Gavaskar pinpoints flaw in Tendulkar's batting For those bowlers still figuring out how to get Sachin Tendulkar, listen up, because Sunil Gavaskar has some hints. The original little master has pinpointed a flaw in the technique of his successor to the sobriquet. Gavaskar ascribed Tendulkar’s recent vulnerability to leg-before decisions to his tendency to play across the line in a newspaper column. "He is moving back and across, something he rarely does. By doing that, he is opening his right shoulder a bit, and that is bringing his bat down at an angle unlike the impeccably straight way it usually comes down," wrote Gavaskar. "This is only a slight movement, but it is making him play across the line and getting hit on the pads." Tendulkar was advised to stay still until the ball left the bowler’s hand. Whether Tendulkar carries forth this advice or not, one can be sure that bowlers around the world were lapping Gavaskar’s remarks up with gusto.

Ganguly hopes for better umpiring in fourth Test Antigua is a second home to Brian Lara, if only for the world-record 375 that he struck against hapless England. Carl Hooper, therefore, expects big things from Lara. "Our best batsman in the side has yet to really get going in the series," Hooper said after a practice session on Wednesday. "We are hoping he gets going in this match and in the fifth Test at Jamaica. He can make a huge difference when he's playing well." Not that the West Indian batting has been particularly pathetic. Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul have scored two centuries each so far, and Ramnaresh Sarwan has also been in fine nick. "Our batting in this series has been good, but we haven't really gone out full steam. There are still a few areas in that department that we can work on," Hooper said. Sourav Ganguly did not sound so satisfied. The Indian skipper was vexed by the umpiring thus far, particularly a third-umpire decision at Barbados. "One can understand mistakes made by the umpires in the centre because they have a fraction of a second to decide, but not when you have 50 television replays for something that was so obvious," Ganguly said. Hooper, on 15 at the time, was adjudged safe by the third umpire even as the television showed him clearly short of his crease. Anil Kumble, replaced by Harbhajan Singh for two Tests, will be making a return to the side at Antigua. "They are both great spinners, it's hard to choose between them," Ganguly said. "But Kumble has a lot of experience and took some important wickets on our last tour here in 1997." It remains to be seen, of course, if Kumble can work the magic again.

Sylvan surroundings at the Antigua Recreation Ground Anthony More, curator at the Antigua Recreation Ground at St John's, is puzzled. "I don't know why people are saying that the wicket in Antigua is one of the slowest," he says. "Two years ago, South Africa defeated us here, and we won against Pakistan on this surface the year before. So I am not at all ready to listen what others are saying." More was a member of the West Indies 'A' side, a fast bowler who could not make it to the Test team because of the presence of the Robertses and the Holdings. He is now more often seen running the roller across the wicket of the Recreation Club, trying to improve the nature of the pitch with a sincerity that can almost be compared to worship. The effort is evident, as the ground looks ready to provide spectators with an enjoyable Test match.

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