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As West Indies gear up to take on England in the four-Test series, their captain Brian Lara said his side had already put their NatWest Series final defeat behind them, and would take some positives into the Tests. West Indies did manage to reach the final of the three-way NatWest Series – eliminating England along the way – but were soundly beaten at Lord’s on Saturday.But Lara is convinced that the way forward is to forget the immediate past – which, in West Indies’ case, does not make for good reading anyway. In seven matches in the series, they were beaten three times, won two games against England, and had two washed out.An AFP report quoted Lara as saying, “We have got to separate this from the rest of the tour. Now the one-day series is over, and there are a lot of positives we can take into the next couple of months, like the fact we were in the final and England, the host country, were not.” However, the last time England and West Indies played a Test series, England won three Tests and drew the fourth earlier this year.”Also, we have had a few weeks of playing cricket in English conditions, whereas normally you arrive two weeks ahead of the first Test,” said Lara. “The guys have become accustomed to the weather, and we are in a better position for an upcoming Test series than if we had just arrived. Hopefully in the warm-up games batters can start thinking of long innings and bowlers getting the ball in the right areas and being more hostile.”West Indies have two three-day games – against MCC at Arundel and Sri Lanka A at Shenley – before the first Test starts at Lord’s on July 22.

Jimmy Maher blasted a century in his maiden first-class innings for Australia as the tourists took control of the three-day tour match against the University of West Indies XI in Barbados.Maher, also playing as a makeshift wicketkeeper, hit 142 from 187 deliveries in a double-century stand with Justin Langer (96) which ensured Australia was the only team with a realistic chance of winning at the seaside ground at Cave Hill.At stumps on the second day, the University XI was 2-32 in its second innings – trailing Australia by 36 runs after captain Steve Waugh declared at 6-358 in the first innings.Maher continued his impressive match after taking two catches and making one stumping on Saturday while top ‘keeper Adam Gilchrist rested ahead of Thursday’s third Test against the West Indies at nearby Kensington Oval.The 29-year-old Queenslander belted 21 fours and one six, hitting out on the lush surface before he was caught off the bowling of invited Kenyan spinner Collins Obuya.Langer’s knock was encouraging ahead of the third Test, although the West Australian has been dogged by controversial LBW decisions this tour.He was within sight of his second century of the month before given out LBW to Ricardo Powell (2-66) after batting for almost four hours.Waugh received valuable time in the middle after not batting during the second Test victory in Trinidad last week.The 37-year-old made a solid 46 in 95 minutes while Martin Love (10) and Michael Clarke (eight) failed against the enthusiastic University attack led by former Test quick Corey Collymore (2-54).The University XI made a disastrous start to its second innings later in the day when recalled Test batsman Chris Gayle was run out without scoring.Brad Williams (1-7) then bowled Jason Haynes (two) to complete a satisfying day for the Australians.The Australians would hope to race through the University batting line-up to restrict their time in the sticky conditions ahead of the Test.

Rain allowed only 55 minutes’ play on the second day of the Division One contest between Northamptonshire and Kent at Wantage Road.The hosts progressed from 228-4 overnight to 277-5, losing the wicket of Tony Penberthy (77) in adding 49 runs.An overnight deluge ruled out any cricket until 12.30pm, and in the third over of the day Ben Trott had Penberthy caught behind without adding to his Wednesday night score. The Cornishman had struck 15 fours in his three-hour stay.Graeme Swann and Toby Bailey – unbeaten on 28 and 20 respectively – secured a second batting bonus point for Northants, and guided their side to 269-5 at lunch.Only three more overs were bowled after the break when more rain drove the players from the field and prompted an early tea.Umpires Peter Willey and George Sharp planned to inspect the conditions at 4pm, but by that stage the skies were darkening again and they decided that nothing more could be done.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShaun Marsh steered the Scorchers home with an unbeaten 63•Getty Images

To cap off a momentous day for the BBL, defending champions Perth Scorchers produced their most ruthless performance of the season to dismantle Sydney Sixers in front of a reverberating, sold-out WACA crowd in Perth.The atmosphere did not quite mimic the astonishing scenes at the MCG, where 80883 spectators attended the Melbourne derby earlier in the day, but 20444 patrons ensured the WACA was once again almost at capacity. Testament to the BBL being the hottest ticket in Perth, the Scorchers became the first team in BBL history to sell out all home matches in the regular season.The parochial hometown fans, many garbed in superhero attire in a nod to the match’s quirky Batman v Superman theme, had a merry time with the Scorchers winning their third consecutive game.Perhaps buoyed by their rabid fans, the Scorchers completed the type of dominating all-round performance which has long been their trademark. On a pitch offering variable bounce conjured from several notable cracks very much reminiscent of the WACA’s golden era, they were disciplined with the ball and energetic in the field. The stingy Scorchers reduced the Sixers to a paltry 8 for 112, then easily chased down the total with nine wickets in hand and 33 balls to spare.The Scorchers openers Shaun Marsh and Michael Klinger continued on from their record-breaking partnership against the Melbourne Renegades and ensured there would be no nervous chase. It appeared the Scorchers were headed for another 10-wicket victory with Klinger and Marsh easily combating the tricky conditions with smart batting. They effectively curbed dangerous Sixers pace bowlers Doug Bollinger and Jackson Bird with shrewd batting but pounced on anything loose.However, Klinger was unable to bat through, dismissed for 28 in Sean Abbott’s first over after a 65-run opening partnership. Marsh continued to remind the national selectors of his sublime talents, with a 54-ball 63 to once again be the Scorchers’ superhero.The lopsided match was a letdown, as there was much anticipation over the re-match of last year’s epic final, which saw Scorchers win by one-wicket in arguably the greatest ever BBL clash.Nic Maddinson, the Sixers captain, won the toss and elected to bat on a tricky pitch, where sharp bounce juxtaposed with deliveries that went low off several menacing cracks. But the lightning outfield ensured runs could be scored quickly.Unfortunately for the Sixers, their confidence seemed bereft after a demoralising loss on New Year’s Eve to the Travis Head-inspired Strikers. The Sixers could not handle the extra bounce engineered by the Scorchers’ bevy of talented pacemen, led brilliantly by spearhead Jason Behrendorff (2 for 24) who continued his successful comeback from injury.Scorchers wisely bowled on a back-of-a length to exploit the conditions and the Sixers’ fragility. The visitors fell in an early heap at 4 for 48 by the ninth over, a perilous position which could have been graver had Andrew Tye not spilled an absolute sitter to reprieve dangerous English import Michael Lumb on 25.In a notable contrast to his nervy team-mates, Lumb was adventurous and inventive in a determined bid to counterattack the unwavering Scorchers bowlers. Lumb did not always strike the ball cleanly but was effective in muscling the ball to the boundary.However, Lumb was unable to find support, with the Sixers’ top order rattled by the WACA’s variable bounce, highlighted by opener Ed Cowan (6) being bowled by a David Willey delivery that hit a crack and stayed low. Conversely, Maddinson and Jordan Silk were undone by deliveries that reared sharper than they expected.For Sixers to muster a competitive total, Lumb had to bat through the innings but his momentum was stifled with the constant wickets around him. When Lumb fell for 47 off 45 ball after an unsuccessful swipe off Behrendorff, the Sixers’ hopes of a decent total were effectively over.Wicketkeeper Ryan Carters tried valiantly and ensured Sixers would pass triple figures, but it was all in vain. The Scorchers have now leapfrogged to the top of the table and a three-peat is well on course.

Monty Panesar defended England’s behaviour in the second Test defeat to India at Trent Bridge last week, saying the tense game was still played in the right spirit.Panesar was speaking ahead of the final Test of a series that has been distinctly rougher round the edges than previous encounters between the two sides.India’s convincing seven-wicket win was overshadowed to some extent by various incidents on the field, from Sreesanth shoulder-barging Michael Vaughan and hurling down a dangerous beamer to Kevin Pietersen to the now infamous jelly bean incident. Incessant sledging formed a constant backdrop.Panesar said, “We all want to see cricket played in the right spirit and that is what happened. You want to be competitive but you need to play the game in the right spirit, which is important.”Peter Moores is the new coach with new enthusiasm and we are trying to emulate that enthusiasm in the game. We haven’t had any instructions about how to conduct ourselves. We all knew the game was played in the right spirit and as long as we keep doing that I am sure everything will be fine.”I think [the jelly bean incident] probably something that happened accidentally,” said Panesar. “It was unintentional, it was just that during the drinks break accidentally a jelly bean went on the wicket. What is more important – what we all want to see – is cricket played in the right spirit.”England need to win the last Test to maintain their record of not having lost a Test series at home since 2001, while India are looking for only their second series win in England in the last 21 years.”India are a strong team and it will be tough but if we can play good cricket like we have been doing there is a chance we will do well,” said Panesar. “If we try and put too much importance on this Test and put pressure on ourselves it may not get the best out of us. All we can do is shift the momentum from the first Test and second innings of the second into the third.”Panesar also expressed his disappointment at his exclusion from England’s Twenty20 World Championship squad. “My character is that I like to be involved in all forms of the game – you want to be part of things like the Twenty20 squad,” he said. “But missing out does give you an opportunity to prepare for the winter [tour to Sri Lanka], so you can take it is a positive as well.”Panesar is, however, a member of England’s ODI squad to take on India in a series of seven one-dayers.

Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, has been named among the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy to be held in India in October. Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman have also been included.”Every year we discuss various issues before picking a team. Here we just picked the best 30 that we have,” said Kiran More, the chairman of selectors. “He [Ganguly] is in the list of Grade A players. So when we select 30 probables, he definitely walks in.”Ganguly had a poor stint with Northamptonshire where he had a first-class average of 4.80 in six innings. However, More said that his selection was not just based on his county season but was a combination of the previous domestic season and past performances. Zaheer’s selection was based on a phenomenal performance for Worcestershire where he took 63 wickets in 11 first-class matches at 25.74 apiece.The list includes all 15 players who have been chosen for the tri-series in Sri Lanka later this month, and also has players who performed well in the Top End Series in Australia in July, which featured A teams from Australia, New Zealand and India. S Badrinath, the Tamil Nadu batsman, Tejinder Pal Singh, an allrounder from Railways, and Piyush Chawla, the young legspinner, have all been rewarded for their strong performances in Australia. Parthiv Patel, who kept wicket on that tour, is one of three wicketkeepers in the list – apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik. The final 15-member squad will be announced on September 7.More said that Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner, and Lakshmipathy Balaji, the fast bowler, were not selected because they needed more time to recover from their respective shoulder and back injuries.”Murali will be fine before the Champions Trophy but the problem is the September 7 deadline. It is not a small injury, we don’t want to rush him back,” said More. “Balaji would be fit by October. It will take time for him. He has to play seven to eight matches.”Meanwhile Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, also said that the details for the tri-series in Singapore and Malaysia in September – also featuring Australia and West Indies – would be revealed soon. “The tri-series in Singapore and Malaysia has been confirmed. In one or two days we will give the full schedule of the tour,” he said. “The first three games will be in Singapore and the next four in Malaysia.”Probables list
Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Dinesh Mongia, Ajit Agarkar, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Venugopal Rao, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Piyush Chawla, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, TP Singh, Shib Paul, VRV Singh, Parthiv Patel (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk).

Muttiah Muralitharan is now hopeful that his controversial doosra, a delivery that he has been forced to stop bowling by the ICC, will be given the all-clear shortly.Muralitharan’s arm bends by an average of 10 degrees when bowling the delivery, which is double the permitted level of bend for spinners, but an ICC-convened sub-committee has just completed the first stage of a review of the laws during a two-day meeting in Dubai.The sub-committee is expected to recommend changes to the current laws after the latest biomechanical research on fast bowlers by Marc Portus in Australia and by the UK-based Paul Hurrion on spinners, a project that culminated during the ICC Champions Trophy.The meeting was chaired by Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, and attended by five other former players – Aravinda de Silva, Angus Fraser, Michael Holding, Tony Lewis and Tim May – and three leading mechanists: Bruce Elliott, Portus and Hurrion.Muralitharan, currently focusing on charity work after shoulder surgery, is waiting anxiously to see if the doorsa is finally given the greenlight. The next stage of the review is an ICC Cricket Committee meeting on November 9 and 10.Muralitharan has studied the scientific debate closely during the difficult months since his action was reported in March and he is now very optimistic that the case for change is too strong to be ignored.”I sincerely believe I will be allowed to bowl the doosra again,” he told the Island newspaper recently.Muralitharan feels his bowling is handicapped without the doosra: “If I had bowled that particular delivery, I would have got more wickets and the team would have enjoyed more victories. But unfortunately that wasn’t so and I am keeping my fingers crossed.”The ICC has not divulged the conclusions of the sub-committee, but claimed that the two-day meeting had been instructive they tried to gain a better understanding of one of the most controversial topics in the game.”It has been a big help to have this matter discussed by such a well-qualified group of former international cricketers,” said Mr Richardson. “This is only the first step in the review process and as the matter is still to be discussed by the full Cricket Committee it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage.”

Sean Ervine is among 17 players who have earned a central contract with Western Australia for the 2004-05 season. Ervine, who played for Zimbabwe before retiring from international cricket earlier this season, joins another Zimbabwean, Murray Goodwin, on the list of contracted players.The initial list of 17 names includes two rookies, Justin Coetzee and Aaron Heal. A 20-year-old left-arm swing bowler, Coetzee earned his reward after putting in some superb performances for Scarborough in the WACA’s Vodafone Cup competition. Coetzee’s 42 wickets in grade cricket last season came at just 17.02 apiece and included a hat-trick against South Perth.Commenting on Coetzee’s selection, Wayne Hill, the chairman of the Western Australian selection panel, said: “We’re excited about Justin’s long term prospects and pleased to offer him a Rookie Contract after some consistent efforts playing for Scarborough in recent seasons. We hope to see him develop over the next few seasons and from this encouragement transfer his club performances to the next level.”The contracted players Ryan Campbell, Beau Casson, Michael Clark, Ben Edmondson, Sean Ervine, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Steve Maggofin, Shaun Marsh, Scott Meuleman, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Luke Ronchi, Adam Voges, Peter Worthington.Rookie contracts Justin Coetzee, Aaron Heal.

With the staff covering the ground to protect it from the driving wind and rain the County Ground in Taunton was a sorry place to be on Tuesday morning.After some of the best ever weather for this time of year, the day before the Cidermen play their first pre-season three day friendly against Glamorgan, the heavens opened and the players were sadly confined to indoor nets in the Centre of Excellence.As he sat looking out across the windswept ground former Somerset favourite Peter Robinson explained that April 1st was a bit of a special occasion for him. "This is my first day as a part timer here since I joined the club all those years ago, and it’s just about typical that it’s pouring down with rain. Still I suppose one good thing is that it will help to germinate my parsnip seeds!" he told me.The former Worcestershire player who made the journey down the A38 in 1965 has held almost every job that there is at the club since then, including being first team coach during the `Glory Years’ when Somerset tasted the first success of their long and colourful history.Since 1999 one of `Robbo’s’ major responsibilities has been that of Ground Safety Officer at the club, a job that has increased considerably since he took it on.Earlier this year he celebrated his sixtieth birthday and decided that it was time to relinquish the post and give himself more time to concentrate on doing the job he enjoys most, cricket coaching.`Robbo’ told me: "The Ground Safety Officer’s job started in 1999 with the World Cup, and since then it has just got more and more to do, so I wasn’t sorry to hand it over yesterday to somebody else."However the former Somerset all rounder will not be lost to the club. When I spoke to him he had just finished working with a group of youngsters from Minehead Middle School who were working at the Playing for Success Centre at the County Ground as part of the Exmoor Extension Project.He told me: "I shall have more time to coach cricket now, and will spend time working on one on one and group sessions, as well as continuing my role as cricket secretary which involves sorting out the second eleven fixtures, dealing with the cricket balls and other jobs on match days."`Robbo’ is also the official coach to the Somerset Women’s Cricket team, which includes the Somerset Under 17 and Under 15 Girls teams, and on Wednesday evening he will be attending their pre season meeting in Taunton.The job of Ground Safety Officer at Somerset County Cricket Club has been taken over by Paul Bulbeck.The former police inspector who lives in Taunton is the father of left arm seamer Matt, and his son in law Guy Wolfenden works in the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground, so he is certainly no stranger to the Somerset cricket scene.

Indo-Pak cricket relations
The Agra Summit between the President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of India ended rather abruptly. It seems many issues like restoration of cricket relations between the two countries, a matter to be talked over in a leisurely mood, may not have appeared on the conference table.Apart from restoring permanent relations, it’s surprising the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is still awaiting Government permission to send the team to Pakistan for the Asian Test Championship tie to be held in September 2001. As per the ACT itinerary, India is scheduled to play the opening match against Pakistan at Lahore from 12-16 September 2001.According to a news item, Mr Kishore Rungta, Treasurer of the BCCI has expressed the view that ‘there was no reason for the Ministry of Sports to restrain the national squad from participation in the championship’. Of note is the news that India has pulled out of a one-day series in Australia, mainly because the dates clashed with the Asian Test Championship.Further, in the last meeting of the Asian Cricket Council in which the programme of the tournament was finalised, the President of the BCCI assured members that the Indian Ministry of Sports had no objection to the Indian cricket team playing in Pakistan in a ‘multilateral tournament’. Strangely, a fresh approval is still required.Shoaib dictating terms to PCB
Shoaib Akhtar, who has not paid back in terms of performance even a fraction of the amount spent by PCB on the correction of his suspect bowling action and medical treatment, has started dictating terms to the Board.Earlier, Shoaib was sent to Australia to take guidance from Coach Daryl Foster and former pace icon Dennis Lillie to rectify the fault that made his bowling action suspect. After a few weeks of guidance, coaching and practice under the two stalwarts, his action was cleared. He joined the Pakistan team for its tour of England. In order to turn Shoaib into an effective fast bowler and boost his skill and potential for the future, the PCB even hired Daryl Foster to be at his side during the tour.Ironically, after all the efforts to build him into one of the world’s leading fast bowlers, Shoaib came out to be in a poor state of health and physical fitness. He broke down on the field, failing to bowl more than a few overs, thus causing a set back to the team as well as disappointing the spectators. When dropped for the next match, Shoaib is reported to have left the hotel to live out and signed up with some local teams to play in England.Now that the Pakistan team is preparing for the Asian Test Championship, Shoaib was asked to join the training camp starting in the 1st week of August. In his response to the PCB’s call, Shoaib has apparently made his inclusion in the team a condition for his return to the country. This seems an act unbecoming of a test player.No player can be guaranteed a place in the team until he proves his fitness and is selected by the Board’s Selection Committee. To perhaps knock-in some sense and set matters straight with Shoaib, the PCB would be well advised to ignore him from inclusion. This jolt should prove an effective medicine to improve his physical fitness as well as discipline.A legal challenge to Hansie Cronje’s ban
Reports indicate, former South African captain Hansie Cronje may be up for a dramatic return to cricket coaching, if not actually playing the game. It seems his well-prepared legal team may challenge their client’s hastily applied life ban in the court. The lawyers feel that Percy Sonn, President of the United Cricket Board of South Africa insisted on slapping the life ban on Cronje without a hearing, thereby denying the former captain the legal right to have his side heard.The cricket fraternity, however, thinks otherwise. Re-counting his crimes they maintain that by his own admission, Cronje has been guilty of accepting $30,000 from the Indian bookmaker MK Gupta for losing a Test against India at Kanpur in 1996. In the one-day series between South Africa, England and Zimbabwe in the year 2000, he accepted $10,000 from a bookmaker, again by his own admission.Despite all this, if a remission is granted him, he may get away with every thing except the one-year ban that he has already served. In such a case, the game of cricket may have to call up some new axioms like ‘play with a crooked bat’ or ‘cheats always beat’. With other cases also being swept under the carpet, the impression that the fight against corruption was directed mainly against Asian players is likely to gain further momentum among cricket fans.In the light of above one feels that the cases of two former Asian captains Azharuddin and Saleem Malik may also have to be reviewed. Though the Lahore High Court has already rejected Saleem Malik’s appeal, the fact remains that he was punished on the evidence of two Australian players with no chance to defend himself provided to him.