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Kookaburra diplomacyBefore the game began, as the Australians walked out to the boundary ropes for a stretch the boisterous crowd began its sickening chant of “Aussies Suck”. It’s a Mumbai speciality, and though you hardly expect respect from the crowds for some of the best performers in the game, you don’t want to see this kind of thing either. Mike Young, Australia’s fielding coach, did his bit to win the crowd over, walking around the outfield and tossing a ball into each of the stands for a lucky spectator to catch. Handy souvenir from someone you’re booing.BlackoutAfter its initial reluctance to warm to the idea the Board of Control for Cricket in India has now embraced Twenty20 as fully as possible. But the organisation, or at least some parts of it, were a shambles when play began. For nearly ten overs there was no electricity in two stands and the tower housing the broadcasters and the media. The BCCI are quite good at keeping the media in the dark when they want, but this surely was the first time they did so literally.

Twelve and outBrett Lee used to be part of a band that called itself . On the day it was 12 and out for Adam Gilchrist. Off the very first over, in a supercharged atmosphere, Gilchrist carted the second, third and fourth deliveries from RP Singh for boundaries. A streaky edge between slip and keeper, a slash over point, a whip to fine-leg and middle stump uprooted next ball by a superb yorker. In all his innings consumed just three minutes. Not even enough time to cook instant noodles.Bounce ‘imWith the DJ pumping music that was geeing the crowd up – as if they needed any help – it was perhaps not surprising that Sreesanth, never one to keep his calm at the best of times, chose to bounce Matthew Hayden. The ball was pacy and climbed sharply on Hayden, but he was up to it, pulling off the front foot, with such monstrous power that the ball didn’t merely go high, it went far as well, clearing first the ropes and then the stands on the leg side, sailing out of the ground. Hitting sixes is one thing, but clearing the stands? That takes some doing.End of the road?Brad Hodge, for all the long rope he has been given, has failed to come up with one meaningful score in this Indian sojourn. His latest knock, perhaps his last in green and gold, lasted all of six balls and produced two runs, before Irfan Pathan got a straight one to slide through. Hodge, attempting to biff the ball over midwicket, was nowhere near the ball and the middle stump landed in Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s gloves.First sighting of HilfyBen Hilfenhaus has travelled to Bangalore, Kochi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vadodara, Nagpur and Mumbai without bowling a single ball. When the swing bowler from Tasmania got his first go, it should have produced a wicket. Gautam Gambhir sliced one high and wide towards mid-off, and it was safely pouched by Stuart Clark. Just as the Australians began to celebrate Suresh Shastri, the umpire, signalled the no-ball with a smile on his face. The free-hit cost nothing but one wasn’t too sure if Hilfenhaus saw the funny side of it.

Mark Gillespie, the New Zealand fast bowler, has been ruled out of the second Test against Bangladesh after he aggravated the shoulder injury which forced him to miss the first Test while playing for Wellington against Auckland.Gillespie took 3 for 36 off 4.2 overs during his comeback for Wellington but the injury, which he sustained in the second ODI against Bangladesh in Napier, resurfaced and forced him to leave the field.”He [Gillespie] is definitely out of the Test line-up,” Durning told stuff.co.nz. “He bowled a complete spell the other day but yesterday he was three or four overs into a spell and all of sudden something happened again. We’ll wait and see the results of the Tests before making another other decisions.”Wellington coach Anthony Stuart also couldn’t explain what the problem with Gillespie’s shoulder was. “He [Gillespie] was confident of getting through ten overs and he got three wickets for us early and then just pulled up lame so it doesn’t look good,” Stuart said. “I’ve got no idea and to be fair I don’t think many people have got any idea about it. But there’s obviously a problem in there, whether it’s a rotator cuff or a nerve.”It only hits him at certain times and I don’t know if there’s an apparent reason for it or not, whether there’s something in his action, I don’t know, we can’t pinpoint it.”Gillespie did not take part in New Zealand’s practice session at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Thursday. Fast bowlers Iain O’Brien and Michael Mason were the contenders to replace Gillespie though offspinner Jeetan Patel also had a chance depending on the nature of the pitch.

Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan blasted hundreds as New Zealand cruised to an easy 127-run win over a Queensland XI in the first of two one-day practice matches at Allan Border Field, Brisbane, today.The matches have been arranged as preparation for the New Zealanders before they embark on a triangular one-day series against Pakistan and South Africa in Singapore starting next Sunday. Queensland have already played host to the Australian team for two matches over the past three days.While New Zealand had a comfortable win in today’s match, they suffered a blow with wicketkeeper Chris Nevin being unable to take his place behind the stumps after injuring a tendon. Nevin is being flown back to New Zealand and is out of the Singapore series. Adam Parore is replacing Nevin and will fly into Brisbane to join the New Zealand squad tomorrow morning.NZ captain Stephen Fleming won the toss and elected to bat first. Daniel Vettori opened the batting with Chris Nevin. Usual opening batsman Nathan Astle is playing for Accrington in the Lancashire League and will join the NZ camp in Singapore later this week.By the end of the third over both openers were back in the pavilion. Nevin made seven, while the Vettori experiment ended with his score on four, becoming Scott Muller’s first victim of the day.Muller claimed his second wicket and Queensland’s third with the score on 49, Stephen Fleming (15) hitting a catch to the waiting hands of Jimmy Maher. This brought Cairns to the crease, and in Muller’s next over Cairns moved into full cry with a four, a six and a six off successive deliveries. Twenty-two runs off the over saw Muller (2/56 from seven overs) removed from the attack, the second day in a row that he had taken a mauling.The scoring was in excess of a run a ball when Roger Twose (24) was the next wicket to fall, caught behind off the bowling of Matthew Pascoe. McMillan joined Cairns and after a brief settling in period the onslaught resumed.Cairns brought up his half-century in the 23rd over with a boundary off Lee Carseldine, having faced just 36 balls. He was severe on off-spinner Scott O’Leary, lofting him for sixes in consecutive overs.Cairns’ 100 came up on his 87th ball faced in the innings, but he failed to add to that score when he lofted O’Leary to a waiting Scott Muller. He hit seven fours and five sixes in his even hundred.McMillan brought up his half-century off 84 deliveries in the 43rd over of the innings, but with Chris Harris as his new partner, the scoring rate simply accelerated. The final eight overs of the New Zealand innings yielded 108 runs, McMillan bringing up his hundred on the second last ball of the fiftieth over from 108 deliveries. That’s 24 balls for his second fifty.McMillan was out off the final ball of the innings for 103 (nine fours, three sixes), while Harris (38* from 23 balls, three fours, two sixes) played one of the innings that has made his reputation as one of the finest late-overs batsmen in the world.New Zealand finished their fifty overs with a total of 7/321. Muller was the only bowler to take two wickets. Scott O’Leary (1/76 from ten overs) has yet to play for Queensland in a Pura Cup or Mercantile Mutual Cup match, and is unlikely to experience the same baptism of fire when the day of his competition debut does arrive.From the moment that Jimmy Maher (14) was given out lbw to Geoff Allott in the seventh over, Queensland were never in the hunt. Jerry Cassell made a fine 58, and Scott Prestwidge (31, including two sixes off Vettori) played a lively innings, but at the thirty-over mark the required run rate per over was already more than 10.Eight New Zealanders were giving bowling practice, and at least the Queenslanders can say that they lasted the full fifty overs, their score at the end of the innings being 9/194. Shayne O’Connor (3/24 from seven overs), Chris Harris (3/23 from eight) and Geoff Allott (2/26 from seven) were the best of the NZ bowlers.With Nevin unable to keep wicket, Roger Twose donned the gloves until Queensland Second XI keeper Gavin Fitness had been summoned to take over. Fitness, in his role as New Zealand substitute keeper, found himself in the unusual situation of stumping fellow Queenslander Brendan Creevey off the bowling of Vettori.New Zealand have one more practice match against Queensland tomorrow Tuesday. Parore is expected to keep wicket for the visitors, almost immediately after hopping off the plane.

Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer has been reported under the ICC Code of Conduct for comments made about the umpiring during Pakistan’s recent tour of Australia. He told an Australian newspaper that the close decisions ‘went 29-5 against us’.Woolmer also alleged that five close calls against Pakistan in the first match of the one-day VB Series finals, and added that a declined appeal against Adam Gilchrist in the first over of the second final was “plumb”. Woolmer concluded: “Quite frankly, Australia were the better side against us this summer, but some of these decisions made a huge difference. You are talking about decisions which players’ careers rested on.”But Woolmer’s outspoken comments did not go down well at the ICC, whose high-performance manager he used to be. Malcolm Speed, the chief executive, has exercised his right to cite Woolmer under Level 2.4 of the ICC Code, which deals with “public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on a match-related incident or match official”.The hearing will be dealt with by the Pakistan Cricket Board as soon as is reasonably practicable. All Level 2 breaches carry a minimum penalty of 50% of the player or official’s match fee, and a maximum penalty of their full match fee and/or a ban for one Test or two ODIs. In the case of officials who are not paid a match fee, it is considered to be the same as that of the players. If an official is banned they are not permitted to carry out their duties during the matches in question.

The ICC’s Global Development Manager has announced that Martin Vieira has beenappointed as the new ICC Regional Development Manager for the Americaseffective March 31st, 2003.Martin was instrumental in the Bid preparation, lobbying, successfulpresentation and in the organization of the ICC Trophy 2001 with special regardto transportation.Martin will be based in Toronto, Ontario out of the Sports Alliance of Ontario offices. He has spent his first week in London with the ICC DevelopmentManager and the European Development offices for a thorough background briefingon the Development Program.Martin believes that “there is a lot of potential for development in theregion, and he “looks forward to working with all of the cricket-playingcountries in the Americas to help raise the profile of the game and improve thestandard of play.” Martin brings to the post over 30 years involvement incricket in Canada as a player, coach and administrator especially in the areaof youth or junior cricket.Further details will be shortly available. We in Canada and in the Americaslook forward to a long and productive tenure for Martin.

West Indies 208 for 2 (Lara 86*, Gayle 69) v England
Scorecard

After three Tests where, by and large, everything came fairly easily to England’s bowlers, they found the going far harder on a pitch devoid of pace and bounce. By the close of a rain-interrupted first day in Antigua, West Indies were cruising on 208 for 2, and Brian Lara was looking broodingly dangerous, unbeaten on 86. He has plenty of scores to settle.The loss of the entire afternoon session after a downpour during and shortly after the lunch break robbed proceedings of any real momentum, and overall the day had something of an end-of-term feel to it. The crowd was slow in arriving – there were still plenty of empty seats midway even by lunch – and the atmosphere inside the Rec was decidedly flat. This most compact of grounds only came alive during the rain delay, with the sound systems in the Double Decker stand loud even by their standards and the dancing frenetic. Only the resumption of the match stifled the fun.England’s pace quartet realised early on that this wicket had been custom-made for batting. Lara briefly flirted with putting England in – heavy rain had left the surface damp – but his decision to bat was vindicated as England’s hitherto lethal attack huffed and puffed with little reward. Geraint Jones spent most of his first day in Test cricket taking balls dying on him.The morning belonged to Chris Gayle. He took half an hour to dust off the cobwebs, but when he did he unleashed some trademark drives and cuts through the covers, although there were still enough wild slashes to keep the bowlers interested. He lost Daren Ganga – who had once again failed to look as if should be opening the innings – on the hour when Andrew Flintoff produced the classic fast bowler’s one-two. First he dug in a bouncer, and then the next ball was pitched up, Ganga was caught back in the crease, and was comprehensively leg-before for 10 (33 for 1).

Enter Lara, under pressure, out of sorts, but on a ground which holds happy memories for him. Before he had scored, he survived a hugely confident shout for caught behind from Stephen Harmison. There was a noise – but no visible deflection – and the celebrating Harmison was well past the batsman before he looked round to see Darrell Hair shaking his head. Harmison – with 22 wickets coming into this game – was due an off day, and this was it. He was warned in his second over for running down the pitch, and rarely rekindled the menace he has shown so far.With Gayle’s confidence increasing, Lara was initially content to play second fiddle. As Gayle’s run-rate rose, England quite deliberately slowed the pace, with blatant time-wasting to try and rattle him. But what did unsettle him was the introduction of Gareth Batty – a late replacement for the unwell Ashley Giles – in the final over of the morning. Conscious that he had to be sensible with the break looming, Gayle, on 69, was caught in several minds, and he tamely chipped Batty’s fifth ball back to him. It was a limp ending to an entertaining innings (98 for 2).After a four-hour delay, play resumed and it was almost uninterrupted one-way traffic as West Indies chugged along at over four an over. Lara grew more assured, although Ramnaresh Sarwan was suffering in a crisis of confidence of his own at the other end. Lara’s timing, indifferent at first, returned and he brought up his fifty with a sweet pull off Simon Jones, and then smacked him through the covers for good measure. It might have come two or three Tests too late, but he was three-quarters of the way to being back to his best.Meanwhile, Sarwan’s problems were compounded when he was struck amidships by Batty; he collapsed as if shot by a sniper, and took about as long to recover as if he had. He then edged Jones, who was struggling with his run-up, to second slip, but that fielder had been removed to stem the flow of runs, and the ball bobbled for four. In the final overs his inside-edge off Harmison somehow missed his off stump and earned him another boundary. He ended the day on 41, and for once the luck was with West Indies.The pitch at St John’s usually lasts the duration, and it will take some good bowling or bad batting for either side to force a result, especially given that the forecast for the next four days is for more heavy showers. It would be very much a case of after the Lord Mayor’s Show, were it not for Lara.Martin Williamson is managing editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Darren Gough has been named as Essex’s new vice-captain, as part of a pre-season shake-up at Chelmsford that has already resulted in Graham Gooch, the former head coach, handing over several of his day-to-day duties to the captain, Ronnie Irani, in order to take up a broader role within the club.It is just the latest step in the renaissance of Gough, who signed from Yorkshire in a high-profile move last summer. He had been widely written off at the end of last season, but bounced back with a vengeance on England’s one-day tour of South Africa last month, and is determined to play a major role in the forthcoming NatWest clashes with Australia.”I am very much looking forward to my new position of vice-captain at Essex," Gough told essexcricket.org.uk. "I had the opportunity to be captain of Yorkshire before I left, but this is a big opportunity for me now at Essex.”Coming to Essex has been a good move for me and being made vice-captain is a huge honour," he added. "I hope that my 15 years of experience in county cricket – including 10 years in international cricket – will have an influence on the rest of the squad. I have been on England’s management committee for five years and this is another big achievement in my career.”Gough takes over the role from the previous incumbent, Paul Grayson, who will instead captain the second eleven, and according to the club captain, Irani, his promotion was essential for the balance of the team.”In my new wider captaincy role it was of the utmost importance to bring in someone such as Darren Gough as vice-captain," explained Irani. "Darren is a natural leader and a top performer who is well suited to such a position at this stage in his career. He is one of the best players in the world I could have as my right-hand man.”Darren is always among the first to offer advice and possesses one of the best cricketing brains in the country.”

South Africa arrived in Pakistan to a reception heavy on security. A bomb blast in Karachi jeopardised the tour, and as expected, heightened security will be a part of their entourage wherever they go in Pakistan.A dozen Pakistani commandos cordoned off the arrival terminal at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore. The South Africans were then escorted to their hotel by a convoy of 20 police vehicles.At the hotel itself, sniffer dogs were employed to check the second floor of the hotel, even as many policemen patrolled outside the building. “Around 150 commandos have been deployed to keep tight security around the team in the hotel and on the ground as they are our valued guests,” Salim Zia Agha, deputy superintendent of police, told AFP.”I am happy that the South African team has arrived here and hope they haveleft whatever happened in the last week behind,” said M Moolla, the South African High Commissioner who met the team at the airport. “I look forward to seeing some exciting cricket from this young South African team.”

Ashley Giles returns to competitive action on Tuesday, as he continues his fitness bid ahead of the Ashes, by playing for Warwickshire’s second XI in the Second Eleven Trophy against Glamorgan at Neath.Giles has been battling to recover from a hip problem since Warwickshire’s Championship match against Sussex, at Hove on May 10, and was ruled out of the two-Test series against BangladeshA cortisone injection failed to help Giles but now he will hope to show he is making good progress towards being fit for the five Tests against Australia. If he comes through the Trophy game Giles is targeting another appearance for Warwickshire in the National League meeting with Leicestershire at Edgbaston, on Sunday.Giles told the Press Association: “The plan is to play for Warwickshire seconds at Neath and we’ll then look and see how things are.If it goes well the plan is for me to play in the one-day game against Leicestershire on Sunday.”Giles has been a key part of England’s success during the last 18 months, not only with his left-arm spin but also his punchy lower-order batting. Since the start of last summer Giles has averaged 30 with the ball and 29 with the bat. He also started this summer in fine style, taking 24 Championship wickets before suffering his injury.His comeback comes only days after the former Australia paceman Terry Alderman launched a stinging attack on Giles and described him as the weak link in England’s attack.

Bermuda 143 for 5 (Romaine 59, Cann 35*) beat England 138 for 5 (Lloyd 46*) by five runsBermuda sent a sizable crowd into raptures with a five-run win over England that sent the hosts into the final of the 20-20 World Cricket Classic after they had seemed to be on course for defeat.Bermuda won the toss but soon struggled as they were reduced to 21 for 3 after five overs as Phil Defreitas and Chris Lewis put a stranglehold on the top order.But Irvine Romaine flayed the attack with 59, including four sixes, and supported by Lionel Cann, out on a vital 47 for the sixth wicket. Cann was caught at third man off a no-ball early on, and was then bowled by Lewis off the free hit which follows every no-ball.England looked well set, and raced to 37 for 0 off three overs before the introduction of Dwayne Leverock and Hasan Durham stemmed the flow. With five overs remaining, England needed 46, and Graham Lloyd improvised with skill to keep them in the chase. They required 14 off the final over, and when Lloyd smashed Cann’s first ball for six, the 4000-strong crowd feared the worst. But Cann stayed calm, and Lloyd failed to hit the last ball for the six by then needed, triggered a pitch invasion by jubilant supporters.Bermuda will play either New Zealand or South Africa in the final.West Indies 136 for 3 (Williams 66) beat India 135 for 9 (Chauhan 60, Garner 3-17) by seven wicketsWest Indies did all they could to throw away a place in the final after seemingly choking within sight of victory, but in the end they stumbled over the finishing line.When Stuart Williams was run out for 66, West Indies only needed 19 off 18 balls with wickets to spare. But India stifled Thelston Payne and Carlisle Best so well that they took 12 runs off the next 12 balls, and then lost Payne to the first delivery of the final over. When Best failed to score off the third and fourth balls, India sensed a remarkable win, but Best came good to smack the last two balls for fours to put his side through to the Plate final and send India out of the tournament.India failed to score enough runs, losing five wickets for 50 midway through the innings as Hendy Bryan, Colin Croft and Joel Garner held sway. Only Rajesh Chauhan made any major contribution, slamming four fours and three sixes off only 48 balls while Kuruvilla Abey hit a brisk 22 off 18 balls at the death.Garner, making his first appearance, was the pick of the West Indies bowling with impressive figures of 3 for 17 off four overs, while Croft and Bryan picked up two apiece.