LONDON, 7 September 2004 — India captain Saurav Ganguly said his side’s batting had to improve if they were to make a mark in the forthcoming Champions Trophy tournament in England.

India, who have already lost master batsman Sachin Tendulkar for the ‘mini World Cup’ because of a left elbow injury, enjoyed a morale-boosting 23-run win against England at Lord’s on Sunday.

But India still lost the three-game warm-up series 2-1 after two crushing defeats by seven-wickets and 70 runs respectively.

And this win, minus the sidelined Tendulkar, was only achieved following a fine bowling effort after India were dismissed for a modest 204.

Afterward Ganguly stressed there was plenty still to come from India, last year’s losing World Cup finalists and co-holders of the Champions Trophy following a washed-out 2002 final against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

“I still think we are some distance away from our best,” Ganguly told reporters. “We are a better batting unit than this and we all need to fire if we hope to do well in the Champions Trophy.”

However, he insisted he had not lost faith in his batsmen’s capabilities. “These are the guys have performed consistently over the last two years and I back them to do well. They cannot fail for so long.”

The left-hander insisted English conditions required his batsmen to adopt a different strategy. “You’ve just got to change your approach to the game when you play one-day cricket in England.

“It’s not like the first 15 overs in the sub-continent. You’ve got to take your time and settle down. Once the ball gets old there’s plenty on offer because the outfield is still quick and the wicket gets better. It’s different in England and we’ll have to get used to that in terms of our mindset.”

“What was best about this game was the body language, the attitude on the field even after being out for 204,” added Ganguly.

England were without Andrew Flintoff, who was with his pregnant girlfriend after she was taken to hospital. Flintoff became a father for the first time yesterday when his partner Rachael gave birth to daughter Holly.

Ganguly, a former Lancashire teammate of the star all-rounder added: “England are a different side without Flintoff. On the field, he’s a huge, huge plus to English cricket.”

Symonds Upbeat as Aussies Try to Settle Score

Australian all rounder Andrew Symonds believes his side have a big advantage going into the Champions Trophy which starts here in England on Friday.

Many of the Australian squad have played county cricket in England and Symonds is happy that experience will give Australia a unique insight into the conditions the tournament will be played under.

Symonds has had successful stints with Gloucestershire and Kent in and many of the Australian squad, including Glenn McGrath, Michael Clarke, Michael Kasprowicz and Matthew Hayden, have enjoyed equally profitable summers in the English game.

And the 29-year-old is certain that knowledge can be put to good use as the Australians try to win one of the few trophies in world cricket that has eluded them.

The Champions Trophy is a huge incentive for this group of players and Symonds admitted his side are slightly red-faced about their failure to win it so far.

“There is a lot at stake here and the boys are a bit embarrassed that we have not achieved anything in this competition. But we are going to give this one a good blast and hopefully achieve that,” he said.

Pakistan Board to Warn Bari After Outburst

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will reprimand its chief selector Wasim Bari for an outburst against seasoned English umpire David Shepherd. “Bari will be reprimanded for his statement which was in bad taste,” senior PCB official Abbas Zaidi said after Bari described Shepherd as “too old” and had urged him to retire.