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West Indies might have slumped to two crushing defeats in the opening two games of the one-day series but Shivnarine Chanderpaul, their captain, was optimistic about his team fighting back and winning the five-match rubber.”The same way South Africa came out and won two games we can come out and win three games,” Chanderpaul was quoted as saying in The Nation. “Anything is possible, we still believe in ourselves and we will stay positive all the time.” South Africa cruised to an easy eight-wicket win in the rain-affected second one-dayer, after restricting West Indies to just 152 for 7.”We lost some early wickets … and the wicket was a little bit low and the ball was gripping, but with the total on the board, anything was possible. We just needed to go out there and put the ball in the right areas and anything can happen for you.”We need to think more on our cricket,” he said. “Our batters need to stand up, they need to lay the foundation … to give us a score to fight with.” Chanderpual also mentioned that the South African bowlers have managed to put the bowl in the right spot and made early inroads in their batting line-up.However, Graeme Smith, was a satisfied man and was confident of a clean sweep. “The last two days have been unbelievable, the intensity in the field, the half stops, the half chances … are all crucial to winning one-day cricket, but from a bowling point of view, I was really satisfied today,” he continued. “We are looking to win all five, and the one in Barbados is really important for a series win. We want to do well there and hopefully leave there with a series win.”

John Wright, the former Indian coach, has said that the time for honorary selectors may be up, and has urged the Indian board administration to bring in professionals. “I have no problems with the selectors because they’re all trying to do a tough job,” said Wright in a frank interview with . “What I have a problem with is the system, whereby they’re voted in every year and they’re voted in by a geographical region. I don’t think that situation is healthy.”Wright said he had witnessed several passionate selection meetings, and noted that since selectors performed in an honorary capacity, they would be changed often, regardless of whether they were competent or otherwise. This process, he said, had to change because a large part of a team’s showing depended on the actions of the selectors.”Every year, generally, you have a new convenor and a different make-up on your panel, so the continuity is difficult. Sanjay Jagdale has been an outstanding selector and because his time is up he is no longer in that position. That to me just doesn’t make sense.”I feel that the system of picking your national selection panel may have done its course,” he continued, “and I would urge the BCCI to study the situation. I have a personal opinion that it should be a professional position, the way it is in a number of countries. You can have the best coaching system and your best coaches, but if you don’t get your selections right, you’re making it very difficult for yourselves.”Wright added that a selector who toured with the team could help matters, because he would be in a position to interact with the captain and coach on requirements and decisions, and could convey them to the rest of the selection panel. As for feedback on players at first-class level, utilising the services of coaches could be helpful. “I think there are some good coaches out there in the first-class system, and they should be used. I hope they establish a pathway for coaching in domestic cricket. There’s a new group coming through, guys like Paras Mhambrey, Venkatesh Prasad, Robin Singh. If you can get a system going where they feel there’s a career there, then that could be helpful.”Wright added that you could not rule entirely out a situation where coaches becamse surplus to requirement and the team was “taking responsibility for those decisions.”Which leads us to the Ian Chappell situation, where if a captain doesn’t really want anyone else around, then fine.”

Tom Moody, Sri Lanka’s latest Australian coach, has been given a wider mandate than his predecessors to revamp the island’s coaching structure at the national and grassroots level, with the aim that Sri Lanka can win the 2007 World Cup and are able to be consistently rated as one of the top three Test nations in the world.Sri Lanka’s previous foreign coaches have had limited input into wider development issues and have often been left frustrated by a general lack of clout over even minor team issues. But Moody, the highest-paid coach in Sri Lanka’s history with a pay packet estimated to be US$150,000 plus expenses, has been assured a freer rein to build for the future.”Tom’s primary focus will be as head coach of the national team but he will also be looking at the structure of our coaching system in the island which we believe needs to be reviewed,” Tryphon Mirando, the interim board secretary, said at a media briefing. “We have already had a very healthy discussion about the long-term future and Tom will be working very closely with everyone so we can be champions again.”Moody produced an accomplished performance in front of the Sri Lanka media for the first time, sidestepping the predictable politically-slanted questions from some journalists relating to the recent cricket board crisis with ease. His theme was building for the future and putting in place the support structures necessary to properly harness the talents of the national team in particular and the island as a whole.”I am very excited and honoured to be Sri Lanka coach,” Moody announced. “I am ambitious and this [an international post] is something that I have been striving for. I am now looking forward to working with some of the world’s best players and taking the side forward. I will be the head team coach but I will also closely monitor the A team and the under-19 team and look into coaching at the grassroots.””Our main focus is the World Cup in 2007 and the journey we are started now is geared towards a successful campaign in the West Indies,” he added. “We will sit down with the senior core of the players when I return to review how the game is being played now and the likely conditions to formulate our strategies. Fortunately, we have plenty of time up our sleeve to come up with strategies that can help us win that tournament. In Tests, our goal is to look at a consistent place in the top three and to do that we need to maintain the side’s home form and improve performances overseas.Moody has also been given the freedom to build a new back-room support staff for the team. CJ Clarke is the current physiotherapist and is contracted until the 2007 World Cup, but there is no fitness trainer any longer after the failure of the previous administration to renew Shane Duff’s contract at the start of the year. A full-time assistant coach – possibly one of the leading local coaches like Rumesh Ratanayke or Roy Dias – is also on the cards.”I am in favour of having a quality support team to give the players the best chance possible of performing at their best,” commented Moody. “It may be worthwhile looking at an assistant coach and that is something we will look at in addition to the physiotherapist and fitness trainer. With regard to specialist batting and bowling coaches, as an experienced allrounder, I feel confident of being able to handle both of those areas. If I feel we need additional support, for example a dietician, we will address that when the need arises.”Moody promised innovation, but not technology for the sake of it: “I am familiar with all the new technologies that are being used now in the game and we will also be introducing new technologies into the coaching process, but it is also important to stick to the basics and we will not cloud the players in technology. If we can use technology to develop the players then fine.”Potentially Moody’s greatest frustration in the coming months could be selection, which has been a recurrent and consistent source of controversy over the years. Moody, who met Lalith Kaluperuma, the new chairman of selectors, on Wednesday afternoon, will not have an official vote but hopes that his opinion will be sought and valued: “It is important that the captain and coach have a close relationship with the selectors as it is important that we get the best XI out of the park.”Moody leaves for England on Thursday afternoon to re-join Worcestershire before returning on June 18 to start training and planning for the home series against West Indies, which starts on July 15.

The New Zealand government is increasing the pressure to have Zimbabwe banned from international cricket, and while some national governments have given varying degrees of support, the response from the national cricket boards is likely to be less enthusiastic.On Monday, Phil Goff, New Zealand’s foreign minister, repeated his call for action to be taken against Zimbabwe in view of the escalating human rights abuses being perpetrated by Robert Mugabe’s regime. That coincided with condemnation of events in Zimbabwe from a number of bodies, including Britain, the USA, the Commonwealth and the European Union.Goff said that he was hoping to enlist the support of national cricket boards, but added; “If we have to go to the ICC alone, we will.”The first to react was the Australian government whose foreign minister, Alexander Downer, who said that he would be speaking to Cricket Australia. “Given the level of human rights abuses that are now taking place in Zimbabwe it’s not appropriate for cricket matches to be played against Zimbabwe,” Downer told ABC. “But before we make any approach to the ICC as a government, we’ll be consulting with the board. After [that] consultation, we will make a decision about whether we will join with the British and the New Zealanders to lobby the ICC to stop cricket matches against Zimbabwe for the time being.”Goff is also understood to have held fruitful talks with Jack Straw, his UK counterpart. But last year Straw was unnsuccessful in his attempts to persuade the England & Wales Cricket Board to scrap its tour of Zimbabwe.

A lengthy debate on whether the Board of Control for Cricket in India was an authority of the state dominated proceedings on the opening day of the Supreme Court hearing which sought to find a solution to the telecast-rights impasse that has overshadowed the build-up to the Test series against Australia.KK Venugopal, the BCCI counsel, pleaded that the writ petition filed by Zee Telefilms was invalid since the board was not an authority of the state – as defined in Article 12 of the Indian constitution. As per definition, “the State” implies not just the government, but also “all local or other authorities”, and according to a report in , Harish Salve, Zee’s counsel, argued that the BCCI should be considered as an “other authority”.He asserted that the BCCI was the sole representative of India as a nation at all levels of the game, with the team it selects playing under the national flag. The BCCI, however, contended that since it had no links with the government, and received no financial assistance from it, it could not be subjected to a writ petition.According to Venugopal, all that the government did was recognise the BCCI as the game’s apex body in India. The hearing, presided over by Justice Santosh Hegde, will resume on Wednesday.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has struck a deal for a two-year extension with GrameenPhone, the official sponsors of the Bangladesh team for the last two years. The extension of the contract came at the cost Taka 3.5 crore, more than double the amount that GrameenPhone had to pay for their first contract.The extension of the initial contract which was worth Taka 1.5 crore came after Bangladesh’s impressive string of performances; a win against India at home, a Test and one-day series win against Zimbabwe which was followed by an impressive showing on their tour of England where they beat Australia in a one-day match. “Bangladesh have been playing good cricket in the recent months and that’s why our partner in development came up with a better deal,” Ali Asghar, the BCB president, was quoted as saying in .”GrameenPhone has always been in the forefront in supporting the development of cricket in Bangladesh over the years. The company has supported BCB in many other areas in the past like Pacer Hunt Programme. We will continue our support in future,” said Erik Aas, the managing director of GrameenPhone. “We will continue to maintain the policy to disbursing fifteen percent of the amount to the national players,” said Macky Dudhia, the BCB’s chief executive.

Graeme Smith will captain the World XI Test side while Shaun Pollock was chosen to guide the one-day team after the final squads for the Super Series against Australia were named. Rahul Dravid is Smith’s vice-captain and Sachin Tendulkar will be Pollock’s deputy. Andrew Flintoff, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Steve Harmison and Shoaib Akhtar were also picked for the matches in October.Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain who chaired the selection panel, said the sides would put Australia under severe pressure to maintain their dominant home record. “This is the first time for decades that the greatest players from the rest of the world have combined their talents,” he said. “Australia will be looking to regroup after the intensity of the Ashes series in England, but I don’t think the cricket will be any easier for them against these sides.”South Africa have six players across both squads, England and India have three, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have two and West Indies and New Zealand have one each. The series schedule includes a three-match ODI series at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome on October 5, 7 and 9 and a six-day Super Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from October 14-19.Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, said the selectors had picked two squads of superb players who would test Australia to the limit. “There are no weak links in either of these squads,” he said. “Everywhere you look there is an outstanding player whose talent enriches the game.”World XI Test squad Graeme Smith (capt), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (vc), Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Steve Harmison, Shoaib Akhtar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori. World XI ODI squad Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar (vc), Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Pollock (capt), Kumar Sangakkara, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori.Also see: The Super Series sides picked by more than 16,000 Cricinfo readers.

Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, has denied media speculation that its Anti-Corruption Unit is investigating incidents during the recent Videocon Cup one-day series between Zimbabwe, India and New Zealand, labelling them “totally inaccurate and without foundation.”We do not normally comment on the operational activities of the ACU, but in light of the volume of utterly unfounded reports relating to the recent tri-series in Zimbabwe it is important to make it clear that there is no investigation being undertaken into this series,” Speed said. “It is disappointing to see such wild and unfounded accusations circulating in the media and we have taken the unusual step of commenting on this speculation as we do not wish the reputation of the sport, the teams or the players to be tarnished by utterly inaccurate media reports.”The ICC never usually comments on the ongoing operations of the ACU, but the widespread media coverage of the allegations forced it to speak out.Earlier, Daniel Vettori had rubbished allegations that there was anything untoward about New Zealand’s recent win in the series. An Indian newspaper had reported that the ICC had deployed two members of the anti-corruption unit to look into allegations of match-fixing in the tournament.”That’s the first I’ve heard of it, it’s news to me and I’d imagine it’s news to the team as well,” Vettori told the New Zealand Press Association. “It seems to always follow us around when we win something.”Vettori was the lynchpin of New Zealand’s victory in the final, taking 2 for 34 in a tidy 10-over spell mid-innings that put the brakes on India. A fine opening stand between Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming then sealed the issue for New Zealand.”But we’re pretty comfortable with how the game went, how we played it and how they played it — 280’s not a bad score in a final,” said Vettori. When asked whether he or any of his team-mates was approached by bookmakers or suspicious characters during the series he said, “Nothing at all, there’s nothing gone on to my knowledge.”New Zealand Cricket was quick to back its players. “All we have seen regarding speculation surrounding the series is reports from Indian newspapers,” Martin Snedden, the chief executive, said. “I have very strong trust in the integrity of our players and am more than confident there is no basis to any suggestions they were involved.”

One of the game of cricket’s best-known umpires, Shakoor Rana of Pakistan, has died at the age of 65. It’s believed he suffered a heart attack at his home last night.Shakoor Rana will inevitably be remembered for the confrontation which took place between him and the then England captain, Mike Gatting, during a tense session of play in the Faisalabad Test of 1987-88 between Pakistan and England. The incident, memorably caught on camera at the time, almost led to the tour coming to a premature end. Gatting today expressed sympathy, saying: “I feel sorry for his family.”A popular man, Shakoor was known to his friends as a jovial and hospitable character. He had happily been entertaining friends on the night of his death.He was buried this morning amidst the prayers of his well-wishers. Apart from his friends and family, his funeral was attended by scores of cricketers past and present, fellow umpires, PCB officials, CricInfo, members of the press and media, cricket fans and admirers.Shakoor Rana was born on April 4 1936 and belonged to a renowned sports family from Lahore; his brothers Shafqat Rana and Azmat Rana both represented Pakistan in Tests. A third brother, Sultan Rana, became a cricket administrator and is acting as a national selector for the junior teams.Shakoor was a right-hand bat and right-arm medium-fast bowler. He played in 11 first-class games, making his debut in 1957-58 and playing his final game in 1969-70. He represented Railways, Lahore and Punjab with a highest score of 48 and a batting average of 12.55 and best bowling figures of 4-88, at an average of 36.41.Shakoor’s two sons, Maqsood and Mansoor, are engaged in first-class cricket on the domestic circuit. Apart from cricketers, the family also produced a film star: Moammar Rana, a son of former Test cricketer Shafqat Rana.Shakoor Rana made his debut as a Test umpire against the West Indies at his home town of Lahore in 1974-75 and supervised the last Test against the visiting New Zealand team at Lahore in 1996-97. During his career as an umpire he supervised 18 Tests and 22 one-day internationals. He was a highly competent umpire; upright and bold in his decision making.In Shakoor Rana’s sudden death Pakistan has lost a highly-respected former umpire and a devoted lover of the game of cricket.

Predicting a close series against South Africa, Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, has said that his team will strive to bounce back with an improved performance in the second one-dayer, to be played at Bangalore on November 19.”Yes, we have got to come back strongly and play good cricket,” Dravid told reporters in Bangalore, his howetown. He also insisted that he was satisfied with the courageous performance of Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar, who helped to score a respectable 249 after the team was 35 for 5 at one stage. “[But] I think, we did well in the last game,” he said. “The boys showed a lot of character and courage to fight back. I am very satisfied. We can take heart from that. If we do a few things, we will end up with better results.”He also said the team was looking to improve its batting in the first 15 overs and cut down on the number of extras. However, about the 24 extras conceded in the match, Dravid dismissed the issue as “not a problem” because despite conceding a few extras, he believed the Indian bowlers bowled well.