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Group A

Ireland recovered from a batting blip against UAE to move to the verge of qualification for the World Cup 2007 with a two-wicket victory at Stormont. Ireland overcame their toughest challenge to date thanks to an unbeaten century from Ed Joyce, the tournament’s leading run scorer. UAE posted their highest total of the event. Khurram Khan and Javed Ismail both contributed half-centuries to a competitive 230 all out. Ireland’s reply began disastrously as an inspirational opening spell from Ali Asad Abbas had them reeling at 23 for 4. However, Joyce steadied the Irish reply and he found and able ally in Trent Johnston. The pair put on 122 for the fifth wicket before Johnston was bowled for 67. Ireland scraped home with one ball to spare as Paul Mooney scrambling the single required.Bermuda threw Group A wide open with a comfortable 93-run victory over Denmarkat Cliftonville. The Danes, who had won their opening two games, allowed Bermuda to compile a solid 249 for 8 and never looked like getting close in their reply. Frederik Klokker, the century-scoring hero of Denmark’s victory over USA, was the third man out with the score on seven and only a late 51 from Thomas Hansen added a degree of respectability to Denmark’s total of 156 all out.Uganda picked up its first victory of the tournament at Lurgan, with an Independence Day rout of USA by six wickets. The result leaves USA with only an outside chance of making the top five – and therefore the World Cup – just a year after qualifying for the Champions Trophy. Steve Massiah made an unbeaten 108 as USA made a useful total of 236 for 7. But Uganda had few problems knocking off the runs, after an opening stand of 152 between Joel Olwenyi (76) and Bibodi Nehal (68). USA’s bowlers struggle to maintain any pressure and Hamza Saleh guided Uganda home striking an unbeaten 45 with 14 balls to spare.

Group B

Holland claimed its third consecutive 2005 victory with a six-wicket defeat of Namibia. Namibia looked to be making steady progress towards a good total until Edgar Schiferli, Holland’s strike bowler, was brought back into the attack. He took three crucial wickets in one over, to send Namibia crashing from 148 for 5 to 150 for 8 at a crucial stage of their innings. Bas Zuiderent and Tom de Grooth provided Holland with the perfect platform with a century partnership. De Grooth was first out for 55 but by then the target of 189 was already in sight. With Namibia’s bowlers struggling to control the white ball – they bowled 24 wides – Zuiderent carefully steered his side to victory, finishing the match with 3.1 overs to spare on 65 not out.Scotland made light work of Papua New Guinea at Shaw’s Bridge in a match that was reduced to 44 overs due to heavy overnight rain. John Blain and Dougie Brown both picked up four wickets as PNG were bowled out for 90 in 35 overs. Seven of the PNG batsmen were dismissed leg-before-wicket. Scotland took only 19 overs to reach the target but PNG will take some consolation from claiming five Scottish wickets.Oman’s highest score of the tournament almost caught out a Canada side determined to try and improve its net-run-rate. With the flashing blade of John Davison leading the way, Canada looked like reaching their target of 184 within 30 overs. But once Davison was dismissed for 74 off 53, Canada stuttered to a two-wicket victory in the 42nd over.The penultimate round of group games takes place on Tuesday.

Bennett King will be the first foreign coach to guide West Indies when he replaces Gus Logie, who was sacked after they won the Champions Trophy in England last month.King, the 39-year-old head coach of the Australian cricket academy, has accepted the job and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) planned to announce the signing early next week.Last year an annoyed King turned down a similar offer when the WICB unveiled him as the man to replace Roger Harper before negotiations had been finalised. Logie was installed instead and King continued to stay in the Academy role, where he oversaw the programme’s move from Adelaide to Brisbane.A former physical education teacher and a first-grade club player, King replaced John Buchanan as Queensland’s coach when he took the Australia job. In his first season King guided the Bulls to the Pura Milk Cup and followed it with two more trophies in consecutive years before taking over from Rod Marsh at the Academy.King will join fellow Australian Darren Holden, a former talent identification coach at Queensland who is the WICB’s coaching manager, in the Caribbean.Greg Chappell, the former South Australia coach, and Peter Moores, who is in charge of Sussex, were also interviewed for the position.

Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan have issued a statement giving their position about not touring with the West Indies during the 2005 tour of Sri Lanka.The release issued yesterday by Attorney at Law Sanjeev J. Datadin states:”Christopher Henry Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan wish it to be known that despite not participating in the current West Indies Cricket Team Tour to Sri Lanka 2005 they are firmly committed to West Indies Cricket and the loyal West Indian cricket fans. They wish it be known that regrettably they found themselves in a painful and difficult situation regarding their participation in the current West Indies Tour of Sri Lanka.”Their absence was a consequence of circumstances which were unresolved despite the apparent resolution of the major stumbling block in the dispute after intervention on their behalf. They were faced with two difficult options; firstly to refuse to play for the West Indies and appear to be selfishly abandoning West Indies Cricket and the many loyal fans who have supported them faithfully over the years, and to whom they owe a debt of gratitude for their loyalty; and secondly, one in which if they choose to participate in the tour they would appear to be abandoning their team mates and colleagues who have sought their support with whom they have fought many a battle and achieved success for the West Indies on the field of play.”They wish to record their disappointment in the way the dispute was handled and the enormous pressure placed upon them by both sides of the dispute.They chose not to tour and to stand in solidarity with their colleagues. In no way was their decision an endorsement of the position of either side of the dispute.” The statement further adds that the decision not to tour was a difficult one and that if offered the opportunity again to play for the West Indies they are likely to consider their position independently.The duo is said to be looking forward to representing the West Indies team and being full contributors to West Indies cricket in the future by doing their part in restoring West Indies cricket to its former glory.”Both players wish to express their disappointment with the handling of the entire matter and encourage the stakeholders of the dispute to embark upon a process of resolution in utmost good faith and a spirit of compromise. They fear that the current approach to the resolution of the dispute is only likely to deepen the divide between the stakeholders and is unlikely to bring resolution to a dispute which is so painful to them and to every West Indian.Further, they wish it to be known that they accept and recognise the right of each individual cricketer to determine for himself whether to tour or not and wish the current representatives of the West Indies cricket team well on the remainder of their tour of Sri Lanka and wish to in no way be associated with any criticism of those players whether public or in private.”

Shaun Tait is set to make his Test debut as Australia bid to fight fire with fire in the latest thrilling instalment of the Ashes series at Trent Bridge. On hearing the news Tait hoped he and Brett Lee could become a fearsome pace combination in the image of Lillee and Thomson.The selectors have decided to give Tait, whose 65 wickets in last season’s Sheffield Shield was the second-best haul in the history of Australia’s first-class competition, a shot at the big time in place of Jason Gillespie, and will become Australia’s 392nd Test player. “The ball is swinging around here,” Ricky Ponting said, “and it will be even more difficult for anyone to combat him and play him in these conditions.”Asked if he and Lee could be the “new Lillee and Thomson” Tait replied: “Yeah, that’s what I’ve had in the back of my mind as well. Brett’s pretty young, he’s really fit and he’s bowling lightning at the moment. So I think over the next few years it could be exciting. If all goes well it would be great for the country to watch two young, genuine quick bowlers in action together.”Ponting said he had no fears regarding the economy rate of Tait, a 22-year-old who sprayed the ball last year during a short stint with Durham. “Taity might go for a few runs but he has that out and out wicket-taking ability,” he said. “The game the other day [he took 2 for 52 in the draw against Northamptonshire] and his record suggests he will do that. If we set the right fields for him and use him and Brett in shorter bursts then we will be able to cope well.”During Australia’s final warm-up match for the fourth Test, Tait hit the Northamptonshire opener Tim Roberts on the head, the batsman leaving the field with blood pouring from above his left eyebrow. “I was a little bit worried because I’d never actually seen that much blood on a cricket field before,” he said. “I’d seen a bit in the past but not that much dripping out of his head, it was quite a decent gash so I was a little bit worried for him.”Tait, who said the prospect of wearing the baggy green cap was a “dream come true”, insisted he was ready to be on the receiving end of plenty of short-pitched bowling. “I’ve got to worry about my own head,” he said. “They’re not shy of hitting our blokes in the head. It will be a good contest. I’m up for that.”Ponting said he has been excited by the prospect of playing Tait and would give him a licence to attack. “That is the only way he knows,” he said. “I watched him in the last tour game and he bowled lots of bouncers and yorkers. He knows we want him to run in and bowl fast and try and get wickets for us. That’s the way he will be used.”

Worcestershire have signed Chris Gayle for the remainder of the season as a replacement for Zander de Bruyn, the South African allrounder, who has been selected for their A team. Gayle, who has yet to play county cricket, will play his first game against Lancashire in the National League on August 24.He will be available for five National League matches and four County Championship games and joins Shoaib Akhtar, who is mid-way through his spell at New Road. Gayle’s flamboyant batting will boost a strong top-order which already includes Graeme Hick and Vikram Solanki. His flat off-spin will also be a useful weapon, especially in the closing stages of the National League season.Worcestershire are currently fifth in Division Two of the County Championship and still very much in contention for a promotion place. However, in Division One of the National League they are rooted to the foot of the table and struggling to avoid relegation.

Malinga Bandara, the 25-year-old legspinner, has been included in a 20-player Sri Lankan pool for the tour of India later this year. The probables list also includes Sajeewa Weerakoon, the left-arm spinner who has been in impressive form with the A team recently, and Upul Tharanga, the left-handed opening batsman.Bandara made his Test debut as long back as May 1998, but hasn’t got another opportunity on the international stage after turning in an insipid performance in that match. Bandara’s first-class stats, though, are impressive – 233 wickets at 25.05 – and what swung the decision his way was probably his performance for Gloucestershire in the 2005 county season: he played only eight games but finished joint-highest wicket-taker, along with Steve Kirby, his 45 scalps coming at just 24 apiece.Sri Lanka will play seven one-dayers and three Tests in India over a two-month period from October 25.The 20-man list
Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Russel Arnold, Avishka Gunawardena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath, Dilhara Fernando, Malinga Bandara, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Sajeewa Weerakoon, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Lokuhettige.

Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, came to the post-match press conference smelling of victory – champagne to be precise – and declared that his team were playing their best one-day cricket in a long time. He also used the occasion to strongly endorse the concept of Super Series despite the hopelessly one-sided nature of the inaugural affair.Australia’s desperation to win the series has been evident throughout the week and once again their collective effort shone much brighter than the uneasy assembly of a galaxy of stars drawn from seven different nations. “All through the week, it has been a big statement from us,” Ponting said. “I have always said that if we can focus on things we can do, we can compete with any team in the world.”Ponting said his team had looked forward to this series for a long time and was proud of the way his players had stood up to the challenge. When it was pointed out to him that it hadn’t been much of a challenge, Ponting justified the relevance of the concept.”It is still a great concept,” Ponting said when asked if the 3-0 result had hurt the credibility of the tournament. “I hope the result doesn’t prove to be detrimental to the idea. There were some pretty good players and I reckon the Test match might be a bit more different.”Shaun Pollock, the captain of the vanquished team, concurred. “I still think it’s a pretty good idea to hold this every four years. We had a good team, it’s just that we couldn’t come up with the performances.”They (Australia) gave a superb performance throughout the series. We needed just one classy performance from the star players but they did not click together.”In Sunday’s match, Pollock admitted his side was never in the hunt once it lost four wickets for some 30 odd runs. “[Brett] Lee actually stalled our big chase by taking three wickets cheaply and that put pressure on us.”Pollock said the Sydney Test would provide the opportunity for the World XI players to redeem themselves. “Test match cricket is a bit more of an individual game and it will provide the scope for some of our players to express themselves. Our batsmen haven’t got going in the one-day matches and they have a point to prove in Sydney.”The World XI captain said the selectors, headed by India’s Sunil Gavaskar, had chosen a quality side, “But we just didn’t play like the side we could”.Pollock also felt that the timing of the series could be reconsidered. “We had a few players who had no cricket for a long time and players from India and Sri Lanka came from matches against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. And from that perspective we were underdone, but you also have to understand the schedules these days is very difficult to fit more cricket in,” he said. “A series like this is perhaps better held at the end of the season.”Shane Watson was Australia’s hero once again. He was not only their most successful bowler with 4 for 39, but he weighed in with a vital, run-a-ball 66 which bailed Australia out of a difficult situation at 155 for 5.Watson had said at the start of the series that he could be Australia’s answer to Andrew Flintoff. Pretty big words for a player with a modest international record. But after back-to-back match winning performances, he was pretty confident that he could back his words with deeds. “I would love to be the player Flintoff is,” he said, “I admire the way he contributes with the bat and the ball match after match, and I believe that I can contribute similarly for Australia.”I am enjoying my cricket at the moment and I am not trying to put myself under too much pressure. And it’s working well for me. “Ponting said he had been impressed with Watson’s performances in England and the way he had learnt to build an innings. He was also full of praise for Mike Hussey, whose unbeaten 75 was an intelligent mixture of placing the ball in the gaps and finding the boundary at the right moment.

Bangladesh gained their second win in two days with a thrilling one-wicket victory over the in-form Pakistan side. Pakistan posted a testing 252, but Bangladesh did well after an opening stand of 130. Ali Khan top-scored with 75 off 95 balls, while Showardhi Shuvo was the pick of the attack with 4 for 52. Tamim Khan launched Bangladesh’s reply in style with 61 from 63 balls, to follow is 60 against Zimbabwe. Then Shuvo showed his all round pedigree by blasting 67 off 62 balls to carry his team to the narrowest of wins.Gaurav Dhiman struck his second century in two matches as India comfortably dispatched Zimbabwe by 94 runs. Dhiman stroked his way to 108 off 99 balls, with eight fours and two sixes, as India posted a challenging 249 for 8. Zimbabwe never threatened to get close to the target despite Tafadzwa Mufambisi’s 57. Mufambisi already has a first-class century despite being just 18 and this was another example of his promise. All the Indian bowlers chipped in but Saurav Bandekar was the pick with 4 for 33.Sri Lanka were the other winners in the latest day of action as they overcame a below-par South Africa team. The Sri Lanka attack skittled the South African batting for just 123 before knocking off the runs with 21 overs to spare.

Deb K Das with his report on the USACA’s EGM and what it achieved – or didn’t achieveOf the two season-ending events in US cricket from which a great deal had been expected, the Interstate Tournament at Brian Piccolo Park in Florida ended with a decided bang, and the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) called by the USA Cricket Association (USACA) the following week hardly rated a whimper.Much had been expected from the EGM on December 10 in Dallas. For one thing, it was supposed to formalize the end of the protracted conflict between the USACA and the Council of League Presidents that had brought US cricket to a standstill for nearly a year. A final agreement on holding a new USACA election was to have been achieved, and a complete redraft of the much-criticized constitution was to have been set in motion. The gag orders on all parties were to be lifted, and the websites of the USACA and CLP were to be free to operate and were to resume the communications that had been rudely interrupted by the legal disputes. In other words, this was to be new beginning for the USACA, and a chance to convince a sceptical ICC that the USACA was on a new and constructive course.US cricketers, too, had been making clear that there were questions it wanted answered, and issues they wanted USACA to address. What was the present status of the USA within the ICC; was it an Associate Member, an Affiliate Member or neither? If the USA was an Associate Member, why had the ICC failed to schedule the USA in any events for the next two years? What plans did the USACA have to be re-instated into ICC’s good graces? With no ICC money coming into the US, would the USACA now raise the dues of individuals or clubs in order to stay solvent? US cricketers wanted straight answers to these questions, and hoped these would be addressed at the EGM.There were also questions on other matters, which had been raised directly with USACA leadership. What action would the USACA take on two proposals: one concerning mainstreaming of US cricket and the other on changing dues payments from a per-club to a per-member basis, which had been formally prepared and presented to USACA leadership? Also, how and when would USACA initiate exploratory discussions with Major League Cricket (MLC) for cooperation in the interests of US cricket, and would it also actively disavow all efforts to sabotage, undermine or otherwise denigrate MLC’s policies and programs? Clearly US cricketers had been looking for specific answers to all these questions, and the EGM looked like a likely place to find them.The first warning signs that all was not well with the EGM came with the fact that there was no mention of such a meeting on the USACA’s own website, and only a brief reference on the CLP’s. Only Cricinfo carried a story on the EGM, and that too over a month after it was supposed to have been decided upon.As just about everyone in US cricket knew, a USACA EGM is not easy to hold; it requires that at least 15% of the membership from across the USA be represented in person at the meeting, which would mean that given the USACA’s registered membership, 30 to 40 representatives of member clubs would have to be present in Dallas to secure a quorum. In the only two previous EGMs held in the past five years, there had been concerted efforts to get clubs to send representatives, and three to four times the numbers needed had shown up at the meeting. This time, there seems to have been no such effort; USACA leadership simply sat back and waited to see who would show up in Dallas.The full extent of the shortfall was not known until Vinod Shankar, an observer who had produced the first independent review of the MLC Interstate tournament, produced a similar one for the EGM. Until then, neither the USACA nor the CLP had seen fit to issue any kind of report. According to Shankar’s tally, there were 17 persons (including him) at the EGM in Dallas. Three were USACA officers; six were Board members (one short of the number needed to have a board quorum); five were present and former officers, and current members, of the North Texas Cricket Association that was hosting the conference; one and possibly two were from the neighboring cricket league at Houston. There was not a single other USACA member club representative from anywhere else in the USA. Far from not being able to achieve a quorum, the EGM had scored a big fat zero. And though some USACA supporters were bitter in blaming member clubs for their absolute apathy, the blame really needs to be placed squarely on USACA leadership for totally failing to persuade their members of the importance of the Dallas meeting.Under the circumstances, those present in Dallas decided to make the best of it, and conducted an open-ended discussion. Gladstone Dainty talked about focusing USACA’s energies on youth (non immigrant) cricket development, put the past behind, and work towards the development of cricket in the United States. The meeting minutes of the previous AGM were unavailable, as the secretary was not in attendance. Caesar explained that the chanelling of Project USA funds to Gary Hopkins through a separate USACA account had led to some problems that the auditors were currently working with USACA to sort out. Dainty said that all tournament dates would be announced by Jan 15 for the 2006 calendar year, so that different leagues could prepare accordingly.Lu Rehman, a vice-president, said there were no funds to host all these youth tournaments that were being proposed. Laks Sampath, a North West Regional Director, challenged Rehman to come up with some accomplishments in the next two months towards cricket development. There was talk about forming a constitution committee. A deadline for completing the task of having a new website in place was set by Dainty as January 31, 2006. Dainty also declared that any player could play in any tournament (MLC, ProCricket etc) in the United States and that would not harm that player’s chances of playing in Regional Championships or to represent USACA in ICC events.An interesting point did emerge during the discussions. It seems that even though both the CLP and USACA execs had reached an amicable agreement and had sorted out their differences, no statements were issued to the press or the ICC because they were still waiting for people to sign off on the lawsuit before they could issue that statement. It was decided to get this signed off as soon as possible so that “the curtain could be closed on USACA’s darkest hour”Some USACA supporters take a Pollyanna-ish attitude towards these deliberations, and declare that this was proof that USACA was at last beginning to move in the right direction. I find it difficult to share that optimism. For one thing, none of the issues raised by US cricketers appears to have been addressed, let alone resolved. Even the Under-19 team preparations were not brought up. And the revelation that even the agreement between CLP and USACA on ending their disputes has not been acted upon because it is waiting on the disputants to sign off on it is somewhere between outrageous and unbelievable. If this is the way that the USACA is going to run its own business, it is no wonder that people are losing any hope that the USACA will ever be able to get its house in order — now, or at any other time.

Zimbabwe’s disgruntled players have announced that they will not travel to Bangladesh for the Afro-Asia A-team tournament in January unless their demands, including for the dismissal of Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute and payment of monies owed to them, are met. They also said that the Under-23 side will not travel to South Africa to play in domestic cup matches in February.Last week, the players decided to resume training so that they would be prepared for the tournaments, but they changed their minds because of what a spokesman described as “the ongoing failure of ZC to address players concerns, both contractual and governance”. The spokesman said that the organisers of the two events should urgently make alternative plans.The decision was made at a meeting of all 37 nationally-contracted players on Wednesday. “We made a 100% decision not to go,” said Blessing Mahwire, the ZPCA chairperson. “We will still play club and provincial cricket in Zimbabwe, but we are giving the Bangladeshis as much notice as possible so they can invite another country. We are aware of the impact we will make, but we have been forced into it.”The change of heart has come because of the remarkably high-handed way that Zimbabwe Cricket has dealt with the players in the last ten days. Despite the delicate nature of the situation, ZC shut its offices without notice a fortnight before Christmas and they are not expected to re-open until mid January. Players’ fuel and car allowances were withheld, meaning that some had to run up to 12km to training sessions, and ZC officials refused to carry out any negotiations despite repeated requests for meetings by the Zimbabwe Professional Cricketers’ Association.”It’s a financial issue,” explained Clive Field, the ZPCA chief executive. “These guys are crying out for help, but if they can’t see a viable career in cricket they’ll have to earn a living doing something else. It’s vital that we try to keep cricket going in Zimbabwe, but these are professional sportsmen who have to make a living.”What happens next is up to the ZC,” he added. “The players have made their position clear. They are sticking to the original list of concerns, including that Chingoka and Bvute must go.”