stated that its finances will be seriously reduced as a result of this decision.”I wouldn’t like to speculate on how much money it would cost us, but I know it would be substantial,” Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, said. “Cricket boards like the West Indies, Sri Lanka and others might not be able to survive without this revenue.”The TV rights issue has dogged Indian cricket since the Australia tour in October-November 2004. Prasar Bharati have been in the box-seat from thereon, with rights being dispensed on a series-by-series basis.Late last year, the ICC wrote to Dr Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, and to the minister in charge of broadcasting asking them to review the decision. Both, the Rupert Murdoch-owned ESPN-Star Sports and Ten Sports are seeking legal means to force the government to rescind the decision. “Nowhere in the world does a law exist like this … This is not encouraging for private sports broadcasters,” a top ESPN official said. “This is really a harsh view taken by the ministry, which is totally unnecessary.”Apart from all its full-member countries, representatives of several major broadcasters and media rights holders will also attend the ICC meeting.

Shoaib Akhtar has said he had no point to prove to anybody when he went out to bowl against the Delhi Daredevils in his IPL debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders. “I just wanted to win the game,” said Shoaib, who ripped through Delhi’s batting with four wickets from three overs.With Kolkata defending a low total, Shoaib removed Virender Sehwag off the second ball of the innings, dismissed Gautam Gambhir in his next over and then took two more off successive balls in his third.Last month the Pakistan board banned Shoaib for five years on grounds of disciplinary problems but allowed him to play the IPL. He last played for Pakistan in November 2007.Shoaib said he was stressed but put everything behind him before the match. “For me, my team is the most important thing,” Shoaib said. “Kolkata is my home team. Eden Gardens is my home ground. Sharing the dressing room with Shah Rukh Khan and Sourav [Ganguly] was fantastic. They backed me. And I am really happy to perform. They put faith in me. And I am happy to deliver.”Ganguly, the Kolkata captain, acknowledge Shoaib’s performance. “He came to the country with lots [of things] happening behind him,” Ganguly said. “But he showed a lot of character.”Sehwag said it was the best Twenty20 spell he had ever seen but denied that Delhi’s batsmen fell to Shoaib’s pace.” We are used to pace,” Sehwag said. “We are all international players. I, Gautam and [Manoj] Tiwary. We batted too positively against Shoaib.”Their 23-run win keeps Kolkata at fourth place just above Delhi; their next match is against the Mumbai Indians on Friday.

Michael Clarke was desperately unlucky to miss out on a place in Australia’s side for the first Test, according to Darren Lehmann. Clarke lost the battle with the allrounder Shane Watson for the No. 6 spot when the 13-man squad was announced on Thursday.Lehmann, who offered to give his Test place to Clarke in India in 2004, said the selectors needed to show faith in Clarke. “Michael Clarke is the one I still like. I think he has a great future in Australian cricket,” Lehmann told the . “I think Michael Clarke can play for ten years. I would like to see him play and give him an opportunity. He has all the shots, plays the right brand of game and could be a future leader.”Clarke said he was not surprised that Watson had got the nod. “I probably always think the worst so it doesn’t hurt so much,” he said. “Deep down I did think they would go with Watto. I guess I knew I didn’t do too much batting at the ICC Champions Trophy, simply because all the guys were doing so well above me, and that was terrific. I am obviously disappointed to miss out, I’d like to play for Australia in every Test but I guess my focus now is to just get back to New South Wales and make as many runs as I can in one- and four-day cricket.”Clarke has had limited opportunities to play for his state since being dropped from the Test team last summer. “That’s the hardest thing,” he said. “I think in my last three games for New South Wales I’ve scored 170, 200 and then 50 and 70 [against England] early this week. That comes with playing a lot of one-day cricket, and where I’m batting you don’t always spend a lot of time in the middle. And you know what, I wouldn’t swap being part of Australia’s one-day team, and playing every game I can. I love it.”