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David Houghton, the former Zimbabwe captain who is now a consultant with the team, believes the side should be back on the Test scene by the end of the year after improvements on and off the field in recent times. Zimbabwe Cricket has laid out an 18-month plan for a return to the top flight - after Zimbabwe took a self-imposed exile in 2005 when it became clear they couldn't field a competitive team - but as the squad arrived in Trinidad for their short tour of West Indies, Houghton said the comeback could happen more quickly. "I personally think that we should be playing Test cricket again by the end of the year," said Houghton. "We have been playing one-day cricket, but you cannot judge a team on one-day cricket. "Since I returned to Zimbabwe four-and-a-half months ago, things have improved with their cricket. They have a very good franchise system going in their domestic tournament, and it is helping the game back home." Zimbabwe rece

There are currently four England spinners on their tours of Bangladesh and UAE, but none of them are Monty Panesar which shows how far his star has fallen. Instead, Panesar has finally been unveiled at his new county, Sussex, four months after joining them from Northamptonshire in an attempt to revitalise a stalling career. Graeme Swann is now England's No. 1 spinner and his deputy in Bangladesh is James Tredwell, while the slow-bowling places in the England Lions squad are with Adil Rashid and David Wainwright. Panesar spent part of his winter overseas, but the nearest he got to the national set-up was when he helped in the nets before the final Test in Johannesburg in January. Instead he was with the Lions franchise in South Africa in an effort to recapture his form after managing a paltry 18 wickets at 59.44 in 13 Championship matches in 2009. His last appearance for England came against Australia, at Cardiff, where he famously helped save the Test alongside Jam

Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Peter Chingoka believes their chances of returning to Test cricket in 18 months are "very realistic". His confidence stems from the appointment of a new coaching team - Alan Butcher was announced as Zimbabwe's new coach over the weekend, and will be supported by assistant Stephen Mangongo along with former international players Heath Streak and Grant Flower. The country lost several leading players in an exodus following Heath Streak's removal from the captaincy in 2004 and the situation became worse in 2006 when the Zimbabwe board suspended the weakened national team from Tests. "We endorsed them [the new coaching setup] unanimously," Chingoka told AP . "They have the full support of the board. If you talk to experts like Dave Houghton and Alan Butcher they will tell you it's very realistic, and I fully agree with them. "We just need to play a lot of games against 'A' sides from the leading

Nepal continued their impressive run with a crushing defeat over Fiji in Kirtipur . Sherad Versawkar and captain Pras Khadka led the batting effort and four wickets from Basanta Regmi sealed a 193-run rout that leaves Nepal two points clear at the top of Division 5. The hosts were tottering at 35 for 3 before Khadka and Versawkar built a 130-run stand that set-up the victory. Khadka made 75 from 91 balls, striking eight fours and two sixes before he was out to Inaisi Cakacaka. 21-year-old Vesawkar continued serenely, securing his first hundred and lifting the total to 267, remaining unbeaten on 105. The Fiji innings never got started with wickets falling regularly. Five of the batsmen made double figures but nobody more than 13 as Shakti Gauchan and Regmi collected six wickets between them to consign Fiji to a heavy defeat that leaves them rooted to the bottom of the table. Singapore kept themselves in with a chance of promotion to Division 4 with a 99-run victor

Lalit Modi has strongly criticised parties that have expressed concern over the security situation at the IPL, including the Federation of International Cricketers Association and Ricky Ponting. "We will not be dictated by players associations where to play. DLF IPL will be played in India," Modi posted on his Twitter account, in reaction to safety concerns raised by an independent report commissioned by the players' unions in England, South Africa and Australia, which suggested moving the IPL outside India. The report, written by the England team's security adviser Reg Dickason, said there was a credible terrorist threat to the IPL. The Australian Cricketers' Association had decided to formulate a set of security demands for IPL organisers, following a meeting between Australian players in which Ricky Ponting had apparently clashed with IPL regulars Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchist and Shane Warne. "[I've] been told Ricky Ponting is pres

South Australia, who qualified for the Champions League Twenty20, finished last in the FR Cup after falling to a five-wicket defeat by New South Wales. While the match had no bearing on the finalists - Victoria will host Tasmania at the MCG on Sunday - it was crucial in deciding the placings and the Blues avoided claiming the wooden spoon for the fourth season in a row. Half-centuries to Simon Katich (55) and Ben Rohrer (63) made sure of the win as they passed the Redbacks' 7 for 243 with four overs to spare. Phil Jaques (40) and Phillip Hughes (33) set the platform during a 74-run stand in 10.4 overs and the Blues weren't really troubled after they departed. South Australia opened with a 118-run partnership between Daniel Harris and Michael Klinger (50), but they were soon struggling after losing 5 for 39. Josh Hazlewood picked up Harris for 63 and Tom Cooper (0) in the same over as they both cut to Nathan Bracken at third man. Bracken then collected a cou

It took nearly 40 years of waiting and it was well worth it. Sachin Tendulkar chose arguably the best bowling attack doing the rounds, to eclipse the record for the highest score ever, before bringing up the first ever double-hundred in the game's history. The spectators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium became the envy of world cricket as they witnessed one of the country's favourite sporting heroes play a breathtaking innings which not only set up a 153-run annihilation but also the series victory. He may have been run out cheaply in the previous match, but nothing could deny him today - be it bowlers, fielders or mix-ups. Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni stood by and admired as the master unfurled all the shots in his repertoire. At 36, Tendulkar hasn't shown signs of ageing and his recent sparkling touch in both forms of the game has ruled out all possibilities of him checking out anytime soon. Fatigue, cramps and paucity of time have stood in t

India took a 2-1 series lead with a convincing seven-wicket win in Visakhapatnam. Rumeli Dhar starred with a career-best 4 for 19 and Jhulan Goswami and the spinners assisted in keeping England down to 130. Anjum Chopra scored an unbeaten 61 as India chased the target with ease. India had lost the second match in Bangalore by three runs, with only Mithali Raj and Amita Sharma making significant contributions with the bat. But this time the target was much lower, owing to some incisive bowling. Dhar and Goswami triggered an early collapse which allowed the spinners to pressure the middle order and dry up the runs even further. Dhar returned in the final 10 overs and picked up two more wickets to give the Indian batsmen an easy target to chase. Ebony Rainford-Brent was the first to be dismissed when she edged Dhar to the keeper for a duck in the fourth over. Dhar then trapped Caroline Atkins leg before for 26 in the seventh over, before she held a catch to remove Jen

Michael Clarke is wary of New Zealand's bowling attack and aggressive batsmen as he makes his first tour with his new Twenty20 side. Clarke has won his three matches in charge since Ricky Ponting retired and the Australians signed off with an eight-wicket thrashing of West Indies in Sydney on Tuesday. Shane Bond, the fast bowler, wants to give Australia their biggest test of the summer and Clarke is expecting a tough assignment. "They've got a good attack," Clarke said in Sydney before departing for New Zealand. "They've got some good strikers of the ball, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum, and they've got a great captain, Dan Vettori, so we have to be at our best." The World Twenty20 starts at the end of April and Australia have overhauled their team since they were knocked out at the first stage during the 2009 event in England. Clarke and Cameron White are in charge and Clarke is not getting carried away by the team's strong

The Indian government has decided to do away with tax relief for the BCCI after tax officials labelled its activities a "gimmick" to make money. Junior finance minister SS Palanimanickam told the upper house of parliament that the board was a "primarily a commercial entity." "The [tax] exemption was disallowed for the year 2007-08 as it was held that the BCCI is no longer promoting cricket as a charitable activity and is now primarily a commercial entity," Palanimanickam was quoted by AFP as saying. The income tax department also said there was "no element of charity" in the affairs of the BCCI. "Cricket is only incidental to its scheme of things," it said in a statement. "It is more into prize money for every run or wicket, which is nothing short of a gimmick. The conduct of certain activities and receipt of income from these activities clearly show that these activities are totally commercial and there is no e

Chris Gayle , the West Indies captain, has been rested from the 13-man squad for the only Twenty20 international against Zimbabwe in Trinidad on February 28. Denesh Ramdin has been named captain for the match and a West Indies board media release said that Gayle was "expected to be available" for the five-match one-day series that follows. West Indies have been boosted by the return of four players who were injured for the recent ODI series in Australia, which they lost 0-4. Shivnarine Chanderpaul has recovered from the thumb injury he sustained during the Test leg of the Australia tour, Sulieman Benn's knee has healed and so has Adrian Barath's hamstring. Darren Bravo , who suffered a shoulder injury during the Champions League Twenty20 in India last November, has also returned to the squad but his brother, Dwayne, is still out after breaking his thumb while playing for Victoria during the Big Bash. Apart from the four injured players returning

"This is not the end of me. It's a cricket choice and it's a lifestyle choice." Brett Lee has said goodbye to the Test arena but at 33 is desperate to recover from elbow surgery to represent his country again in the game's shorter forms. Lee has not added to his 76 Tests since he fractured a bone in his left foot late in 2008 and if he thought his aching body could deal with the demands he would be pushing for more time under a baggy green. But after dealing with long-term foot, ankle, side and elbow injuries over the past 15 months he knows his body can't take the strain. Despite his decision to focus on the one-day and Twenty20 formats - he hasn't decided whether he will go to the IPL yet - Lee does not want younger fast men to give up on Tests. "Obviously, there's specialist one-day and Twenty20 bowlers," he said at the SCG. "But for me, Test cricket is where it's at. There's a lot of luck in Twenty 20, a

Brett Lee has retired from Tests after 76 games and 310 wickets in the hope of prolonging his one-day and Twenty20 careers. Here are some tributes from current and former players and administrators. Dennis Lillee "Brett is going to go down as one of the great all-time express bowlers in the world ... 150-plus kph puts a huge strain on the body and it can only take so much. For him to play 76 Tests and 300-odd wickets doing what he does is a credit to him." Andrew Flintoff "It is very sad to hear the news that Brett is to retire from Test cricket. Everyone will remember our little moment we shared after the Edgbaston Test in 2005, but for me the great battles with bat and ball against Brett will live with me for a long time." Richie Benaud "I hope Brett is able to continue to play for Australia in limited-overs internationals, he is a master of orthodox and reverse-swing and no one has ever been more proud to represent his country in Test crick

Andy Atkinson, the ICC's pitch consultant, has come down heavily on the ground authorities at the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for over-ruling the recommendation of Daljit Singh last year, which led to the abandonment of the final match of the India-Sri Lanka ODI series at the Feroz Shah Kotla on December 27. As a consequence, Daljit , chairman of the BCCI pitch and grounds committee, and his panel, were sacked the same day by the BCCI, which held him responsible. But Atkinson, who visited various Indian venues hosting next year's World Cup earlier this month, inspected the Kotla pitch on February 14 and 15. Though he was happy with the remedial work in progress that has started under the supervision of Venkat Sundaram, former head of the BCCI curators' panel, Atkinson stated in the report to the BCCI, a copy of which was available to Cricinfo, that all the controversy could have been easily avoided if the DDCA ground officials had heard Daljit's sugges

If there is one man in Bollywood who is on a roll, then, it has to be him. We are indeed talking about the one and only Akshay Kumar. After having being chosen as the brand ambassador for a million products, Akki is all set to lend his 'Phase Value', this time round to the electronics major LG. Bollywood Hungama 's confirmed sources said, "Akki was always an immediate choice for the said brand, after Abhishek Bachchan." Rumors have it that Abhi's contract was not renewed because he insisted on having his better half Aishwarya Rai as a part of the deal, which LG officials were not too forthcoming about. That's the reason they chose Akshay over Abhishek." One may recall that, just a few days back, LG had signed up John Abraham, Abhay Deol and Genelia as their Brand Ambassadors for their mobile range. With Akshay now at the helm of things, LG definitely seems to be high on Bollywood power.

The cat is out of the bag. Ekta Kapoor and her director Milan Luthria were looking for a neo-Helen for the longest time. The original plan of discovering a completely untried dancer failed as time was running out. They've finally zeroed in on Gauhar Khan who has been secretly jiving away to Helen's most popular cabaret ' Piya Tu Ab To Aaja ' for Luthria's Once Upon A Time In Mumbai . Raju Khan has been brought to do the choreography for what's touted as the most expensive cabaret ever shot in Bollywood. Gauhar danced to the beats of ' Piya Tu Ab To Aaja ' so hard last week that a shard of shattered glass wounded her leg. The director and her excited producer intend to unveil their new-age Helen and the prized recreation of the smoldering cabaret number from the 1970s at an elaborate press conference later this month. But the behind-the-scenes stress and arguments to get this cabaret item in place are even more interesting than the cabare

Apoorva Lakhia is all geared up to release his first production HIDE & SEEK, directed by his erstwhile assistant Shawn Arranha. Having assisted Apoorva right from the days when even he was an assistant, Shawn has learnt the art of narrating stories well. However, Apoorva has worked with several top notch names to date, but Shawn and Apoorva decided to cast relative newcomers in HIDE & SEEK. What prompted them to cast relative newcomers this time? "Two reasons. One, had we cast well-known actors, the audience would've guessed the killer at the very outset. With new faces, you keep guessing till the very end," Apoorva states. Second reason? "It would've taken a long time to procure the combination dates of established names. Hence, the new cast," Shawn adds. While Shawn hasn't decided on his next venture, Apoorva is ready to direct Ashtavinayak's new venture, which will star Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Suniel Shetty and Nana Patekar [talks are on

Everyone's speculating about DON 2. Farhan Akhtar, who directed the SRK starrer DON, had announced the sequel to the film quite some time back. While Farhan got busy with his acting assignments and SRK too decided to work on RAB NE BANA DI JODI first and MY NAME IS KHAN next, one kept wondering when Farhan and SRK would start the next instalment of DON. "DON 2 will start in October this year. We've locked the script and also the locations," Farhan and his producer-partner Ritesh Sidhwani tell me. The new DON will have two leading ladies. "Priyanka Chopra will be one of them. The second will be finalized in due course," Farhan states. There's talk that the producers are also planning to start ROCK ON 2. "A lot of people want us to do that. Right now Abhishek [Kapoor, the director of ROCK ON] is working on another script. But if he finds a script that looks like a worthy follow up to ROCK ON, why not?" Farhan clarifies.

Kavita is a rebellious, fiercely independent and couldn't care less for society, morals or principles. She's attractive and she knows it. Freshly out of college, she's at a crossroad in life. With a harsh disciplinarian for a mother, a talent for controversy, and no idea what to do with her life. Kavita soon finds herself alienated by her ambitious, materialistic friends and ostracized by her family. All she knows for sure is the stable, secure marriage that her mother wishes for her is the last thing she wants. But what does she want in life? Out of control and self-destructive, Kavita is set on a collision course for disaster when she runs into Dr. Sadhana, who is married, well-settled, but surprisingly intrigued by Kavita. Life takes a turn for both of them on a vacation in Goa, when Kavita meets Arpan, an investment banker turned environmentalist. Inspired by his mission to save the endangered Olive Ridley Turtle,

Girls have dreams - dreams of a fairytale romance, of prince charming sweeping them off their feet, a dream wedding and living happily ever-after. Mitali, a successful model, also had dreams... Then one day she met Karan, the Mittal scion, the heir to one of the richest families in the country. Mitali's simple, middle-class upbringing is in complete contrast to Karan's super-brat lifestyle. But Karan was smitten by Mitali. Accustomed to getting what he wants in life, Karan landed up at Mitali's home with his parents with a marriage proposal. Delighted at their daughter's luck, Mitali's family approved of the match. And Mitali entered Karan's home and life as his newly-wedded bride. It was not long before Mitali's dreams turned into her worst nightmare. Her mother-in-law detested her and created misunderstandings between Karan and her. Karan turned out to be a puppet in his mother's hands and her father-in-law is a helpless, mute spectator

She has played a Diva and a bubby girl in Om Shanti Om, a confident single working woman in Bachna Ae Haseeno, an independent girl who takes some time to listen to her heart in Love Aaj Kal and a model/fighter in Chandni Chowk To China. Now in her Friday release Karthik Calling Karthik, she gets into a different zone altogether as she plays a bindaas city girl in Karthik Calling Karthik who likes to go party hopping, comes with urban sensibilities and doesn't mind getting her on-screen boyfriend (Farhan Akhtar) drunk. While one waits to see the depth and impact of the character of Shonali Mukherjee that she plays in the film, what is quite apparent is the entirely non-filmy style that she has adopted for the film. Was that a conscious effort on her part? "Yes, performances in Karthik Calling Karthik were meant to be very real and relatable. That was the requirement of the film and the characters. This is why you see that even Farhan's performance is very real in the film.

The Big B as guest editor on a news channel, a talk show before the release of a film — Bollywood is increasingly sharing space with TV news, often blurring the line in between. Chances are you wouldn’t have heard of a show called Khan Ka Salaam, currently running on the Hindi general entertainment channel Star Plus and aggressively being “covered” by news channel Star News. The show was essentially a marketing initiative launched to build a buzz around Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s new film My Name Is Khan. It involved an event where people across some cities were asked to share their extraordinary love stories, which in turn were woven into a televised show, and culminated on Valentine’s Day when Khan and his lady love from the film, Kajol, will felicitate the winners of the best love story. The effort, however, got buried in the much louder buzz generated by the stand-off between Khan and Shiv Sena over Khan’s remark about the exclusion of Pakistani players from the Indian Premie

Hoping to cash in on the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG) telecast coverage, Aruna Sharma, director-general, Doordarshan, is aiming for a makeover. In a candid chat with our correspondent, she shares glimpses of her vision for transforming Doordarshan from a procedure-centric entity to an outcome driven premier entertainment and news broadcaster in the next few years. Excerpts: Have you signed a deal with SIS Live of the UK for high definition (HD) coverage of Commonwealth Games? If so, why is it taking time? Everything has been sorted out. The deal should be inked in a day or two. Some administrative changes and approvals and consultations are required. SIS Live will handle the production coverage of the Games and train 300 Doordarshan staffers. Let me underline that financials of the SIS contract have not changed. How are you planning to leverage the Games? We will have a dedicated HD channel —DD India — that will carry the feed of CWG in HD format. The HD channel will be available

Valentine’s Day celebrations were somewhat subdued this year on television, mercy be. In previous years, the news channels behaved like they were falling in love with love. This year, February 14 was the day after the bomb blast in Pune and on Sunday morning most of us were in the mood for anything but love. Intentionally or otherwise, the newsrooms reflected this: they were rather sombre. At Star News, hearts were palpitating almost visibly — but, you could tell by the raised voices, it wasn’t with love. A gentleman from the extreme right — both of the screen and of persuasion — was shouting at the women to his extreme left. He said as impolitely as he could that they were destroying Indian cultural values. They suggested, with astonishing indelicacy, that he should take off his trousers. On the double. Anchor Deepak Chaurasia looked as if he might enjoy a striptease but our gentleman friend was in no mood to oblige the women. Lest you misunderstand, they wanted him to give up Western

Zee’s new show Do Saheliyan is set in the sands of Jaisalmer and in rustic Rajasthan If a few years ago, stories of super-rich Gujarati families were TRP drivers, of late it’s Rajasthan that seems to have emerged as a strong competitor to Modi’s Gujarati pride, though other states are not lagging behind too far. If the earlier shows presented far-fetched, unbelievable and contrived tales of relationships and conflicts, the current shows are somewhat closer to reality in terms of stories and settings. While Zee’s earlier TRP driver Saath Phere was the story of a dark-complexioned girl set in a Rajasthani family, it was more of a fellow traveller than a trend- breaker. It was Balika Vadhu that broke the trend by default. Since then everyone is following it by design, including Zee. Class divide is a strong backdrop for storytelling. Caste is another. A combination of both is even more lethal. Setting could be incidental. But when you have two shows set in a particular state backdrop that

Zee is all set to air Rishtey Awards, which is the new name of Rishton Ka Utsav started a couple of years ago. The show gives away awards to the favourite beti, bahu, khalnayika etc all chosen by viewers by vote. It sees the entire Zee’s team including artistes and crew coming together to celebrate. The lead pairs of all their shows like Dev -Radhika (Avinash and Rubina of Choti Bahu, Laali - Shekhar (Ratan and Abhishek) of Agle Janam Mohe Bitiyann Hi Kijo and Manav- Archana (Sushant and Ankita) of Pavitra Rishta performing to popular film numbers. Child stars Dhairya and Afsha were given special awards for being the youngest hosts on television.

Suhani of Swarg-Mata Pita Ki Charnon Mein has just been kidnapped and killed. But her story doesn’t end there. She will be back from the dead, albeit with a different face. We have seen this plot in umpteen serials before but it works. Only the makers are yet to zero in on the new face, for the present Suhani is played by Archana Taide. Apparently, Divyanka Tripathi and Kshiti Jog were in the running for the role but Divyanka, who was last seen as the illiterate bahu in Banoo Mein Teri Dulhan, wants to make a comeback with a fresh show. Even with Kshiti, things haven’t worked out and producer Rajan Shahi is still on the lookout for an actress to play the new Suhani. Jugni Chali... completes 300 episodes Jugni Chali Jalandhar aired on SAB TV has completed 300 episodes and the producers Deeya-Tony Singh celebrated it with a bash, which was attended by the entire cast of the serial that includes Muskan Mihani, Baba Saigal, Ranjit, Karan Godwan, Abhishek Avasthi, Asha Sachdev and team SAB.

He has produced some of the biggest and most popular serials on STAR Jalsha, and Ravi Ozha has been roped in by Gaurav Banerjee, Head Content Strategy, STAR Plus, to make Sasural Genda Phool that goes on air from March 1. The story revolves around Suhana, a pampered daughter of an affluent father who agrees to marry Ishaan at her father’s behest. Suhana is played by Ragini Khanna, who was last seen in Bhaskar-Bharti. The other in the cast include Jai Soni, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Sudhir Pandey, Anita Khanwal, Mahesh Thakur, Sooraj Thapar and Shruti Ulfat. Shruti Ulfat, who made a blink-and-miss appearance in Behenein, is happy to play the chhoti bahu in Sasural Genda Phool. “I play a chilled-out, happy-go-lucky bahu who is likable and emotional,” she reveals. In the serial, which Shruti describes as “a light-hearted soap” every couple has had a love marriage. The actor tries hard to get her son married in the serial. “Even grandfathers tease him by saying, ‘At your age, I already had a wif

Our Renew / Cancel Index predicts potential renewal or cancellation for scripted broadcast primetime shows for the 2010-11 season (results through February 21, 2010): Likely To Be Canceled By May, 2010; Officially Canceled Some Danger Of Being Canceled By May, 2010 Likely to Be Renewed For The 2010-11 Season Renewed For The 2010-11 Season Program Renew/ Cancel Index Til Death (S), (F) 0.20 Dollhouse (F), (P) 0.23 Brothers (F) 0.24 Til Death (Sunday) 0.24 Past Life 0.3 5 Fringe 0.58 Human Target (Wed only) 0.63 Lie To Me (P) 0.68 Bones (P) 0.72 Glee (P) 0.74 American Dad (P) 0.76 The Cleveland Show (P) 0.85 24 0.90 The Simpsons (P) 0.97 Family Guy (P) 1.00 House 1.17 - I give up trying to figure out how to adjust the Fox overall season average ratings for sports and American Idol. Folks will just have to refrain from comparing Fox’s list to the other networks’ lists. The order of the shows is far