Hair had called Muralitharan for chucking during the 1995 Boxing Day Test at the MCG and though the Lankan feels that the controversial umpire made a mistake by doing that, Murali has decided to put all those ill feelings behind him.

“I have forgiven (him) and forgotten. I had been very upset with him, but I have let it go. People do make mistakes and I think he made a mistake. My action has been cleared,” Murali was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph. “But I’m not going to look at the past anymore. What I really didn’t like was the comments Howard made (in 2004). That was why I didn’t come on the next tour here. From someone in his position, that was worse than anything the crowd said.”

Murali, who will be in Australia next month for what would be his farewell tour to the country, recalled the torrid time he had while dealing with taunts from the crowd Down Under.

“It has been a bit difficult here for me sometimes but mainly it has just been one or two people in the crowd saying some things,” said the spinner, who has managed to take 800 Test wickets. “That is part of the game and as a sportsman, you just have to accept that some people just don’t like you.”

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald claimed that ICC is looking into the likelihood of match-fixing in the first of the two-match Test series at Lord’s from July 13. The most recent allegation of fixing in a Test match between Australia and Pakistan is a heavy blow after claims that January’s Sydney Test between the two sides was also fixed.

“The ICC is investigating the possibility that there are two separate groups of corrupt Pakistani cricketers who are aligned to different illegal bookmakers,” the report claimed. “Cricket Australia has not been informed that the Lord’s Test in July is also under ICC investigation, but that is standard practice under the anti-corruption unit’s secretive investigative methods.”

“The ICC has an independent process, and Cricket Australia has put a lot of faith in the ICC’s expertise and the processes of that expertise,” an unnamed CA spokesman was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

It is the second recent Test match at the spiritual home of cricket to come under scrutiny for alleged corruption by Pakistani players, after a British tabloid News of the World blew the whistle in the fourth Test against England which, in fact, gave way to the worst ever crisis in cricket.

Pakistan’s Test captain Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were suspended by the ICC over the first spot-fixing allegations that rocked the game. After that ICC launched an investigation on alleged spot-fixing in the third one-dayer between Pakistan and England last week, this time on the lead provided by another British tabloid The Sun.

Afridi has not played a Test since 2006 and in 44 games against Australia across all formats, he has only ever scored one half-century. He will be the third man to captain Pakistan in Tests since the start of 2009 and Ponting is unconvinced that he is one of Pakistan’s best 11 Test players. Ponting said he was confident Australia’s pace attack would be able to counter Afridi’s attacking style in the five-day game.

“Yeah I’m pretty sure we do,” Ponting told AAP. “He hasn’t played much Test cricket of late, has he? If you read between the lines he’s almost in there as that leader and captain, not necessarily one of their best Test players. So we’ll test him out. Even in the one -dayers in Australia last season with our quicks bowling the way they did to him, I think we can sort him out in Test cricket for sure. I see Shoaib Malik’s life ban has been lifted as well, so who knows what happens around their set-up, but we know they’re a dangerous team.”

“I guess with him being captain of the Twenty20 side, it was a natural progression for him to be the Test captain with all the rest of the guys they’ve tried there, not having succeeded. But that’s all irrelevant stuff to us, it doesn’t matter who’s captain and it doesn’t matter who’s playing, we just have to make sure we’re focusing on our little things to be the best team we can be when we play them,” he added.

The two Tests at Lord’s and Headingley could be Australia’s last five-day outings before the Ashes, although their October tour of India could yet include two Test matches. However, Ponting said it was important not to look too far ahead and lose sight of the challenge that Pakistan will pose.

“I guess we speak pretty loosely, don’t we, about looking forward to the Ashes and all that, and we are, but it’s not with both eyes,” he said. “We’ve got one eye on that and one eye on what we need to get in place to make sure we’re the best team we can be for November.”

In a keynote speech at a major CA seminar on Tuesday, Sutherland said the day is not far when Australia will have specialist players for both Twenty20 and Test playing simultaneously on opposite sides of the world.

“While hosting Tests here, Australia could have its Twenty20 team touring somewhere else,” Sutherland was quoted as saying in The Australian. “It is difficult not to see a generation of players coming through with an eye to becoming Twenty20 specialists. As more Twenty20 cricket is played, there are clearly opportunities for players to choose to be specialists.”

“Taking it through to its natural extension, if you have a specialist team then why can’t you have a specialist Twenty20 team and a specialist Test team (playing) at the same time?” he asked.

Sutherland also cited the example of rugby. “In rugby union, for example, the ARU has a sevens team and a Wallabies team,” he said.

The advent of the lucrative Indian Premier League and Australia’s state-based Big Bash competition have triggered a Twenty20 revolution, giving players the chance to choose the shortest version of the game as their core area of competence.

There already a lot of examples of Twenty20 specialists, with Australia’s team in the recent T20 World Cup in the West Indies having three specialist players in opener David Warner, new-ball bowlers Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes, all of whom play only in the shortest format of the game.

Among others, Australia’s T20 vice-captain Cameron White and his Victorian teammate David Hussey play T20 and one-day cricket only.

The Test, which Pakistan lost from an advantageous position, was under the scanner as the then coaches Initkhab Alam and Aqib Javed suspected match-fixing by their players, particularly stumper Kamran Akmal.

According to media reports, the ICC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit head Paul Condon, who was looking into the match-fixing claims, has given a clean chit to Pakistan. Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland had sought information from the ICC when Condon revealed last week that they were investigating the Test.

“The ICC has replied, saying it has seen no evidence of match-fixing and that there is no current investigation of match-fixing,” CA spokesman Peter Young was quoted as saying by The Australian.

“Haroon Lorgat has assured James Sutherland that Australia won the match on its merits. Lord Condon found evidence of a demoralised team and warned that cricket authorities needed to be extra vigilant,” Young added.

Pakistan had a disastrous tour where they were whitewashed by Australia as they lost the Test and ODI series and also a Twenty20 international.

The ill-fated tour led to the Pakistan Cricket Board forming an enquiry committee to probe the national team’s failure Down Under. Appearing before the committee, Alam and Javed suspected match-fixing. The Committee recommended bans and fines on seven players, including Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan for alleged indiscipline.

The proceedings of the committee were recently leaked and created a stir as Alam and Javed suspected match-fixing apart from revealing the politics and infighting in the team.

Clarke was impressive as a skipper in West Indies during the ICC World T20, where he guided Australia to the finals, but his batting came under heavy criticism with the talented batsman finding it difficult to keep up the scoring rate in the shortest format. His T20 strike rate of 101 is well below par when compared to the international standards. A lot of former Australian cricketers and experts are of the opinion that Clarke needs to do a lot more to justify his position in the T20 side as a batsman.

The Australian selectors have given Clarke almost the same squad that played in the World Cup, the only change being the omission of reserve wicket-keeper Tim Paine.

Left-handed opener, Shaun Marsh, has been recalled to the ODI side after missing the last two series due to a back injury. Marsh has replaced Adam Voges in the ODI squad for the one-off game against Ireland in Dublin that kicks off the tour on June 17 and the five one-day internationals against England that follow.

However, the squad to take on Pakistan in the two Tests from mid-July won’t be named until several contenders have played for Australia A late next month. The absence of Phillip Hughes due to a shoulder injury means Usman Khawaja, Michael Klinger and the Australia A captain George Bailey will be jostling for the role of backup Test batsman when they face Sri Lanka A in Brisbane.

That series will also give Ben Hilfenhaus a chance to continue his steady return from knee tendonitis. Hilfenhaus has been chosen in the four-day Australia A squad and is hopeful of proving himself fit for the Tests against Pakistan, having not played for his country since the first Test of the home summer back in November.

“Ben Hilfenhaus is making good progress with his knee tendon injury,” physio Alex Kountouris said. “As part of his rehabilitation he has commenced bowling and has spent some time at the Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence during the past week. So far he has coped well and if his progress continues with an increasing bowling workload over the coming weeks, he’ll take his place for Australia A against Sri Lanka A in preparation for possible selection in the Test squad.”

“Peter Siddle is recovering well from a lower back stress fracture sustained during the Australian summer. However, it was felt that there was too big a risk for him to return for the tour of England and Ireland, particularly with the important 12 months coming up. Peter remains on target to return to the playing field at the start of the Australian domestic summer. Brett Lee is recovering from the elbow muscle injury that he picked before the ICC World Twenty20 and is yet to commence bowling,” he added.

The Australia A squad also features Mitchell Marsh, brother of Shaun Marsh and captain of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup-winning squad this year. He will be joined by another player with cricketing lineage, James Pattinson, the Victoria fast bowler whose brother Darren played a Test for England in 2008.

ODI squad: Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, Brad Haddin, Steven Smith, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Clint McKay, Doug Bollinger.

Twenty20 squad: Shane Watson, David Warner, Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin, Daniel Christian, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait.

Australia A four-day squad: Ed Cowan, Usman Khawaja, Michael Klinger, George Bailey (capt), Peter Forrest, Andrew McDonald, Tim Paine, Mitchell Marsh, Steve O’Keefe, Ben Hilfenhaus, Josh Hazlewood, Peter George, Mitchell Starc.

Australia A one-day squad: Tim Paine, Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges, George Bailey (capt), Travis Birt, Aaron Finch, Andrew McDonald, Mitchell Marsh, Xavier Doherty, Brendan Drew, James Pattinson, Jake Haberfield, Josh Hazlewood.

Australia won every match except for the all-important final in the just-concluded World Cup and Ponting said given the short format, the title should not be decided by just one summit showdown.

“I’ve always been of the belief in Twenty20 tournaments there should be a best-of-three finals. We know with the game, it can hinge on one over here and there,” Ponting told Fox Sports. “They dominated the competition all the way through … I was disappointed for the boys; no doubt they were the best team right through the tournament but they stumbled at the last hurdle.”

Ponting said despite the crushing loss in the finals to Ashes rivals England, the Aussies should be happy about their campaign. “They should be proud of the way they conducted themselves.”

Ponting also came out in support of Australia’s T20 skipper, Michael Clarke, who has questioned his own form and place in the team, due to a string of poor performances in the World Cup.

“I don’t know what he had to say about himself, but everything I’ve been reading is very positive about him and how he’s led the team,” Ponting, who has retired from T20 cricket, said. “I notice the coach (Tim Nielsen) made some positive comments and every time I have seen Michael in a leadership role he has done exceptionally well. So there are some really good signs there for the future of Australian cricket.”

Watching from home, Ponting said he felt like being a part of the Australian T20 team but his body is just not ready to take the workload. “Of course you would like to be there, but I made the decision I made for all the right reasons. I was finding it increasingly difficult to play all three formats of the game the way I wanted to,” he said.

Samuels was banned for two years by the ICC for leaking vital team information to a bookie in India, but the 29-year-old had always maintained he did nothing wrong.

“I am an honest person. My conscience would not allow me to come back if I knew within myself I had done something wrong,” Samuels said.

“They need to spend time on situations like this, it is delicate and very important because you are dealing with players’ careers,” Samuels was quoted as saying in Sydney Morning Herald. “When they looked at my case, they used me as a scapegoat… the ICC wanted to make an example out of me when I was never in a position for them to be able to use me as an example. The way they dealt with my case was very unfair.”

“I really didn’t have a case; when I went to the hearing, I thought it would be just a fair process but it wasn’t like a hearing at all, I was just banned,” he said.

Samuels was charged with sharing team information with the bookie ahead of a one-dayer against India in Nagpur on January 21, 2007. The case against Samuels centred on a police-tapped telephone conversation he had with Dubai-based Indian national Mukesh Kochhar whom he had first met in Sharjah in 2002.

The conversation occurred the evening before the match, which India won by 14 runs and included accurate revelations of the Windies’ batting line-up and bowling order. The chat included both men saying they would be in Mumbai.

The ICC investigated the matter and found Samuels guilty of breaching its code of conduct, which could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute.

In fact, during an internal hearing by a West Indies Cricket Board disciplinary committee it was noted, “There is no evidence before us that Samuels exchanged or had any intention of exchanging for reward the information he shared with Kochhar. If anything, the evidence is quite to the contrary.”

“The majority therefore accepts that Samuels is an honest cricketer; that he has never betted on cricket matches and that he was unwittingly and innocently sucked into an unhealthy vortex by an unscrupulous gambler posing as a mentor and father figure,” the committee added.

Samuels said that he can’t predict when he would make a comeback to the West Indies national side but maintained, “I’ll just let my bat do the talking.”

“These two years have been a blessing. Cricket had taken me away from my family and I used these two years to get closer to them,” he added.

“It’s (Twenty20) the same – it’s exactly the same. For me, it’s as serious as a one-day match or a Test match. It’s become exactly the same,” Clarke said.

“There’s no such thing as a game of hit and giggle. That’s something that has changed. It used to be about putting on a show, entertaining the crowd. But from a player point of view, that is no longer the case,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.

As Australia prepares for the Twenty20 World Cup, the only ICC event that they haven’t won till date, beginning on Friday in the West Indies, Clarke stressed on the need to introduce Twenty20 contracts and asked Cricket Australia (CA) to extend the same to explosive batsman David Warner and all-rounder David Hussey.

“I’ve told Cricket Australia that they (Warner, Hussey) should have contracts. I think there should be a Twenty20 contract introduced. I know once you play a certain number of Twenty20 games you can get upgraded to a Cricket Australia contract. But players like David Warner and David Hussey … they’re here playing in a Twenty20 World Cup. They should be paid (under contract) for that,” he said.

“It’s a form of the game that we want to be the best in the world at. We’re not there yet, we’re improving, but this is a way for us to start,” he added.

“India, because their players play so much in the IPL and Pakistan, because the format suits them. But Australia is playing more of it and understanding the game a lot better,” Warne said when asked which team would be his favourite.

“MS Dhoni is a very good captain but Virender Sehwag is a massive loss with his shoulder problem. Shahid Afridi is a good captain and a very good cricketer but can be hit and miss. They will be in the mix,” Warne told Herald Sun.

Dhoni also figured in Warne’s list of five best Twenty20 cricketers, which also had Shane Watson, Kevin Pietersen, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard and a “fit” Sehwag.

Warne said that since there isn’t much to choose among all the teams, it would be the captaincy and tactics that will play a major role in who wins the tournament and if the Australian skipper, Michael Clarke, can rise to the occasion, the Aussies too will have a chance to win the Twenty20 World Cup.

“Yes (Australia can win), because there is no obvious standout team and the nature of Twenty20 cricket is that most teams will have a chance. It will probably come down to captaincy and tactics,” Warne said. “We have spoken a lot about what is required in Twenty20 and Michael has captained very well recently. He has to put his stamp on the team.”

Warne also felt Clarke needs to get his combination right and find out the strength of his team. “You have to identify your strengths as a team. For instance, at the Rajasthan Royals, we have never lost after batting first and making 145 or more. So Michael has to get his batting order right and decide if we are a bat first or bowl first team. Do we have the batting?”

“With David Warner and Shane Watson opening, Clarke at three, Cameron White, Mike and David Hussey, plus Tim Paine as a floater, then Mitchell Johnson and Steven Smith at seven and eight, that sounds all right to me,” he observed.

The Australian legend also had the perfect solution for managing the three formats of the game.

“One-dayers should be like the Olympics, played just at the World Cup every four years. A World Cup for Twenty20 every two years and a Test championship once a year, with a final between the two top-ranked teams,” Warne said.