Will the new look inspire a new attitude? Probably not, but it would at least be a small step in the right direction if the players walking out at the new Kensington Oval for the match against Bangladesh had even a cursory appreciation of the significance of the old ground in the history of West Indies cricket. We can dream, can’t we?The fixture against Bangladesh will be the first for a West Indies team since the old structure was torn down two years ago, although the cynics will argue that, based on the evidence of their distressing performances so far in the Super Eights, there is no real ‘team’ at the moment. Maybe so, but it will be the official West Indies team taking on Habibul Bashar’s side, so let’s leave those deeper issues for another time. Since the president of the West Indies Cricket Board has chided those of us for apparently rushing to condemn Brian Lara and his squad, there will be ample time when this is all over for proper assessment.Of course, it could be all over on Saturday with the last of the Super Eights matches against England, so that will give us almost a full month to get on bad before the first Test against the same side at Lord’s. So instead of weeping and wailing, let’s reflect a bit on the Kensington Oval’s long association with the team that has been the object of so much emotion in these parts for so many years.It may have been quaint, too dilapidated and therefore too unsafe for the modern era, especially with all the 21st century demands placed by the ICC for their global event, but there probably will never be a cricketing atmosphere to match that of a full house for Test cricket at Kensington. One-day cricket, of course, has a more celebratory feel to it with all of the noise and jumping and waving for no apparent reason, but for sheer intensity, I can’t imagine it getting much better than Tests at that old ground in Bridgetown. Yes, other established Caribbean grounds like the Queen’s Park Oval, Bourda, Sabina Park and the Antigua Recreation Ground will have their own legitimate claims, especially when the stands are full and the contest at its most riveting.Still, the memories of the Kensington theatre, even the more recent recollections, stand out. With the proximity of the spectators, it was like witnessing gladiators fighting for their lives, with the thousands looking on responding to every thrust and parry, every attack and counter-attack, whether it was [Wes] Hall versus [Bob] Simpson, [Jeff] Thomson versus [Viv] Richards or [Michael] Holding versus [Geoff] Boycott.

That lethal opening over by Holding to Boycott on the second day of the 1981 Test will remain one of the most talked-about experiences. Even listening to the live radio commentary and then seeing the highlights a couple days later, you could feel the excitement building, culminating in those unforgettable images of the off stump cartwheeling and the fans almost jumping out of the stands in their excitement.There was also the luxury of being able to sympathise with yet another opponent being torn to shreds in our bastion of invincibility.For 59 years, West Indies were unbeaten in Tests at Kensington. There were some narrow escapes, none more so than when the last-wicket pair of Andy Roberts and debutant Colin Croft played out the final overs to deny Pakistan victory in 1977. But most times, it was a period of unprecedented domination. Inevitably, the moments become larger than life as time passes. The brief assault by a teenaged Garry Sobers as a makeshift opener on Australia’s feared opening pair of [Ray] Lindwall and [Keith] Miller in 1955 hinted at greatness in the making. Lawrence Rowe so captivated the masses in caressing his way to 48 not out at stumps on the third day of the 1974 Test against England that the place was packed beyond capacity for the next day and a bit as he stroked his way to 302.Two years earlier, in the midst of West Indies’ leanest run until the present era, there was also a full house on the last day to see Sobers and Charlie Davis deny New Zealand victory. So the Kensington faithful were prepared to support through thick and thin, although the 1992 boycott of the historic first Test against South Africa will be a blot on their record.However, the current period has certainly tested their resolve more than any other time. Ever since Alec Stewart’s two hundreds saw the English storm the battlements in 1994, many have come and conquered. Yet, even in the midst of such despair, the magic of Lara’s unbeaten 153 in a pulsating one-wicket win over Australia in 1999 was almost the stuff of fantasy.Just a few weeks later, there was also the shame of bottle-throwing that prompted the reinstatement of Sherwin Campbell after he was initially ruled run-out after colliding with the bowler, Brendon Julian. Just to reinforce how desperate the times have become, that was the last West Indian victory in a one-dayer at this ground. Seven defeats have followed since that hollow victory, turning the once impregnable arena into the scene of our latest humiliation.Victory against Bangladesh won’t change anything, but at least the Kensington Oval will be associated with West Indian success once again. Then again, you never know.

The Afro-Asia Cup, already undermined by the non-availability of several big-name players, has received another jolt with Nimbus Sports, which owned telecast rights for the tournament, pulling out of the deal. In a desperate bid to salvage to tournament, which is scheduled to begin on June 5 in India, the Asian Cricket Council are now trying to finalise a last-minute deal with ESPN-Star.”We will not be part of the event in any way,” Harish Thawani, the Nimbus chief, told PTI. “We will not be telecasting the event. Neither will we be producing nor bringing sponsorship for the matches.”Nimbus Sports bought the rights for three editions of the tournament, which was first played in 2005 in South Africa, for $12 million, and cited the absence of several big stars in the Asia XI as the reason for pulling the plug. Among the names missing are Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Muttiah Muralithran, Chaminda Vaas, Kumar Sangakkara, Shoaib Akhtar and Lasith Malinga.”Nimbus committed the money on the understanding that the teams will be drawn from the best available talent,” said an industry source. “This is clearly not the case with this tournament and the thus terms on which the deal was signed are not valid anymore. It would be understandable if the players were injured. But this is not the case here.”Muralitharan, Vaas and Sangakkara are currently playing county cricket with permission from the Sri Lankan Cricket Board, and Shoaib was pulled out by the Pakistan Cricket Board on the grounds that he had not regained full fitness. The last straw, according to the source, was the voluntary withdrawal of Tendulkar a couple of days ago. Dravid had not been originally picked in the XI that will be captained by Mahela Jayawerdene.”By no stretch of imagination this is the best Asian XI,” said the source, adding that the Twenty20 team, which doesn’t feature a single player from the one-day XI, has only one Indian player in Sreesanth, who is hardly an automatic choice for India’s limited-overs matches. It is hardly a secret that India is the biggest source of television revenue in cricket, and the absence of the top Indian stars have left Nimbus with little chance of recovering their fee.However, the tournament is likely to go ahead with ESPN-Star being roped in at the last minute. While no financial details are available at the moment, it is understood the deal will be significantly lower than the original sum. Though ACC officials and ESPN-Star refused to comment, an official decision is expected to be announced on Monday.The brainchild of Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former president of the Indian cricket board, the first Afro-Asia Cup was held in South Africa in August 2005. The idea was to raise money for the Asian Cricket Council and the African Cricket Association, and the whole venture was given a massive boost when the ICC agreed to give the series of one-day matches full ODI status. It could not be held in 2006 owing to a busy international calendar.

Mashonaland at loggerheads with Zimbabwe Cricket

The dispute between Mashonaland Cricket Association and Zimbabwe Cricket continues to rumble on, and ZC have upped the ante by refusing to recognise the new MCA executive.Although the warring factions sat down together, Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman, insisted that his board refused to ackowledge the authority of the current MCA board and that he was speaking to Cyprian Mandenge and Elvis Sembezeya, the new MCA chairman and deputy chairman, purely as members of the association rather than as officials.An emergency meeting of the MCA in December kicked out the existing committee and elected a new board who were seen as being far more prepared to confront the board.However, ZC refused to acknowledge the election and has been refusing the new association officials access to their offices at Harare Sports Club. “We are supposed to be using the offices but we have been facing difficulties in this regard and how do they expect us to carry out the day to day running of the sport for our province?, Mandenge explained. “We are not trying to oust the ZC board but all we are saying is that the ZC should address the issue of the rebranding from ZCU and do it constitutionally.”It is not known at the moment what the outcome of yesterday’s meeting was.Although a number of clubs boycotted last weekend’s matches, Cricinfo understands that all but three – Alexandra, Old Georgians and Takashinga – have agreed to resume playing this week largely for financial reasons. Mashonaland itself is still refusing to participate in the Logan Cup.

Fidel Edwards has been fined 15% of his match fee for using abusive language during the final Test at Riverside.”When bowling, and in frustration, Fidel swore loudly enough to be heard by spectators at the ground and television audiences,” ICC match referee Alan Hurst said. “We are not saying that players cannot show frustration or demonstrate passion, but Fidel’s means of doing that was totally unacceptable and does not set an appropriate example.”The player regrets his actions and I trust this penalty will serve to ensure it does not occur again.”

John Bracewell has held on to his job as New Zealand’s coach for two more seasons. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has also announced that John Wright will be given a high-performance role, although the exact nature of his position is still unclear.Bracewell’s contract was due to expire this month and his future had been uncertain following New Zealand’s departure from the World Cup at the semi-final stage after consecutive heavy losses to Australia and Sri Lanka. Justin Vaughan, NZC’s new CEO, formed a subcommittee in June to decide on Bracewell’s fate.”We believe that John made good progress with the Black Caps [New Zealand] and we are delighted to retain him as the team’s coach,” Vaughan said. Bracewell will have a greater network of specialist coaches to help him, including Wright, who refused the role as head coach at Australia’s Centre of Excellence to stay in New Zealand.”There are many areas in our high-performance programme in which we can utilise John’s expertise and we are working through these with him to determine his exact role,” Vaughan said. “John will be part of our drive to build player depth and to enhance the skills of our elite players.”Mark O’Neill, the former New South Wales and Western Australia batsman, has been named the heading batting coach, while Dayle Hadlee is in charge of the bowling department. O’Neill retired from playing in 1990-91 after 76 first-class matches and has worked with both his former states as a batting coach.The make-up of New Zealand’s selection panel remains unclear with the current selectors – Richard Hadlee, Dion Nash, Glenn Turner, as well as Bracewell – coming off contract this month. “We have decided to change the philosophy under which the selection panel makes decisions,” Vaughan said.”This change in philosophy will see the panel move to consensus decisions.” Bracewell’s right as head coach to veto the choices made by the selection panel has therefore been revoked.That is unlikely to concern Bracewell, who took over as New Zealand’s coach in 2003. He has guided the side to nine wins and 12 losses from his 27 Tests in charge, as well as 48 victories from 91 one-day internationals. In the past nine months he helped the team reach semi-finals at the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.But questions over New Zealand’s preparation for their big games in the Caribbean brought a push for change in the team management. Stephen Fleming resigned as the one-day captain after the World Cup and Martin Crowe led the calls for Bracewell to go.His two-year contract extension will take him through to April 2009, a period that will include Test tours of South Africa, England and Australia, as well as the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next September. Bracewell’s immediate challenge will be to prepare New Zealand for September’s Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.

Errol Stewart, who recently refused an invitation to lead a South Africa A side to Zimbabwe on moral grounds, now faces a ban after the South Africa board (UCB) made clear it disapproval of his stand. Stewart said his conscience would not allow him to travel to a country that violates human rights.Stewart, however, has found support from the South African Cricketers Association (SACA) who have sought legal advice on the validity of the UCB’s proposal, and a spokesman said that it would not allow the player to be used as a “political football”.”If it emerges that the UCB has instructed the selectors not to consider me again because of my moral stance on Zimbabwe, I would consider taking my case to the Constitutional Court”, Stewart said. “This kind of action could be interpreted as a denial of my freedom of speech, which is guaranteed by our constitution.”Omar Henry, the chairman of selectors, denied reports that Gerald Majola, the UCB’s chief executive, had ordered him not to consider Stewart for any representative side. He said he had been in touch with Stewart to tell him that his future could not be guaranteed now that he had not made himself available for the tour of Zimbabwe.”The views Gerald expressed were personal, they were not an instruction to me,” Henry claimed. “I have never been instructed not to select Errol again. However, I have spoken to Errol in my own right and told him there could be no guarantees after he turned down selection for the South African A tour. What he has to do now is come back to me and tell me that he wants to be considered for selection again and we would take it from there.”

South Africa will be looking to depose New Zealand at the top of the table with a victory in this Group E match. Having lost their only international encounter against this opposition almost two years ago, Graeme Smith will be hoping for a better performance with the bat, especially with his team being restricted to 154 against England. Herschelle Gibbs’ inclusion, fitness permitting, will only benefit the home side in their bid to make the semis.New Zealand might well decide to rest a few aching bodies after theirclose win against England, especially a struggling Jacob Oram who took a knock on his left hand while dropping a return catch. However, Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, will want nothing less than a win to take the momentum through to yet another semi-final appearance for his team.Bat play: South Africa’s top order has, bar their last match, been in great form. JP Duminy, opening in place of Gibbs, failed to score in his second match after an impressive tournament debut against Bangladesh. Much will depend, as always, on Smith, AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher before the power-hitting of Shaun Pollock and Justin Kemp steps in.New Zealand’s top order, however, failed miserably in their final matchand it came down to Craig McMillan and Scott Styris to play the rescueact. However, Ross Taylor, who already has a half-century to his name in the tournament, and Brendon McCullum have both played mini-cameos in the opening round but will need decent support in what will be a tougher bowling attack.Wrecking ball: Shaun Pollock has been in form of late, picking up five wickets in the last two matches while being as miserly as ever. Makhaya Ntini has not been as successful and it will be down to the likes of the Morkel brothers and Vernon Philander to provide support.New Zealand have fast bowling problems of their own. Mark Gillespie, after a four-wicket haul in the opening match, has failed to pick any wickets. Shane Bond, although economical, was not penetrative in the last match while either Chris Martin or Jacob Oram look set to make way for Jeetan Patel, the offspinner, who will partner Vettori, the joint highest wicket-taker in the tournament.Keep your eye on: Albie Morkel and his long-range efforts with the bat. Already boasting a few of the tournament’s longest hits, Morkel has a 20-ball 43 against his name and will fancy the pace of Gillespie and Bond to add to his tally of sixes.Shop talk: According to Vettori: “It [captaincy in the Twenty20game] is not easy … because you don’t know what you will run into. You might have the best of plans but they may all have to be discarded at the spur of the moment.” While he sits and plans the next match, Smith will know that his team really do not want to leave qualification for the semi-final for the last match against India and would want to wrap up things under the Durban sun.Pitching it right: The Durban pitch has already witnessed two close encounters; Pakistan v India and England v New Zealand. It will be South Africa’s first match here and with conditions probably favouring pace and swing, the home team will want to make first use of it.TeamsSouth Africa (probable) Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher (wk), Vernon Philander, ShaunPollock, Johan van der Wath, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Makhaya NtiniNew Zealand (likely) Lou Vincent, Brendon McCullum (wk), PeterFulton, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, DanielVettori (capt), Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Rest of India completed their dramatic turnaround in this match by picking up the four required wickets and knocking off a meagre target before lunch on the fourth day to deservedly win the Irani Trophy by nine wickets. Tuesday morning’s work was down to their heroes of the past two days: Munaf Patel completed his five-wicket haul and Parthiv Patel scored an unbeaten half-century to add to his first-innings 179.At the start of the fourth day, Mumbai were at 98 for 6 and ROI needed only 15 balls to take the last four wickets. In the first over, overnight batsman Wasim Jaffer shouldered arms to a Munaf Patel delivery, which came in and knocked over the off stump. The Mumbai tail crumbled without scoring. Ishant Sharma induced edges off Iqbal Abdulla and Omkar Gurav while Rajesh Verma was caught behind off a nasty short one from Munaf.Munaf looked a different bowler from the first innings as he put in more effort and got the ball to consistently move in towards the batsmen and he ended with a deserved five-for. Sharma also bowled better from the other end to get three wickets.Set 88 to win, Parthiv Patel came out batting the way he had left after scoring a century in first innings. He crossed fifty for the second time in the match with a flicked two to midwicket. The team score at that point was 73. His 60 came off 48 deliveries with 10 cleanly-struck boundaries. The other opener, Aakash Chopra was dismissed in the eighth over and it was captain Mohammad Kaif who finished the game with a pulled boundary off Ajit Agarkar.Mumbai let the game drift on the third evening after they had piled on 453 runs in the first innings. Having pinned ROI at 418 for 8, Mumbai needed only the wickets of tailenders Munaf and Ranadeb Bose to gain a first-innings lead. But they did not attack the two and ended up conceding a lead of 19. After that, a demoralised Mumbai and an inspired Munaf combined to hasten the endgame.

ScorecardA 102-ball 115 from Ahmed Shehzad steered Pakistan Under-19 to a 30-run win over Australia U-19, thus giving the hosts an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match ODI series.Pakistan continued the series’ trend of winning the toss and opting to bat, despite having successfully chased down targets – including a 79 – in the earlier games. Shehzad and Shan Masood got the home side off to a steady start, with 61 added for the first wicket before Masood fell to Daniel Burns, the left-arm spinner, for 28.Umar Amin made a patient 40 off 67 balls supporting Shehzad, whose knock included 16 fours. Pakistan looked set for a big score when the third wicket fell for 201, but two wickets fell soon after. However, an unbroken 94-run partnership between Usman Salahuddin (68 off 50 balls) and Imad Wasim (44 off 33) propelled Pakistan to 325 from their allotted 50 overs.Australia’s batting had flopped in Sheikhupura, and never looked in the hunt during the chase in Mirpur. They failed to string together any reasonable partnerships, barring the last pair of Sam Robson and Josh Hazelwood, who put on a valiant 84, which though wasn’t match-winning, ensured Australia didn’t suffer a crushing defeat.Both Robson and Hazelwood made scores above 40, with Kumar Sarna, the opener, being the top scorer with 45. For Pakistan, Mohammad Rameez, the right-arm fast bowler, made the initial inroads, before capping the day with the final wicket of Hazelwood and figures for 3 for 53 from his 9.4 overs.Legspinner Shahzaib Ahmed, on the back of a five-for, also picked up three wickets. Shahzaib dismissed Sarna and followed it up with the wickets of middle-order batsmen Anthony Murphy and James Faulkner, both out caught-and-bowled.Shehzad didn’t have a great time with his legbreaks though, conceding 41 from his four overs for one wicket. However, it didn’t make a difference in the final result, with Pakistan clinching an easy series win.The next two matches will also be played at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium, with the visitors trying to salvage some pride.

Michael Clarke believes Australia would be “stupid” to focus all their attention on Muttiah Muralitharan in the Test series and ignore several other potential match-winners in the Sri Lanka squad. However, Clarke said Australia would be trying to stop Muralitharan breaking Shane Warne’s Test wicket record during the two matches.”Now Warney’s gone, Murali’s the No. 1 spinner in international cricket,” Clarke said in an interview with his team-mate Andrew Symonds in the . “I look forward to taking him on, but I think we’re all going to have to be on our game.”With all the hype around Murali and his record, we’d be stupid to let two threatening players like (Lasith) Malinga and Dilhara (Fernando) get under our guard. They’ve both got some toe and the conditions in Brisbane will help their quicks.”Australia have not played a Test since January, when they secured a 5-0 Ashes cleansweep and farewelled Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer. Clarke played all five Ashes Tests and averaged 77.80 despite originally being left out of the squad for the first Test.Although Clarke is being touted as Australia’s next captain he is focusing squarely on a solid home summer in Tests, where he expects to bat at No. 5 with Michael Hussey to stay at No. 4. “It’s a really important series for me, only five Tests ago I wasn’t even in the starting line-up,” Clarke said.Langer’s retirement means Australia will have a new face in the dressing-rooms this season with Phil Jaques set to add to his two Test caps. Clarke has played plenty of cricket with Jaques for New South Wales and describes him as “intense” and “very focused”.”The greatest asset for Jaquesy is that no international team has seen him, so that will allow him to play his own game,” Clarke said. “He’s very unorthodox, but once he finds his rhythm he can make big hundreds.”