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Somerset coach Kevin Shine confirmed that it was likely that he would take a squad of 12 to The Oval on Wednesday for the four day CricInfo Championship match against Surrey.The final selection would be down to Jamie Cox the captain, and would depend upon the fitness tests that Richard Johnson is undergoing over the next two days.It was likely to be a “different” selection from the Leicestershire game and the final team on the day could depend upon whether a new or used pitch was used for the match.Despite missing Saqlain Mushtaq and their England players Surrey are still able to field a strong side and will provide a stern test for the Cidermen.

It was a nice change of scenery for everyone when we moved from Chennai to Hyderabdad, even if they hotel wasn’t as nice as the Meridian. At least we were close to shops, the Internet and Pizza Hut.The food markets are handy for everyone to stock up their fridges instead of using room service all the time. The Internet is much cheaper than at the Business Centre in the hotel at 30 rupees an hour which is only two New Zealand dollars. And with 25 PCs lined up for use, as compared to only two at the hotel, there is no-one waiting to get on the Internet at any one time.Pizza Hut is a blessing in disguise for those of us who are sick of the spicy curries they dish up out of here even though you ask for a very, very mild.The team has had a shock with the change in standards since leaving Chennai where we were treated well and everything ran smoothly. We are now experiencing what it is really like to tour India as things go wrong and you can never assume anything.The bus was late for our first practice, the practice facilities were scruffy, very small and enclosed.The next day was Sunday, and the morning of our first one-day game against Mumbai who we beat in the first round in Chennai. The matches start at 9am which means a 6.30am breakfast in order to catch the bus to the ground at 7.15am.The only problem is that the breakfast area doesn’t open until 7.30am. So not only was breakfast late but we were late getting to the ground.When we did get there, the changing room was dark and smelly, the lights didn’t work, there were cobwebs everywhere and the toilets didn’t extend to toilet paper.Our warm-ups were done on a scruffy outfield and it was hard to tell the pitch from the outfield.Then to cap things off, three-quarters of the way through a game which was shaping for a great finish, a pipe burst and water came gushing up close to the pitch and the game could not be finished.Everyone was pretty grumpy and disappointed at the state of events but that’s India. You have to expect the unexpected and learn to embrace issues and tolerate things that are out of your control.We all learnt a valuable lesson and are now trying to be bigger than the situation and to make the most of every opportunity by turning it into a learning experience.Two days later we were back at the stadium for our second match. It too was abandoned because the pitch prepared for us was so soft it was deemed dangerous to play on.Having waited around for much of the day to see if it would harden we went back to the hotel only to find that those of us who had left our keys at reception had to wait some more before we could get into our rooms.Why?Because they did not have our keys as there were away getting polished. Only in India could this be possible.

Mumbai have opted for Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) over Wankhede Stadium as the venue for their home fixture against Railways in the seventh round of the Ranji Trophy, beginning November 15. Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit said BKC was a “better option” from a result perspective. Mumbai have played three games at home so far this season, winning a game each at the Wankhede and BKC.”We played against Tamil Nadu [at BKC], and we thought it was a better option for us,” Pandit told ESPNcricinfo. “Whichever venue you play, ultimately you look for results. Probably we thought that BKC will be better option for us. We played a good game [against Tamil Nadu]. More than just getting the result for Mumbai it’s a game which you can play [in a] much better way. It was a decision taken by the management – the captain, manager, everybody.”Mumbai’s desperation for an outright win is understandable given their position at the top of a congested table in Group B, where only four points separate them from fifth-placed Tamil Nadu. While they picked up three points from their previous game against Uttar Pradesh at the Wankhede, the pitch produced nearly 1200 runs for 21 wickets over four days.The Wankhede surface recently came under the scanner when India team director Ravi Shastri and bowling coach B Arun allegedly lashed out at its curator Sudhir Naik at the conclusion of the final ODI between India and South Africa, that saw the visitors rack up 438.Pandit, however, denied there was any dissatisfaction with the Wankhede pitch. “People misunderstand us that [we have switched venues] because there is no result or something. Nobody should forget that we played against Punjab [at the Wankhede], we got outright result there,” said Pandit. “We played this match [against Uttar Pradesh] and we thought why not play at a different venue. Probably the team has the confidence that we will be able to play much better cricket there. It is a combination of factors.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:18

Series win in SL after nine years

For the third time in the series Pakistan denied those expecting drama and nerves and inexplicable events normally associated with Pakistan cricket. They first refused to let Sri Lanka get away despite a seemingly effortless 100-run second-wicket stand and dragged them down to 256, and then Ahmed Shehzad followed it with a ruthless chase of a target that could have been tricky on a dry turning surface. This was their first bilateral series win in Sri Lanka in nine years, and took them closer to Champions Trophy qualification.In fact even in the second match – the one that they lost – Pakistan were predictable and excellent. They just came up against individual brilliance of the Pakistani kind, and even after that record fastest fifty by Kusal Perera Pakistan fought to make sure it was not a cakewalk for Sri Lanka. There was no such out-of-the-world brilliance from Sri Lanka this time, but Pakistan retained that tenacity even though Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan seemed in control scoring half-centuries after Perera fell for a duck. The fielders cut out the singles, the spinners choked supply of easy runs, the quicks struck to cash in on the pressure, and Sri Lanka went from 170 for 3 to score only 86 in the last 14 overs.As a comparison, in the next 14 overs there was enough evidence Pakistan were going to cruise through the chase. Sri Lanka finally went to using Lasith Malinga as an attacking option, but Azhar Ali and Shehzad took his first three overs for 20. When it seemed like pace on ball was flying, Sri Lanka went to spin only to see Shehzad jump out of the crease and belt Sachith Pathirana back over his head first ball for a six. Nuwan Pradeep injured himself, Suranga Lakmal looked ineffective, and already Malinga was back for a second spell. Malinga provided a breakthrough, but then had Shehzad edge through vacant slip and then through the hands of slip for successive fours. All in the first 14 overs.With his side 92 for 1 in the first 14, Mohammad Hafeez could now afford to take his time settling in. He also blunted out Malinga as he exhausted his nine overs in the first 20, looking desperately for a breakthrough. In Malinga’s ninth, Shehzad suggested it wouldn’t have made a difference had Malinga many more left in his bag. He whipped him for successive fours to reach 71, and Pakistan were now 116 for 1 in 20 overs.Let down by spinners, missing in-form attacking bowlers, Sri Lanka threw other options at Pakistan, but there were no batsmen willing to oblige those looking for what has in the last 10 or so years become inevitable drama with Pakistan matches. Shehzad and Hafeez batted with authority. While Hafeez accelerated from 7 off 24 to the eventual 70 off 88, Shehzad never really slowed down. The only regret for Pakistan will be that a rare moment of fielding brilliance – diving-forward catch by Perera at third man – from Sri Lanka resulted in Shehzad’s falling five short of a hundred.Fielding brilliance was plentiful when Pakistan were in the field. From the time left-arm spinner Imad Wasim, playing only his second match, combined an arm ball with low bounce to remove Dilshan at 109 for 2 in the 23rd over, the fielders and the spinners circled around Sri Lanka. Often six men stayed inside the circle, and the spinners ran through their overs, building pressure dot by dot. Between them the three spinners – Yasir Shah, Wasim and Shoaib Malik – conceded just 108 in 24 overs.The first victim of the pressure was Mathews. Shah had been negotiated well by Dilshan and Thirimanne, but Mathews found it tough to face Wasim and Malik. With no easy singles on offer, Pakistan kept daring Mathews to take the risk. Nineteen runs came in Mathews’ first 5.3 overs at the wicket, and when he looked to break the shackles he hit Rahat Ali – in his first over back – straight to mid-off.Dinesh Chandimal, seemingly thanks to instructions from the dressing room, sought to avoid a similar fate – Mathews scored 12 off 23 – and went on a hitting spree. He tried one ambitious shot too many, getting out to Mohammad Irfan for 20 off 21. Amid all this Thirimanne went on smoothly, driving and late-cutting his way towards a hundred. Now, though, with an inexperienced lower middle order with him Thirimanne had to make a decision: stay the anchorman and bat till the 50th over or hit a few shots to take some pressure off the youngsters.Thirimanne went for the latter. When he first tried the big sweep off Shah, he was dropped by Ahmed Shehzad at deep square leg, a catch he somehow went on to claim. An over later Thirmanne provided both Shah and Shehzad the redemption, trying another big sweep, mis-hitting it, and watching Shehzad fly to his left. An innings that had looked solid for a long time had slowly but surely disintegrated, setting Pakistan a target that would be hunted down with 9.1 overs to spare.

Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s ODI captain, was pleased with the manner in which his team bounced back with a seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second ODI in Mirpur, levelling the three-match series with one game still to be played. Bangladesh had lost the T20 series against South Africa 2-0 and went down by eight wickets in the first ODI. The win on Sunday was their first since the second ODI against India last month.Bangladesh had felt the weight of expectations ahead of the game and Mashrafe had little time to re-gather his troops, with the team’s training session delayed following a meeting with the BCB president Nazmul Hasan on Saturday. The Bangladesh captain was happy that the team had responded to his call to think about the process of winning rather than focus only on winning.”The chemistry of the team is quite normal,” Mashrafe said. “I wanted to see how the team reacts in a bad situation. They didn’t take it well and that is how a good team responds. I thank my team-mates. We didn’t get more than a day’s training but they were mentally strong. It looked good from outside and also when we were out fielding.”He also lauded the batsmen for paying heed to the discussions about their individual roles, particularly after they failed to put up a fight in recent matches. Soumya Sarkar was one of the batsmen who fell after getting starts. On Sunday, he battled hard before flourishing to make a match-winning 88 not out. Rubel Hossain and Mahmudullah, both making comebacks into the team, had important contributions.”We were thinking too much about winning. I wanted everyone to understand that you can win after playing out 600 balls in a match,” Mashrafe said. “Thankfully we got a good start in the game. From the moment Rubel took Hashim Amla’s wicket, we were fully in the game. I had some concern about our batting but we discussed a lot, which was more important than training. We talked about how we will start our innings, finish it and make it longer. It was good that Soumya finished the game. Riyad [Mahmudullah] was playing only his second game after returning from a finger injury which is never easy for any batsman.”Mashrafe also made a significant difference with his belief in the team and his tactics. He ensured that none of the South Africa batsmen were given time to settle against one type of bowler, and he took a calculated risk of finishing Shakib Al Hasan’s ten overs early while still ensuring the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel were given the ball, when the side was looking for wickets.”Bowling changes depend on the situation. I wanted to do a lot of things today. I finished Shakib’s over quite early, which was a bit risky,” he said. “But I was looking for a couple of wickets from him. I brought back Mustafizur at one point and he got me a wicket. Rubel and Riyad also bowled at stages when I needed wickets and they got us the breakthroughs. I always use my instinct as a captain.”I always feel that a batsman is not set until he takes a single comfortably. Hitting two consecutive boundaries doesn’t make him set. I want our bowlers to believe in this too. I don’t want to give away a single easily. But if you don’t bowl well, it is hard to control such things. It was easy today but I always want a batsman to not get set at the crease by taking singles.”

Reece Topley, the left-arm pace bowler, is to leave Essex and join Hampshire on a two-year deal. Paul Grayson, the coach, is also leaving the club, while the future of the captain, James Foster, is uncertain.Topley, 21, who made his England debut in the T20 against Australia in Cardiff, rejected the offer of a new contract from Essex and was the subject of interest from eight other counties. It is understood that Hampshire did not offer the most money, but Topley was impressed by the plans of chairman Rod Bransgrove and the coach Giles White and felt the environment at the club would help him fulfil his potential.His signing in the face of so much competition – Surrey, Warwickshire and Worcestershire were among the other interested counties – represents something of a coup for Hampshire. Topley, a tall left-arm swing bowler, has outstanding red and white ball statistics for his age. He was the standout bowler at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup in Australia, is currently the leading wicket taker in this year’s Royal London Cup with 20 wickets and has 125 first-class victims at a cost of 25.78.Topley, who burst onto the professional scene in 2011 with successive five wicket hauls when just 17 and still at school, has said his ultimate ambition is to become the first left-arm pace bowler to claim 100 Test wickets for England.Leaving Essex will be a major wrench, though. Not only has he progressed through the club’s system – he has been there since he was nine – but his father, Don Topley, also represented the club for a decade as a bustling seam bowler and still commentates on the club for local radio.”I am extremely sad to be leaving Essex having played for the county since the age of nine and have thoroughly enjoyed my time in a great dressing room,” Topley said. “I would like to publicly thank all the players for their huge support and firm friendships.”In particular, I must also thank the two 1st XI coaches: Paul Grayson for the fantastic opportunity he has given me and to Chris Silverwood, who I have great admiration for and enjoyed working with.”It is understood Reece was unsettled by changes at the club. Since the return of Ronnie Irani as chairman of the cricket committee, the future of the coach, Grayson, has looked especially uncertain – ESPNcricinfo understands he is no longer working with the team while a severance package is agreed – with Irani his probable replacement.Grayson was appointed coach in July 2007. While Essex won the Friends Provident Trophy in 2008, they have not made the progress some expected since and currently sit mid-table in Division Two. Grayson’s supporters would argue, however, that he has never held much real power and was not given the authority to sign new players or agree contract terms.The future of the captain, Foster, is also unclear with the former England keeper understood to have received offers of employment from outside the game, including a role at a local private school. Topley remains close and appreciative of Grayson and Essex bowling coach, Chris Silverwood, but has a less obvious rapport with Irani. It could well be that Topley joins Hampshire on loan before the end of this season.It continues a worrying trend for Essex. While the club – perhaps as a result of its densely populated catchment area – has a fine record of producing talented players, Topley joins a list that includes Varun Chopra, Ben Foakes, Adam Wheater, Tony Palladino, Billy Godleman, Chris Wright and Tymal Mills as talented players who have recently left the club to pursue their county careers elsewhere.They are likely to sign another seamer – Surrey’s Tim Linely – as replacement for Topley, but losing a 21-year-old and gaining a 33-year-old – whatever his merits – is unlikely to impress Essex supporters.

Group A

A clinical bowling performance, led by Anurag Singh’s 3 for 8, skittled Andhra for 58, and Madhya Pradesh chased down the total inside seven overs for their fifth win of the tournament.Having been put in, Andhra began poorly, losing AG Pradeep off the second ball when he was trapped lbw by Puneet Datey. The MP bowlers continued to chip away at the wickets as 1 for 1 became 29 for 6 and then 35 for 8. Naren Reddy and No.10 Bandaru Iyappa, the only batsmen to have reached double-figures, resisted briefly with a 23-run partnership, before Andhra were bowled out in 16.4 overs.Mohnish Mishra and Jalaj Saxena knocked 41 runs off the target to ensure that the chase began briskly. Though the stand was ended by Ashwin Hebbar in the fifth over, Jalaj and Zafar Ali helped MP coast home with more than 13 overs to spare.A tight bowling performance from Himachal Pradesh helped them successfully defend 130 against Jharkhand in Bhubaneswar.Jharkhand lost Prakash Munda to Pankaj Jaiswal in the second over of the chase, but Ishan Kishan and Virat Singh rebuilt the innings with a 39-run partnership, before Kishan was dismissed by Akshay Chauhan in the eighth over. That wicket triggered a collapse as Jharkhand went from 59 for 2 to 94 for 7, Bipul Sharma being the chief wicket-taker (3 for 21). Rituraj Singh and Prakash Seet pitched in with 20 and 10, but Jharkhand came up short by 12 runs.Earlier in the day, HP themselves were stifled by disciplined bowling, but 20-plus scores from Ankush Bains, Prashant Chopra and Paras Dogra, guided them to 130 for 3. Bains top-scored with 41 off 50 balls and added 66 with Prashant Chopra, while Dogra provided the late thrust, striking 28 off 22 balls.

Group B

A half-century from Suryaprakash Suwalka, followed by a three-wicket haul from Aniket Choudhary powered Rajasthan‘s 86-run victory against Hyderabad in Cuttack. Rajasthan, having been inserted, began brightly, as their openers Suwalka and Ankit Lamba raced to 82 inside nine overs. Suwalka fell for a 32-ball 50, but Lamba carried on, stroking two fours and three sixes to make 44 off 32 balls. Hyderabad kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals, but were unable to stem the flow of runs, as a 26-ball 31 from Rajesh Bishnoi lifted the team to 183 for 7.Hyderabad never really got going in the chase, as Choudhary rattled their top order, reducing them to 26 for 5 inside six overs. Hyderabad’s captain Hanuma Vihari top-scored with 46, but none of his team-mates could manage more than 10, as they folded for 97. Choudhary (3 for 10) was aided by Ashok Menaria and Chandrapal Singh, who claimed two scalps apiece.Odisha put in a strong batting performance to beat Punjab by five wickets in their Super League game in Cuttack.Punjab, who chose to bat, started well with a 51-run opening stand between Jaskaranveer Singh and Manan Vohra. Biplab Samantaray ended the stand when he ran out Vohra for 34 in the eighth over. Sheshdeep Patra then picked up three of wickets through the middle overs to leave them on 114 for 4 after 17. Punjab added a further 29 runs as Himanshu Chawla top-scored with a 20-ball 37 guiding them to 143 for 5 in 20 overs.Debutant Shubek Gill struck on the fourth ball of Odisha’s chase to remove Roshan Kumar Rao for a duck and then dismissed Govinda Podder in his second over, leaving Odisha at 9 for 2.Abhilash Mallick and Anurag Sarangi revived Odisha’s chase with 76-run stand only to be broken by Mandeep Singh, who dismissed Mallick for 41. Odisha then lost Arabind Singh and Sarangi to Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma as they were 112 for 5 in the 16th over.Samantaray and Suryakant Pradhan took charge, making 32 from 14 balls, with Pradhan striking three sixes for his eight-ball 22 to guide them to victory with 11 balls to spare.

Colin Graves, the incoming ECB chairman, has voiced his personal approval for four-day Test cricket in a move that signals nothing is sacred as he prepares his attempts to modernise professional cricket in England.Graves chose to reveal all to one of the bastions of traditionalism – the MCC website – as he proposed the first of what will be several radical proposals which he believes will reinvigorate English cricket, make it more financially viable and put it more in tune with the culture of the times.The suggestion of four-day Tests was floated in a wide-ranging ECB discussion document that was exclusively revealed by ESPNcricinfo last month, but this is the first time that Graves has admitted he personally supports what would be the biggest change to international cricket in modern times.English Test crowds still remain relatively healthy, but increasingly there are disturbing signs that the virus of dwindling Test attendances is beginning to eat into Test attendances outside London.Graves told the MCC website, : “Personally, I think we should look at four-day Test cricket and play 105 overs a day starting at 10.30 in the morning, and finish when you finish as all the grounds now have lights,” he said.”Every Test match would start on a Thursday, with Thursday and Friday being corporate days and then Saturday and Sunday the family days.”From a cost point of view you’d lose that fifth day, which would save a hell of a lot of money from the ground’s point of view and the broadcasters. I would look at that. In reality, there’s not many people who turn up and watch it on the fifth day.”Graves’ ambitions for 105 overs a day would lose only 30 overs on the current five-day minimum of 450 overs, but they sound somewhat idealistic. Although a rate of less than 18 overs an hour in a six-hour day seems just about feasible, even for the modern game, Test matches routinely expand into overtime just to complete 90. An ODI, which pretty much feels as long as cricket can manage, stretches to 100.A preponderance of pace bowlers, lengthy stoppages for tactical discussions, drinks breaks running overtime, donning of protective equipment on the field, and a generally dilatory approach all contribute to a Test over rate that has been around 15 overs an hour now for a generation.The revelation that the ECB was even mooting four-day Tests from Test purists worldwide. But whether such a move would make Tests more profitable, and would receive a favourable reaction from a greater number of spectators, remains relatively unexplored.Cricket would also lose one of its enduring charms: the gradual deterioration of a pitch that only really begins to turn sharply on the final two days.Graves, whose five-year term begins on May 15, will begin to promote his views when he is a guest at the MCC World Cricket Committee, where he has been invited to speak this July.His determination that cricket moves with the times, and does not become isolated from the culture of the nation, is also seen in his driving forward of discussions about a more high-profile Twenty20 tournament in England that would be a real competitor to the IPL and the Big Bash League in Australia.”Let’s look forward, let’s look at what the public wants because we are in the entertainment business and that’s what we’ve got to remember,” he said.It is a message that he will ram home repeatedly in the coming months.Four-day Tests remain likely to be a battle that Graves loses – at least in the short term – but his willingness to think radically, based on an assessment of what the public wants, displays a willingness to embrace change, at 67, that has long been beyond the ken of cricket administrators in England.

After playing a captain’s innings for Australia on the opening day, Ricky Ponting expressed his relief in reversing his recent slump with the bat. Ponting scored 158 off 224 balls to take Australia to a commanding 301 for 4 after opting to bat first at Sabina Park.Though Ponting managed a century in his last Test appearance, against India in Adelaide in January, he struggled through the tri-series that followed, scoring 191 in ten games at an average just under 20, and wasn’t at his best in the Indian Premier League either. Reflecting on his innings, Ponting said he had the luxury of time to build an innings and play himself into form.”It’s nice to know you have six hours to go out and build an innings,” Ponting said at a news conference. “In (Twenty20) sometimes you have got six balls or six minutes.”The start of a Test summer for me is always exciting. Our last overseas Test was nearly two years ago, we haven’t played a lot of Test cricket. I’ve been looking forward to putting on the whites again and the baggy green and spending some time in the middle. I got that today. The last Test innings I had was a hundred but I struggled through the one-day series and never felt that comfortable and today felt comfortable again.”I didn’t feel like I did much wrong at all today to tell the truth, I’ve been working pretty hard at my game and felt really good in the nets going into the game. In the practice game last week I felt some things coming back again. Last time, I had a really good tour to the Caribbean, and I have gotten off to a good start this time. It’s just funny. Sometimes you go to places that you enjoy playing and you have a lot of success.”Ponting said he was happy with his team’s showing on the first day and praised his batsmen for adjusting well on a pitch where scoring got tougher as the day progressed.”It was hard work, it was hot, when the hardness went out of the ball it was hard to score runs, I think all the batsmen had to work hard. It’s important that we don’t let today’s work slip tomorrow. It’s about putting two good days together and then we will really be in the box seat.”

For some people, it is akin to a pilgrimage, an annual-or-so journey undertaken with near-reverence to just imbibe their share of the action. For others, it is the greatest second-hand thrill they can experience, an escapist hiatus from day-to-day drudgery. For yet some others, it is a chance to breathe the same air as the heroes they worship.Sadly these days, it also appears that for some more, a cricket match is the window into 15 minutes of fame as the sweep of the television camera catches them hooting, waving, sporting hideously ungrammatical banners, and generally making fools ofthemselves.Three consecutive one-day internationals between India and the West Indies have been marred by crowd trouble, the last of which had to be abandoned with more than 20 overs to play. Puzzlingly enough, when the crowd stepped into the fray – with a well-aimed bottle that struck Vasbert Drakes – India were 200 for one from 27.1 overs, nicely on their way to chasing down the target of 301. Latest action hero Virender Sehwag, moreover, was winding up to set pulses racing faster than they already were, unbeaten on an 82-ball 114. Why on earth, then, would an Indian supporter want to wreck a game poised at this delightful stage?Admittedly, to stretch the point a little, there are few things people will eschew in an effort to hog the limelight. And so cricket coverage has seen its share of freaks in the crowds; from wearing women’s dresses (by men, obviously!) to dressing up as SantaClaus to shaving the names of television channels into designer hairdos, nothing seems too absurd. Perhaps, then, the simple act of hurling a half-filled water bottle onto the field is only another manifestation of this publicity-seeking phenomenon.Sociologist, writer and long-standing cricket aficionado Mukul Kesavan agrees that this might just be the case. “I think the difference between crowds now and crowds earlier (circa 1970, say) is that then you were watching a game for which you hadbought a ticket and for which you had risen at five in the morning to get a decent place in the cheap seats. Watching a game was a rare and precious experience, and if you did riot, it was because your cricketing passions got the better of you,” he says.Going one step further, Kesavan adds, “Now the rowdiness seems to be more pastime than passion. My guess is that this is an extreme manifestation off the TV disease. People who come to watch cricket matches today come to watch an entertainment that they have previously seen on TV. Watching cricket on television is on par with watching other kinds of popular entertainment, such as game-shows, where the programme is as much about the studio audience as it is about the stars.”That crowds have always been on air for surprisingly long is indisputable, right from the days when Henry Blofeld discoursed at embarrassing length on the sizes, shapes and colours of jewelry sported by women in the stands, down to the modern phenomenon of cricketers-turned-commentators vainly reading out banners that fans scrawl about them. One-day cricket, thus, has not only changed the way fans view the game, but the manner in which they watch it as well.While Indian grounds certainly have no monopoly over crowd trouble, there are several facets that are unique to them. The most relevant, probably, is the fact that the percentage of people who actually pay for their tickets at venues is an absurdly low figure.Take the case of the recent India-West Indies Test match at Chennai. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) gives out complimentary tickets under various heads. Every player who has ever represented Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, for example, gets two tickets. If the cricketer has played for India, the count usually rises. Every umpire – and there are an estimated 200-plus such registered umpires under the auspices of the TNCA – also receive their freebies. Every member of the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) gets a ticket, as do members of the Madras Race Club, which is affiliated to the MCC. In all, just these minor categories would account for several thousand tickets.Secondly, every district association – and there are 28 such – gets a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 75 tickets, based on their relative importance. In addition to this, tickets from specified stands, sold commercially at Rs 300 are made available to them for Rs 75. Add to this the fact that every registered club – over 100 such in the five divisions that constitute the TNCA league – and you’ve accounted for a little more than 10,000 complimentary tickets.Only then do the heavyweights enter the picture. Every government agency ­ the police, the municipal corporation, the water-works, you name it – gets a slab of tickets. By and large, there are no stipulated quotas, but the tickets awarded are inproportion to the clout that each of these institutions wields with the TNCA. Of course, staff from all these departments “on duty” at the venue may number another several thousand. (The Kolkata Test against Australia, to cite an example, had as many as 22,000 policemen on duty at the Eden Gardens.) Throw in the comparatively trivial numbers that make up pressmen, vendors, ball-boys, hospitality staff, and one would then hardly be surprised to find that a huge proportion of the 50,000 seats at the TNCA are just given away.Where, then, do the paying public figure? In just a small minority in the stands. It goes without saying that people in general are infinitely more careful with their money than other peoples’. When the power blinks out in a cinema theatre, impatient audiences holler out only the choicest invective at the management until the show resumes. When someone orders a tomato-less burger at a restaurant, only to find it teeming with tomatoes, it is immediately returned with a demand for a replacement.Would it not be logical, then, to extend these analogies to cricket? Would someone who paid of their hard-earned for a ticket be likely to throw a bottle and bring a screeching halt to the entertainment? “No spectator has any financial stake in watching the match,” observes Kesavan. “The solution is selling tickets to individuals, not giving them away as freebies. Once people who want to watch cricket badly enough to pay for their tickets fill stadiums (or even half-fill them) you won’t have a tenth as much trouble,” summarises Kesavan.One cannot help but think that this might be the one of the few genuine solutions to the problem. More policing, closed-circuit cameras, heavy frisking and other ad-hoc strategies to tackle the problem would be like taking an aspirin to fight the flu. The pain may ebb, but the root cause has hardly been tackled. If the authorities are serious about resolving this issue, the only way to do so is to bring the genuine cricket fans streaming back into the cricket grounds.