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Cricket and former South Africa wicketkeeper David Richardson has congratulated the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for celebrating its Catch the Spirit week during the triangular one-day series in Mirpur.

During the Bangladesh Catch the Spirit week, Richardson watched the series opener between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, interacted with a range of ICC’s stakeholders including the Bangladesh Cricket Board and local media, and participated in the HIV/AIDS-awareness programme which was organised by UNICEF and was also attended by the Bangladesh Goodwill Ambassador Mohammed Ashraful and Sakib Al Hasan as well as Zimbabwe players Raymond Price and Vusimuzi Sibanda.

Richardson also attended a special centenary youth game at the Bangladesh Sports Institute (BKSP).

Richardson carried the Catch the Spirit flag which will fly to the ICC Members across the globe to promote the centenary and the spirit of cricket.

Reflecting on his participation in the Bangladesh Catch the Spirit week, Richardson said: “The thing that impresses me most about Bangladesh is the level of enthusiasm for the game and they are never short of it. Every time I go there, I find the same passion and commitment which is pleasing.

“The BCB has made significant progress in setting up an infrastructure capable of supporting cricket played at the highest level.

“The Bangladesh Cricket Board organised some fantastic activities to celebrate 100 years of international cricket and were an excellent reflection of the passion for cricket in the country.

“As a Full Member of the ICC, Bangladesh is in the top 10 and has a responsibility to perform on and off the field in a fashion of a top 10 country.

“I think every series in 2009, no matter where it is played, will take on an increased significance because it’s the ICC centenary year. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the diversity and global appeal of the game.

“Bangladesh’s Catch the Spirit week has set a great example for other members to follow,” he said.

BCB Director of Media and Communications, Mohammad Jalal Yunus, said: “The BCB is delighted to have played such an active role in commemorating the ICC centenary and celebrating the spirit of cricket.

“Cricket is something which unites the country and the Catch the Spirit activities this week have demonstrated our commitment and passion to this great game,” he said.

Resounding success against England in the first two one-dayers has propelled India to the third spot, while run-machine Yuvraj Singh’s consecutive centuries, has catapulted him among the top-10 in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued on Tuesday.

India routed England in first match by 158 runs and won the second match by 54 runs to move two places up the rung in the team rankings.

Yuvraj, who scored unbeaten 138 in the first match and 118 in the second, gained 11 places to attain his career-best ranking of sixth place among batsmen.

The two defeats cost English dearly as they slumped to the sixth spot. Having lost three ratings points, England now sits just behind New Zealand by a fraction of a point.

With five matches still remaining, India will hope to continue the rampaging form and grab the second position by the end of the ODI series. Bolstered by their 3-0 series win against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan has moved up two places to fourth, while Australia is still the table toppers, some 12 ratings points clear of South Africa, who are just four points ahead of India.

In-form Gautam Gambhir went up four spots and now sits just behind Pakistan’s Younus Khan in 22nd place among batsmen.

However, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to be the numero uno, with Australia’s Michael Hussey and Graeme Smith of South Africa grabbing the second and third place respectively.

West Indies’ Chris Gayle, who scored two typically entertaining hundreds in the three-match series against Pakistan, gained six places into fifth position while ICC Cricketer of the Year Shivnarine Chanderpaul is just ahead of him having jumped two places to fourth.

Among the bowlers, Sohail Tanvir has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career after scalping seven Pakistani wickets at an average of 15.14. Tanvir has moved 12 places to seventh place.

England’s Andrew Flintoff lost five places to 13th position after taking just one wicket in the first two matches of the series at a cost of 116 runs.

However, Flintoff was finely place in the second spot in the all-rounders list which is headed by New Zealand’s Jacob Oram. West Indies skipper Chris Gayle has also moved up three places to be back into the top five, thanks to his all-rounder feat against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

Jimmie Johnson moved inches closer to his record-tying third straight NASCAR title Sunday, trouncing the field at Phoenix International Raceway to deliver a knockout punch to Carl Edwards’ championship hopes.

Johnson needs to finish only 36th or better next week in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to join Cale Yarborough (1976-78) as the only drivers in NASCAR history to win three straight titles.

“He’s doing something pretty special,” said 2004 champion Kurt Busch, who finished second. “It’s just tough to beat.”

Impossible, actually.

Johnson came into Phoenix on the ropes — reeling, almost — after a sub-par 15th-place finish last week at Texas allowed Edwards to take a sizable bite out of the points lead. Johnson rebounded to win the pole at Phoenix, but struggled through Saturday’s final practice to send his stress-level through the roof.

As Chad Knaus worked late into the night on a new setup and strategy, Johnson harassed him with phone calls that didn’t stop until the crew chief ordered the driver to leave him alone.

“The first thing, the garage opens at 8:01, and he calls me right away,” Knaus said. “I was like, ‘Dude, leave me alone. I need to go to work.’ I told him to go back to sleep, you’re bothering me.’”

Whatever changes they made worked, as Johnson led a race-high 217 of the 313 laps to stretch his lead in the standings from 106 points to an almost insurmountable 141.

“This is what I’ve worked my whole life for,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a great points lead. We’ll go down to Homestead and try to wrap this baby up.”

The win was his third straight at Phoenix, and had Edwards on the edge of conceding after his own fourth-place finish.

“If he would have some terrible luck in Homestead, we still have a chance,” Edwards said. “We did the best we could, but it’s too big of a spread right now. It’s possible. Not probable, but possible.”

No, it’s not. Not with the way Johnson is running.

Johnson has made a mockery of Chase for the championship format, reeling off 14 wins in the 49 races since NASCAR adopted the format in 2004. He contended for the title in 2004 and 2005, only to come up just short both seasons.

He’s on the verge of joining Yarborough, David Pearson, Lee Petty and Darrel Waltrip as a three-time champion. Jeff Gordon, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, has four titles and Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty won a NASCAR-record seven.

Johnson has done it in dominating fashion. He has finished in the top 10 in seven Chase races and his lowest finish was the 15th last week at Texas.

But he still had a sizable lead over Edwards, and could have clinched Sunday. So his throng of friends of hometown El Cajon, Calif., made the trip to Phoenix and crowded his pit box to watch him tick off the laps. When he passed Jamie McMurray on a late restart, his friends — which included professional baseball players Brian and Marcus Giles — pumped their fists in celebration.

Johnson started from the pole but gave way to McMurray on the first lap. He didn’t take the lead until Lap 81, but was never challenged from there.

McMurray briefly moved out front again after a round of late pit stops, but Johnson blew past him in Turn 2 of a restart and was hardly challenged again. Kurt Busch made a brief run at him in the closing laps, but graciously settled for second and praised Johnson for his skillful late pass.

“I was third and the way that he went high, went low, and he was in the lead before you could snap your fingers,” Busch said. “It was unbelievable to watch that type of display, and it’s something pretty special.”

McMurray was third, followed by Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and David Ragan.

With the win, cash-strapped General Motors wrapped up its 32nd NASCAR manufacturer’s championship.

The curator at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, Radhey Shyam Sharma, today blamed the BCCI head curator Daljit Singh for the placid track on offer that could seriously affect India`s bid to wrap up the Test series against Australia here.

Radhey Shyam, the curator who prepared the Delhi pitch for the famous 1999 Test against Pakistan in which current India captain Anil Kumble got the Perfect 10, is to retire after the third Test.

He wanted to prepare a result-oriented pitch but said he was not allowed to do so by the BCCI head curator and Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium curator Daljit.

This is my last-ever Test match as curator here and I wanted to prepare a good pitch which is result-oriented.

However, the Test match that is being played on right now doesn’t appear to be heading towards a result, Radhey Shyam said.

The slow nature of the pitch and lack of pace and bounce has triggered criticism from both Indian and Australian camps over the last few days, but Radhey Sham said he was not to blame. I wanted to leave some grass on the pitch and that is how I had prepared the surface. However Daljit Singh intervened and most of the grass was shaved off. But I guess some things are not in my control, said Radhey Shyam.

Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) vice-president Chetan Chauhan, however, played down the controversy.

Such difference of opinion happens. Both curators feel they can outdo each other and prepare good pitches. It is all part and parcel of the game, said Chauhan.

India’s top two juniors - top-seed Saina Nehwal in the women’s and sixth ranked Gurusaidutt in men’s - were the sole survivors of a ruthless opening day for the Indian colts at the World Juniors Badminton individual event.

The rest of the team members in the singles event had faded off with the dimming light, as Aditya Prakash, Prajakta Sawant, Pratik Patel, Prannoy HH, Sikki Reddy and PC Thulasi went down to their respective opponents.

While Nehwal and Gurusaidutt sailed into the next round finishing each of their matches within 25 minutes after byes in their first, the steep challenges handed by the draw evicted the others.

Aditya Prakash, playing top seed Chinese Gao Huan was in possession of a game-point in his opener, but failed to capitalise, and handed the reins to his opponent thereafter, losing 22-20, 21-12. Aditya’s brave smashing and dogged rallies took him to the brink of the first game, but his game wilted in the second.

Unseeded Sikki Reddy too was spent after a fighting first game, going down 28-26, 21-9 to Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand.

In the doubles though, the Indians lived to fight another day. B Sai Praneeth, partnering Pradnya Gadre, advanced to the third round.

Results: (Round One): Men’s singles: Aditya Prakash bt Kirt Soon Tang (Singapore) 21-11, 21-15; H S Pranoy lost to Kam Chung Kuan (Malaysia) 15-21, 16-21; Pratik Patel lost to Tien Chen Chou (Chinese Taipie) 6-21, 17-21; (Round Two)- Guru Saidutt bt Mohammed Saad Othman (Iraq) 21-6, 21-2; Aditya Prakash lost to 1- Huan Gao (China) 22-20, 21-12; 2-Sung Min Park (Korea) bt Kang Ji Wook (Korea) 21-9, 21-17; 3-Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) bt Henry Gareth (Jam) 21-12, 21-17; 4-Zhengming Wang (Chn) bt Pisit Poodchalat (Tha) 21-11, 21-14;

Women’s singles (Round one): P C Thulasi bt Lianne Tan (Belgium) 21-9, 21-16; Prajakta Sawant bt Langley Alexandra (England) 21-16, 21-15; (Round Two): 1- Saina Nehwal bt Ozge Bayrak (Turkey) 21-11, 21-8; P C Thulasi lost to Mei Hui Chiang (Chinese Taipei) 21-18, 20-22, 21-23. Sikki Reddy lost to Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Tha) 26-28, 9-21

Mixed doubles: (Round one): B Sai Praneet/ Pradnya Gadre bt Laura Vana/ Ingmar Seidelberg (Estonia) 21-13, 21-14; Pranav Chopra/ Prajakta Sawant lost to Ryan Saputra/ Aurien Hudiono (Indonesia) 16-21, 17-21; (Round two)- B Sai Praneet/ Pradnya Gadre bt James Eunson/ Michelle Chan (New Zealand) 21-15, 21-12.

JCT played the away team’s game but it’s unlikely Sukhwinder Singh would be happy with only a point from the fifth round. One for which the JCT coach would have to thank goalkeeper Karanjit Singh who saved Dulal Biswas’s penalty in the 39th minute.

United SC emerged first among equals in this barren and mostly bland encounter. Missing a slew of regulars, they downed the hatches from kick-off patiently looking for an opportunity to hit on the break.

They got a number of them, thanks in the main to Snehasish Chakraborty’s hard running on the left and had substitute Ayon Choudhury’s first touch not let him down, the home team could actually notched up its second win. Between the 36th and the 39th minutes, United SC got three chances including the fluffed penalty.

Running in from Julius Akpele’s blind side, Soumik Chakraborty was unlucky to not connect Hardeep Saini’s floater from the right. One minute later, Ayon, inducted earlier than Subroto Bhattacharya would perhaps have wanted because Sochungmi Raleng got injured, ran into space on the left corner of the JCT penalty area and let fly but the ball grazed Akpele’s head and changed direction for a corner-kick.

That in turn led to the penalty because Dulal Biswas’s back-header hit left fullback Dawit Singh’s hand.

Buffalo Sabres captain Craig Rivet will miss at least two weeks after having successful arthroscopic knee surgery Wednesday morning.

General manager Darcy Regier made the announcement shortly before the Sabres (5-0-1) practiced to prepare for a two-game road trip that opens at Minnesota on Thursday. Regier did not say which knee Rivet hurt.

The injury, which wasn’t sustained during a game, gradually became worse as Rivet continued to play.

“It’s something that needed to be done because it wasn’t going to go away,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “He’s been hobbling pretty good.”

The veteran defenseman had an assist and logged more than 20 minutes of ice time in a 3-2 win over Boston on Tuesday. Rivet has three assists in six games this season.

“He’s disappointed,” Ruff said. “I have to give him a lot of credit for playing the couple games that he played, and to play as well as he did.”

Nathan Paetsch, who has been a healthy scratch in all six of the Sabres’ games this year, will replace Rivet.

“It’s an opportunity for Nathan to step in and get some quality playing time,” Ruff said. “We just want to see him play solid defensively.”

A 14-year NHL veteran, Rivet was acquired in a trade with San Jose in July. He immediately made an impact in Buffalo with his physical play and was voted captain by his teammates.

“We’re going to miss him but you have to get through injuries,” Ruff said.

Rivet joins forwards Jochen Hecht (finger), Tim Connolly (back) and Paul Gaustad (thumb) on Buffalo’s injured list.

Look around this World Series and it’s easy to spot all the newcomers — Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and David Price, eager to get a huge hit or throw a perfect pitch.

To Billy Reed, they’ve already made a big difference.

Reed coached Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield and many more future big leaguers as boys across the bay in Tampa. He sees this fresh crop of stars changing the face of the game.

“I think having so many African-American ballplayers in the World Series, it has impact on local kids and I’m hoping impact countrywide,” Reed said Wednesday, hours before the opener between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.

“It has to be a plus,” he said. “You know, I think the black athlete really got away from baseball. I think we lost a whole generation there.”

Six months after a diversity study showed black players made up only 8.2 percent of major leaguers — it was double that total about a decade ago — there’s a new look this October.

Howard and Rollins were the last two NL MVPs. Crawford, Upton and Cliff Floyd delivered clutch hits for the Rays, Price became a playoff star and Edwin Jackson pitched in.

Prominent players, now with a chance to influence youngsters off the field, too.

“You would hope so, but it’s really going to be about who is watching the games,” Howard said. “We’re here playing, so you hope that it will reach communities where (African-American) kids are watching and they will begin to dream to one day be in our spot.”

It’s certainly a reversal of recent trends in baseball.

In 2005, the Houston Astros were the first team since 1953 without a black player on its World Series roster. In 2007, on the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, star Torii Hunter wondered whether baseball had done the Hall of Famer a disservice.

“That’s what it seems like to me — that all the work he’s done is almost for nothing,” Hunter said then. “Because look where we are. We should be progressing. We’re regressing.”

Gone, it seemed, were the days of the “We are Family” Pirates. Pittsburgh won the 1979 championship with the likes of Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and Bill Madlock, some of the 10 black players on its Series roster.

Even in 1995, Atlanta and Cleveland each had five black players when they played for the title. Last year, there was not a single star black player when Boston played Colorado in the World Series.

Worried that it was losing too many young black athletes to basketball and other interests, Major League Baseball tried to boost its presence with the RBI program (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) and the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif.

Baseball took it as a positive sign that three of the last of the last four No. 1 picks in the amateur draft — Price, Justin Upton and Tim Beckham, by Tampa Bay in June — were black players.

“We started something. Hopefully, we’ll continue to grow,” Floyd said. “At the same time, the guys that are in the league, or play baseball professionally, we have to do something about it.”

“If it bothers you, you do something about it,” he said. “We want to get out there. This is huge in terms of letting them see how great this game is.”

Now in his 70s and retired, Reed is sold on the sport. He spent 40 years coaching in high school and Little League with Gooden, Sheffield, Carl Everett, Derek Bell and future stars.

Reed roots for the Rays, and planned to plop down in front of the television set to watch the World Series. With his 10-year-old grandson.

“Maybe we can get some of the other kids to come over from their porches,” he said. “I think they’ll like it.”

Marcos Perreira was finally cleared by JCT to play for Mohun Bagan. On Monday, following a meeting between the clubs and Perreira in Ludhiana, JCT loaned the Brazilian whom Mohun Bagan have been wooing for over a month.

Debasish Dutta, Bagan’s convenor, said Perreira who returns to Kolkata on Tuesday morning will be signed by on Wednesday, two days before the fifth-round I-League tie against East Bengal. “We suffered the most in the bargain as we don’t have a third foreigner now,” JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh told HT on Monday evening.

“But we believe in friendship and realised that since the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had declared him free after December and he didn’t want to play for us anyway, we thought why not let him go,” said Sukhwinder. He and the JCT team are flying to Kolkata on Tuesday for Friday’s game against United SC. That Perreira and Arun Chakrabarty, a Mohun Bagan executive committee member who accompanied him to Ludhiana, stayed in JCT’s lodgings and travelled with Sukhwinder to New Delhi showed that the clubs have well and truly settled differences.

JCT’s release though came after Mohun Bagan cleared the dues, air tickets included, that Perreira had with the club.

WILL MONDAY be another “black” day for Vladimir Kramnik at the World Chess Championships? For Viswanathan Anand has drawn blood with black pieces in the third game and will have the same colour in the fifth. “Maybe I will be able to reverse the trend and get things going in the other direction from tomorrow,” the bespectacled Russian replied with a wry smile.

“There is no need to panic, I am only one game down,” Kramnik said, after the fourth game. Though Kramnik tried projecting a picture of confidence, he must be aware that there are only eight games left of which he will have white pieces in four, including the fifth round.

This will be crucial, as Kramnik has never beaten Anand with black pieces. In contrast, three of the Indian Grandmaster’s five wins against his Russian opponent have come with black.

So Anand starts work tomorrow with psychological advantage firmly on his side: He not only leads by a point (2.5-1.5) but also is aware that the pressure is on his opponent to force things to a boil. In recent times, contrary to accepted wisdom, Anand has done comparatively better with black pieces.

The 38-year-old Indian maestro has been his usual self thus far - playing risk-free chess, but always ready to exploit open, tactical positions like he did in the third game to rattle Kramnik. Anand has remained calm under initial pressure - aware that many experts gave Kramnik the edge.

He has kept aloof from the media, rejecting interviews barring the mandatory post-game press conference. His responses to provocative questions has been measured and detached.

Away from the board, he spends time interacting with his team. He and wife Aruna visit an Indian restaurant at the City Centre, but only on rest days.

Kramnik, too, has kept his distance from the media and all issues are handled by his manager Carsten Hensel. His team of seconds - including Peter Leko of Hungary, Sergei Rublevsky of Russia and Laurent Fressinet of France - is with him here and he is closeted with them.

The Russian will now have to use all his resources in his next few games with white pieces to surprise Anand. Monday will be a key da