Sports participation surveys can be worrying events for administrators of codes because of knee jerk reactions that can follow as new trends emerge to suggest a swing away from a particular sport.That was what was found in Australia when a Morgan Poll showed that soccer had supplanted cricket as the game of choice for a majority of Australians. The poll, published over the weekend, should that an estimated 1,218,000 Australians aged 14 or more, played soccer while 1,057,000 played cricket.Should Cricket Australia be worried about such a trend? Probably not. If cricket, in its lower levels, were a winter sport then there might be cause for concern. If soccer ever went the way of the Australian National Soccer League and played its games in summer then there might be even greater need for worry.But cricket is still the preferred game in summer. It is entrenched in the Australian psyche and will long remain that way. And as the Australian team continues to dominate the international game in Test and one-day cricket that is likely to remain the case.Before anyone overseas reads into the figures the prospect that Australians might be turning off cricket, they need to remember that more than most other countries in the world, and New Zealand and South Africa would be obvious exceptions, Australia is a sports-minded country.Its whole lifestyle is centred on sport. There are many options for settling the competitive urge for Australians and cricket is one of the foremost expressive outlets for the country. Soccer may have taken over in a significant way, but it also needs to be remembers that in most countries of the world, kicking the ball around in a soccer match is often the first sporting experience of many youngsters.It is often a stepping stone to other sporting endeavours and Australia is no exception to that.New Zealand, a rugby-mad nation where the game is the national game, has long seen its national sport out-flanked by other codes. Golf, according to the 2001 census, was the greatest participation sport for New Zealanders with 502,000 having played the game in the 12 months before the census. Tennis had 317,900, touch rugby, a summertime derivative of the national game had 260,900 participants and cricket was next with 224,100. Rugby only had 158,100.But therein also lies another factor. Taking part over the previous 12 months could mean someone having played only a round or two of golf. New Zealand Cricket has done its own census after the last summer and it showed 103,000 people played competitive cricket.Now if there was a knee jerk reaction to the Government census figures, cricket administrators would be tearing their hair out. In actual fact, the difference is that the Government census could relate to someone playing cricket at the beach, on the back lawn or out in the street.What was significant for New Zealand Cricket was that its own census showed 9000 more people were playing the game competitively than had been the previous summer. That is significant in its own way.It is easy to react to participation figures, but it is when the psyche of a nation changes, to the point where Australians don’t care whether their cricket team is winning or losing that you have a catastrophe on your hands.Evidence would suggest that is far from the case for Australians at the moment. And New Zealanders would add that while golf may be top of the participation stakes for a Government census, the fact of the matter is that it is not golf that fills the airwaves from talkback stations. Rugby is still king.

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Suspended Australian legspinner Shane Warne has his problems at the moment, but telling the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to mind its own business is a bit like Saddam Hussein telling the United States to buzz off. It doesn’t quite work that way.And while WADA doesn’t yet have the total legitimacy that would allow it to be the regulated policeman of drug cheating in world sport, it is still the leading, and increasingly powerful, arbiter in these matters. To tell them to mind their own business is missing the point completely.Cricket, not so long ago, found itself dragged into the 21st century by a gambling scandal, something it had never catered for in its laws. The curse of drug abuse has been part and parcel of sport for some time, and groups like WADA have been introduced because of the abuse by sportsmen looking to gain the advantage over their opposition by unnatural means – in other words, by cheating.It behoves cricket to show that it has nothing to hide and to chase after drug cheats as zealously as it now tries to prevent match-fixing taking place. The sooner WADA’s anti-doping regime is in place, the better for cricket.

John Reid, the former New Zealand captain, has been appointed president of New Zealand Cricket (NZC). Reid succeeds Dave Hoskin, who held the position for three years.Announcing the news, Martin Snedden, chief executive of NZC, said: “John is respected worldwide for not only his skills as a player but also for his work as an international match referee. I have no doubt John will be a great ambassador for New Zealand Cricket in his new role.” Apart from the 58 Tests he played in – of which 34 were as captain – Reid was the match referee in 50 Tests and 98 one-day internationals.Snedden also praised Hoskin’s contribution during his period as president. “David did an excellent job for New Zealand Cricket during his three-year tenure and we appreciate the significant contribution he has made.”

Lancashire have reappointed Warren Hegg as their captain for the 2004 season. Hegg, 35, made his debut for Lancashire in 1986, and has skippered them for the last two years. In 2003 Lancashire finished as runners-up in the County Championship, and won the Second Division of the one-day National League.Next year Hegg, who won two England caps on tour in Australia in 1998-99, will lead a team bolstered by the recruitment of the England allrounder Dominic Cork from Derbyshire. Heggg said today: “I’m thrilled that the club have decided to award me the captaincy again. It’s a huge honour to lead the team and I’m looking forward to a successful season next year.”

Bruce for bowling coach? © Getty Images

The Indians have sought the services of Bruce Reid as bowling coach during their 84-day tour of Australia. According to a report by the Press Trust of India, the request has already been passed on to the Indian board, and a decision on the matter is expected on Sunday, when the working committee of the board meets in New Delhi.The report also says that Reid has already been approached by John Wright and is ready to work with the Indian bowlers, and the only issue that needs sorting out is the financial terms.Reid, who has been credited for the phenomenal rise of Nathan Bracken, performed a similar role during Zimbabwe’s tour to Australia earlier this year. With three out of India’s five seamers being left-armers, it is believed that Reid, who was a top-class left-arm fast bowler himself, would be the best man to help the Indians out. India go into the four-Test series with a highly inexperienced seam attack -Ajit Agarkar is the only one of the five who has played international cricket in Australia before.The decision to rope in a bowling coach might also have been prompted by India’s lacklustre performance in their tour-opener against Victoria, who hammered 518 against a toothless Indian attack, with Brad Hodge making a mammoth 264.

South Africa’s batting rock, Gary Kirsten, didn’t have the slightest doubt about withdrawing from the first Test against West Indies – but neither does he have any doubt about extending his career in pursuit of 100 caps and 20 centuries.Kirsten, who has just turned 36, had originally intended to retire from the game after this year’s tour of England, but two centuries and a plea from South Africa’s new young captain Graeme Smith persuaded him to stay on.When Nasser Hussain quit the England captaincy but then said he wanted to stay on to play 100 Tests, he was pilloried by Ian Botham, among others, for being selfish and placing individual goals and desires ahead of those of the team. But there are some very key differences between Hussain and Kirsten’s situations, however. Hussain had played 84 Tests and had a batting average of 36. He had already endured speculation about the worth of his place in the team, and had been saved by his status as skipper on more than one occasion.Kirsten, meanwhile, has played 95 Tests and has an average of almost 45. He is also just one century away from becoming only the 21st player in the history of the game to reach 20 hundreds. Needless to say he is far and away his country’s leading runscorer, and it is the chance to extend his national records that drives Kirsten on.”Of course I’d like to score 7000 runs, and 20 hundreds, and I’d love to have 100 Test caps, but I’d like it as much for South Africa and South African cricket as I would for me,” Kirsten said after making his decision to stand down from the first Test. “There is nothing wrong with setting personal goals but I also want to set goals for the next generation, and maybe even the generation after that. I actually feel proud that cricketers in the years to come might say ‘I want to be the second South African to score 7000 runs, or to play 100 Tests’. There’s nothing wrong with that.”Kirsten went on: “But all that aside, personal or team goals, if I wasn’t performing then I would have retired when I originally intended to. It’s one thing to leave a positive legacy and memory to the next generation but quite another for people to think ‘Oh yeah, Gary Kirsten – he hung aroung too long, didn’t he?’ I’m pretty confident that won’t happen to me.”Kirsten has said he definitely won’t play on beyond South Africa’s tour of New Zealand in February and March. So if he plays the final three Tests against West Indies, and three against NZ, he would finish with 101 caps. That’s in theory. As for run-aggregates and centuries, Kirsten has been around far too long to try to predict anything.”I’ll try for those goals but form and fitness could easily have the final say. I could be dropped or a tear a hamstring tomorrow,” he said. “It may well be that the next generation are driven by becoming the first South African to reach those milestones, not by matching me. But I’ll be happy at the end of my career, whatever happens, because it’s been an amazing journey.”Neil Manthorp is a partner in the South African sports agency MWP.

Richard Davis, the only cricketer to have appeared for five counties, has died aged 37 after a long battle against brain cancer.Davis, known throughout the game as Dickie, began his career as a slow left-arm spinner with Kent, before going on to play for Gloucestershire, Sussex (in one-day cricket only), Warwickshire, and finally Leicestershire, for whom he played a one-off County Championship match in August 2001. It was 170th and final first-class appearance, and he signed off with six second-innings wickets.The highlight of Davis’s career came in 1994, when he was a member of Warwickshire’s treble-winning squad. Neil Smith, a friend and team-mate at Warwickshire, said: “He was thoughtful, caring and considerate – an honest and straightforward guy who will be sadly missed.”Davis had harboured hopes of moving into fulltime coaching – he was assistant coach to the England women’s team – but within two weeks of his final Championship appearance, he suffered a seizure and was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. A second, more aggressive tumour was discovered in September this year.Davis leaves a wife, Sam, the sister-in-law of Kent’s captain David Fulton.

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If Michael Papps doesn’t get them, Peter Fulton will. That seems to be the continuing story of Canterbury’s batting in the State Shield as they remained at the head of the table after the latest round of games today. Add to the equation the return of Chris Cairns, the captain, and the Canterbury line-up represented a heady mix.Fulton, who scored his maiden State Shield century at Timaru today, finished unbeaten on 115. Shanan Stewart scored 71 after Papps was out for 1, and when Stewart was out, Cairns came in to launch one of his special assaults, reaching his half-century off only 39 balls. He went on to 66 before he was out, having hit five sixes in all. Chris Harris added 23 before the innings ended on 300 for 3.Craig Cumming (52) took his time to move into a position to launch an assault, but then Harris decimated the Canterbury middle-order by taking 4 for 44 from his 10 overs. There was a chance for the Otago lower order to hit out, but all they achieved was a narrowing the final margin of defeat. Gareth Hopkins scored 37, Warren McSkimming 32 not out and Brad Scott 16 not out.Backing Harris’s effort was Stephen Cunis, who took 2 for 41, as Otago finished 30 runs short at the end of 50 overs.
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Apart from Richard Jones, who scored 71 and shared an 86-run stand with James Franklin (36), Wellington were never comfortable in their visit to Pukekura Park to play Central Districts. All the Central Districts’ bowlers put up a disciplined effort with Michael Mason’s took 2 for 32 being the pick of the lot.Wellington scored only 205 for 9, a total well below what they needed on a pitch that was soon shown to be a run-scoring delight by the CD batsmen. Craig Spearman scored 57, his best score of the competition, while Ross Taylor’s climb up the list of batsmen clamoring for a place in the New Zealand A team continued. He scored 53 and with Mathew Sinclair (40 not out), CD were able to claim a valuable bonus point after achieving the win in the 36th over.
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Kyle Mills snapped up three wickets and helped Auckland win a low-scoring thriller against Northern Districts at Hamilton. Auckland struggled to 183 for 9, after opting to bat first, as Ian Butler (3 for 30) and Mark Orchard (3 for 27) got stuck into the middle order. Tama Canning and Paul Hitchcock shared a vital 80-run partnership and prevented a complete collapse.ND were in dire straits at 17 for 6 with Mills and Kerry Walmsely wrecking all the havoc. Mark Orchard led the fightback with a fine 79 and received valuable support from the tail. But Orchard was run-out at a critical juncture, and ND fell 8 runs short in the end.

Guyana 310 and 148 for 8 (Ramdass 60; Smith 4-46) drew with Barbados 395 (Campbell 81, Smith 114; Nagamootoo 5-116)
ScorecardBarbados narrowly missed out on an eighth straight win in the Carib Beer 2004 Cricket Series, but went through to the final against Jamaica as a result of having gained a first-innings lead. Guyana, who started their second innings 85 in arrears, were 148 for 8 when stumps were drawn with Sewnarine Chattergoon and Mahendra Nagamootoo having defied the bowlers in the final stages.Dwayne Smith, later named Man of the Match, captured 4 for 46 from 25 overs, and Fidel Edwards took 3 for 34 as Guyana collapsed in their second innings. But Chattergoon, who came out to bat nursing a sore shoulder, and Nagamootoo did enough to thwart any attempt to go for an outright win.Barbados will now play Jamaica in the final on home turf – the venue has yet to be announced – from March 25 to 28. They have already won the Carib Beer Cup, and are looking to win a second trophy for the season.

Simon Taufel: ‘It’s very hard when you have one of your senses taken away from you’© Getty Images

Amid all the excitement surrounding the historic series between Pakistan and India, one group of people have been largely forgotten – the umpires.Simon Taufel, the Australian who officiated in the first two matches, told the Sydney Morning Herald of the problems he encountered. The main difficulty is the noise – and it’s not only the umpires who struggle, as proved on Tuesday when Sourav Ganguly clearly edged the ball but such was the cacophony that neither bowler nor wicketkeeper appealed.”From an umpiring perspective, it’s very difficult and challenging,” Taufel explained. “Umpiring before 75,000 at the MCG is nothing like here. The fans go nonstop. When the person they love comes out the noise is immeasurable.”That makes umpiring bloody difficult, especially when it comes to caught-behinds and communicating with other officials. It’s nothing you could ever train for. It’s very hard when you have one of your senses, hearing, taken away from you.”The fact that that the umpires have been ignored is probably a mark of the good work they have so far done: the effect of any howlers in these high-pressure games would be multiplied tenfold. “I’ve made several close calls in the two games already,” Taufel smiled. “Maybe you think that you might start World War Three if you get something wrong but, on the whole, I feel very comfortable to keep calling it as I see it.”

West Indies 294 for 3 (Lara 120, Sarwan 106*) lead Bangladesh 284 (Rajin Saleh 47, Banks 4-80) by 10 runs
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Brian Lara: came in with his captaincy on the line but finished with a fantastic 119© AFP

Hundreds by Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan put West Indies in control of the second Test against Bangladesh at Sabina Park. At the close if the second day, they had reached 289 for 3, a lead of 10 runs.Although Lara fell five overs before the close for an excellent 119, the day belonged to West Indies. Pedro Collins wrapped up the Bangladesh innings in the morning, and despite the early loss of Chris Gayle, caught behind off a lazy drive for 14, it was one-day traffic thereafter.Sarwan and Devon Smith added 83 for the second wicket before Smith was run out for 44, and then Lara and Sarwan put on 179 in 45 overs. In scoring his 26th century, Lara joined Sir Garfield Sobers as the West Indian with the most Test centuries. Compared to Lara, Sarwan’s hundred was relatively sedate, spanning 186 balls. Despite the wicket of Lara, West Indies remain in a good position to press ahead and build a substantial first-innings tommorow.