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Apart from the realisation that he didn’t like Bennett King very much, and that he perceived political, rather than cricket grounds for his omission in the second Test in Pakistan last November, Ramnaresh Sarwan’s comments from Toronto last week confirmed two reasons for the present state of West Indies cricket.The first is that the practice of airing every perceived grievance in public has now become an entrenched and destructive part of the culture. The second is that the general mental weakness of the players, correctly identified by a host of observers, from Brian Lara to Ken Gordon, as a prime cause of the decline, extends beyond the field of play.The purpose of the new captain’s denigration of head coach King as “one of the worst coaches I have had” was as pointless as its timing. The Australian has already quit and is long since back in his native Brisbane where they are likely to hold to Lara’s more considerate view of their man than to Sarwan’s.It is the time for the new captain to look forward in hope, not backwards in bitterness. He has a great opportunity to build a team that can regain the competitiveness and respect it has increasingly lost, whoever the coach, whoever the captain. For that, he needs to create a close rapport with King’s successor and adopt an attitude of compromise and co-operation that is the hallmark of captaincy.When Sarwan meets with Julian Hunte sometime soon, the new president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) might just point out to him the damage already created by similar verbal conflicts between those in leadership positions.Dinanath Ramnarine has criticised just about everyone who has ever opposed him within the WICB, and in turn, has been sledged by WICB officials. Lara publicly turned on the selectors and the ground staff during the series against India last year. Chris Gayle has had his say about WICB bungling and been “severely reprimanded” in turn by the WICB president. The new chief executive has dissed as “incompetent”, players who have hit back at his management style.Through it all, results on the field remain an embarrassment to the good name of West Indies cricket.While Ramnarine and the WICB argued about how many arbitrations they had won and lost, they seemed not to care about how many Test matches were won and lost. Hunte has already moved to make peace with Ramnarine by including him on the board. He could be somewhat more direct with Sarwan by telling him, as politely as he can, to leave out the bad-mouthing and get on with it.

Hunte might need some psychological help to erase the persecution complex the players have developed that is the basis of the mental weakness they carry onto the field.One of Sarwan’s beefs about King was that “he was also very aggressive and vocally abusive to certain players to the point where he even threatened them”. Threatened them with what, he did not say, but we can take it that he meant with dismissal from the team.WIPA complained to the WICB a few years back that Viv Richards, then chairman, and other selectors had “verbally belittled and threatened” players. According to WIPA, some players received death threats during the altercation over contracts prior to the 2005 South Africa tour of the West Indies. Tony Howard, then team manager, was said to have pressured team members during the split later that year, in Sri Lanka.Players have complained about training regimes that are too tough, prompting the premature resignation of the most recent fitness trainer, and have objected to over-strict curfews.There are few successful coaches or captains in any sport who do not badger charges [when] they believe [they]are not fulfilling their potential, as is palpably the case with West Indies. Few teams reach the top without committing to tough training and full fitness. Those who take personal offence at such an approach invariably flounder.

Bangladesh are facing fitness concerns over two of their leading fast bowlers before the start of next month’s Champions Trophy in India. Both Mashrafe Mortaza and Syed Rasel have suffered freak injuries.Mashrafe sprained his ankle recently after slipping down the stairs at home but according to Faruque Ahmed, the chief selector, he is likely to recover in time. “We are monitoring his condition closely. At this moment it looks like he will be okay within the time, but to be sure we have to wait a few more days,” Ahmed told Reuters.Bangladesh will be banking desperately on Ahmed’s optimism for Mashrafe has been in good form lately and will be key to their chances of qualifying for the main rounds. He took 12 wickets in three games in Kenya last month, including a Bangladesh record six for 26. He will miss training for up to ten days.But Faruque showed greater concern about the condition of Mashrafe’s bowling partner Rasel, who damaged his foot in a motorbike accident last week. “Rasel did not improve on the scale we expected of him,” Faruque said. It means that Shahadat Hossain is now the only fit pace bowler in Bangladesh’s 14-man Champions Trophy squad.Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s opening pair is also posing considerably problems before the tournament gets underway. Uncapped Mehrab Hossain junior is expected to open the innings with Shahriar Nafees. If so it will be the 23rd opening pair to be tried since Dav Whatmore took over as coach in June 2003, according to the Dhaka-based daily .In 62 ODIs since then, Habibul Bashar, Khaled Mashud, Alok Kapali, Aftab Ahmed, Manjarul Islam Rana and Moniruzzman have all been tried. Javed Omar and Nafees have had the longest run, opening together in 15 matches followed by Nafees and Rajin Saleh. In this time, there has been only one partnership of over hundred and four over 50.

But Whatmore told the paper, the statistics were misleading. “That means one (opening pair) every three games. I didn’t realise that many. You know sometimes we got one or two boys opening just for the sake of the game or prefer for one or two matches.”I don’t think you can honestly say that we tried twenty two opening pairs in sixty matches but there might be the odd game or two where we put somebody in there to open the batting for a specific reason but not for long-term. So I am not sure whether the twenty-two is an accurate figure in that sense.”Whatmore added that the batting line-up as a whole was a concern. “If you look through the whole batting line-up we need to be strong in all departments, not just in the opening position. Yes, the opening is very important as much as number three and number four, five. They are all important.”But I have to say that we have won games without the openers doing well. It would be nice to see them do well. I am not sure you can just pick out one area and say you have done well in a certain area. We have done well in other areas. We have to improve more and opening is one of them. The situation is that we are not still able to have a regular opening partnership but we have to do the best we can.”Faruque admitted though that the number of pairs tried was too high. “Definitely the figure is abnormal. I am ready to accept that we were also inconsistent about the opening pair. Yes, we tried too many opening partnerships but what I want to say is that we were also helpless in one sense.”We even tried Ashraful in this position but I must say we didn’t give him enough time. Actually we are still confused whether it would be fruitful to use him as an opener because we have to think about the middle order too.”Bangladesh will play in the qualifying phase against Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe from October 7-14. The main tournament starts on October 15.

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.

Sourav Ganguly has suggested that the ICC implement a two-tier system to preserve the sanctity of Test cricket. Reacting to the news that the ICC was planning to offer full membership to six more countries before the 2007 World Cup, Ganguly said: "If the standard of the game has to be preserved, it would be better to have a two-tier system." Such a system would ensure that the top teams only play each other, leaving the bottom-rung teams to battle among themselves.The clamour over maintaining the standards of Test cricket comes in the wake of some hopelessly one-sided series over the last few years. Bangladesh have struggled since being granted Test status, losing 26 out of 28 matches, while the Zimbabweans – missing almost all their top players – have looked completely out of depth: they have been thrashed by the Sri Lankans in the current series, but an even more fearful mauling is in prospect in the upcoming series against Australia.Ganguly also admitted that the while the Australians were still the best team in the world, the Indians were gradually closing in. “We have to match Australia in consistency. Australia have played good cricket over a period of time to become the number one team. We have played well and done well against them in Tests but in one-day cricket they have had the better of us. [But] doing well in the coming series will definitely close the gap.”On the issue of retaining John Wright as the coach, Ganguly said: “It depends on lot of issues. John has been a very good coach. But whether to retain him or otherwise depends on a lot of issues. He also has to decide. He has a family and he has been travelling widely for the last few years.”

Wednesday 12 MarchThe Australian squad will travel from Port Elizabeth to Durban, ahead of its third and final Super Six match against Kenya on Saturday 15 March. The squad departs Port Elizabeth on South African Airways flight SA 676 at 0815, arriving into Durban at approximately 1000. Vision only is available of the side upon arrival in Durban. There is no practice scheduled following the squad’s arrival. Media access will be co-ordinated upon request.Thursday 13 MarchThe squad will train at Kingsmead, Durban from 1200. A media opportunity will follow practice at approximately 1500.Friday 14 MarchThe squad will undertake an optional practice session at Kingsmead from 0900.A pre-match media conference will take place following the session.Saturday 15 MarchAustralia takes on Kenya at Kingsmead, Durban in its third and final Super Six match of the tournament. The match is a day / night fixture, commencing at 1430.For further information please contact (in South Africa): Jonathan Rose, ACB Media Manager, on +27 (0) 833 107 662.

Lack of funding has forced the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) toput on hold the appointment of its first chief executive officer(CEO).BCA president Stephen Alleyne said, however, the board of managementwas still committed to filling the position, which was to play a vitalrole in the reorganisation of the association’s administrativeoperations.Last August, the board finalised the terms, conditions and mandate forthe appointment of a CEO and the post was advertised in the media thefollowing month.At the time, we had anticipated a particular source of funding. In theend, that did not eventuate and the board felt, looking at itsfinances, it was not something that we could support, Alleyne said inresponse to a question from the SUNDAY SUN over the delay.We have chosen to defer that until such time as we can put theappropriate finances in place.His comments came against the background of BCA losses of $657 344during the financial year which ended March 31.Before the job was advertised, the BCA, as an interim measure,retained the services of former civil servant Selwyn Smith as aconsultant with responsibility for day-to-day management of the officeon a short-term basis. Smith is still performing duties as aconsultant.The search for a chief executive was undertaken with the assistance ofa leading accounting firm. Earlier this year, there were reports thatSmith, former West Indies Cricket Board executive secretary, AndrewSealy, and former Barbados Consul-General to New York, Ricky Craig,were front-runners for the job.When appointed, the CEO will be responsible to the BCA board for theimplementation of its policies and for all aspects of its dailyoperations, including strategic planning, financial management,personnel management, public relations, member services and customerservices.

The second day’s play at the Gymkhana ground in Jorhatwitnessed the fall of 17 wickets as Assam collapsed in theirsecond innings after taking a 51-run lead over Sikkim in theirEast Zone Under-14 tournament match on Wednesday.Having bundled out Sikkim for 130 in their first innings,Assam began with a hiccup losing opener Arijit Sen Gupta (5)off the third over of the innings. Thereafter Tashi TopdenBhutia (4 for 20) along with Sangay Dorjee Bhutia (3 for 21)took over the proceedings. They ran through the Assam line-upto leave them tottering at 83 for 9 when stumps were drawn.Only three batsmen opener Prakash Bagat (21), Parwez Aziz (14)and Sadek Imran Choudhury (12) reached double figures.Earlier, resuming at 22 for 2, Sikkim lost their way earlywhen they lost two quick wickets. At 34 for 4, Tshering WangdiBhutia (39) and Bimal Singh (27) came togather and added 64runs for the fifth wicket. Bimal was the fifth batsman to bedismissed when he fell leg before to Ibrahim Ali. His falltriggered a collapse and Sikkim’s first innings folded up.Assam on Tuesday had scored 181 in their first innings.

ScorecardSaleh Ahmed Shawon, the left-arm spinner, returned incredible figures of 6 for 10 off 7.4 overs to set up Bangladesh Under-19s’ win over Afghanistan Under-19s in a tri-series fixture at the Jadavpur University grounds in Kolkata on Sunday.Afghanistan, who opted to bat, were bundled out for 85 in 30.4 overs, with Hazratullah, the opener, top scoring with 32. There was little cheer for them apart from his 37-run opening stand with Ihsanullah (14). The rest of the batsmen couldn’t get into double figures as Shawon bettered his previous Under-19 best of 5 for 25 against South Africa in Chittagong earlier this year.Bangladesh lost Joyraz Sheik with just two runs on the board, but the second-wicket pair of Mohammed Saif Hassan and Najmul Hossain Shanto added 43 runs to wipe out a major portion of the target. But Afghanistan came storming back to pick up four quick wickets for just 15 runs, with Zia-ur-Rehman, the left-arm spinner, scalping two.Saeed Sarkar then held his nerve to hit the winning runs as Bangladesh recorded their first win the tournament.The second round of the league phase begins on Tuesday, with India locking horns with Bangladesh at the same venue.

Gloucestershire have moved their remaining games of the Cheltenham Festival to Bristolbecause of a lack of tap water following the floods. The first Championship match, which began today against Essex, had already been switched after heavy storms left the Cheltenham College ground underwater and without electricity.Sunday’s Pro40 match against Warwickshire and the other Championship match with Derbyshire, which begins on July 31, will now be held at Bristol, too.The club expect the switches will mean lost revenue, as a statement confirmed: “The county expect to recoup some funds from rain insurance but the money-spinning festival is central to their finances.”These matches are the latest in the domestic calendar to fall foul of extreme weather and follows the abandonment of two Pro40 matches slated for Cheltenham -against Northamptonshire and Lancashire.The chief executive Tom Richardson said: “We have no choice but to move the fixtures. Had we had running water at Cheltenham, we are confident we would have been able to put these fixtures on despite the awful weather we have been having. Indeed, we could have got some cricket at Cheltenham yesterday if it had not been for the lack of running water.But he also put things into perspective. “Whilst we consider our cricket matches and what we do to be important it pales in to insignificance compare to the traumatic experiences suffered by many people.The county’s second XI match v Somerset at Bristol was cancelled to allow for the rearrangement with Essex.

Division One

Will Smith and David Hussey both struck commanding half-centuries to help Nottinghamshire set an unassailable 252 against Essex at Colchester. Andy Bichel grabbed 5 for 44 but still ended on the losing side as Essex only managed 235 for 9 in reply to lose by 17 runs. Andy Flower was the home side’s topscorer with 57.Matt Prior pummelled 141 off just 86 balls to take Sussex to the most emphatic of victories against Glamorgan at Hove. Sussex made an impressive 193 from 33 overs after rain reduced the match, but that effort was put into the shadows by Sussex who killed off the game within 25 overs. Prior’s glorious knock included 20 fours and six sixes and he was joined in his efforts by Richard Montgomerie who struck a comparatively pedestrian 51 not out from 63 balls to help them win by nine wickets.

Division Two

Worcestershire held on for five-run win despite Kent working themselves into a fine position in their chase at New Road. Darren Stevens and Martin van Jaarsveld added 97 for the second wicket but Kent slumped from 184 for 2 when Robert Key fell. Zaheer Khan was the bowling star with 4 for 29 and was outstanding at the death. Worcestershire’s fielding was also vital with two run outs. Khan had earlier boosted the home side’s total with 42 off 38 balls after Lou Vincent hit 61.