The BCCI is yet to respond to the request of Asian Cricket Foundation(ACF) to recommend development officers for taking up coaching jobs indifferent Asian nations to promote the game in the continent.The Chairman of the ACF, Jagmohan Dalmiya, told PTI in Kolkata onSunday that ACF had sought names of three candidates each fromPakistan, Sri Lanka and India with the former two already despatchingthe list.The Screening Committee, he said, would meet on August 1 to choose oneamong the three names submitted by each of these nations to depute ascoach to countries like Hong Kong, Nepal, Maldives, Singapore andQatar where cricket is still in its nascent stage.”Though Pakistan and Sri Lanka have submitted three names each, we arestill awaiting a response from the BCCI. We will send them a remindersoon and if no response comes by July 30, the ACF will announce namesfrom among the former players in its list,” said Dalmiya. Dalmiya,however, expressed the hope that the BCCI would send the names soon.While Pakistan has sent a list comprising former skippers MushtaqMohammed and Zaheer Abbas and medium pacer Iqbal Sikander, Sri Lankarecommended classic batsman Roy Dias, former pacer Rumesh Ratnayekeand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon Kuruppu.Asked why the ACF did not send a similar despatch to Bangladesh,Dalmiya quipped Bangladesh itself needed a development officer. “But Ihope within two or three years Bangladesh can send coaches.”He also said Sri Lanka Sports Minister Lakshman Kiriella, accompaniedby former medium pacer Asantha De Mel, would visit India on July 22 todiscuss the development of the game.

BCCI nominates 4 former players as Development OfficersThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated fourformer Test players for the post of Development Officers of the AsianCricket Foundation (ACF). National selectors Ashok Malhotra and MadanLal, allrounder Roger Binny and left handed batsman Woorkheri Ramanwere the four BCCI nominees, according to ACF chairman JagmohanDalmiya.The ACF will meet in Kolkata on July 31 and August 1 to finalise thepanel of development officers. The two-day meeting will also discussvarious other issues pertaining to development of cricket in theregion.Pakistan and Sri Lanka had already sent their nominations for the postof Development Officers. While Pakistan’s list comprised formerskippers Mushtaq Mohammed and Zaheer Abbas and medium pacer IqbalSikander, Sri Lanka recommended stylish batsman Roy Dias, former pacerRumesh Ratnayeke and wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon Kuruppu.* CBFS wins defamation caseThe London High Court has passed a judgement in favour of theCricketers’ Benefit Fund Series, Sharjah (CBFS) with regard to theirdefamation case against the “Asian Age” daily newspaper for publishingcertain “libellous statements”, a CBFS release said on Saturday.”The judgement allowed for damages for an amount to be assessed at alater date as well as legal costs for the plaintiff. An injunction nowprevents the Asian Age from publishing similar libels in future. TheAsian Age did not defend the case against it,” the CBFS said in thepress release.The court heard the CBFS case on July 12 regarding the publication ofthe alleged offending matter on February 14, and passed its judgement.When contacted, MJ Akbar, Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director ofAsian Age, said they have not received any notice in this regard.

Indian skipper, Saurav Ganguly, blamed the wicket for his team’s poorperformance after they suffered a crushing 84-run defeat at the handsof New Zealand in the second match of the Coca Cola Cup at R.Premadasa Stadium on Friday.”That was not the best one-day wicket to bat on” said a disappointedGanguly “The ball was not coming onto the bat and that’s going to makethings difficult for the side batting second.”New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat, but struggled to get 211.However, in return they came out with a stellar performance in thefield by bowling out the opposition for 127. Ganguly’s poor formcontinued and he managed only five in 17 balls, but looked not overlyworried about the defeat.”This is just the beginning of the tournament” said the Indianskipper. “We’ve got five more games to go and hopefully we can turnthings around in the matches to come.”Man of the Match Nathan Astle agreed with Ganguly’s remarks on thewicket. “I think the wicket behaved a little better when we batted butwas a little idle when they batted. It went up and down a bit andbecame a little bit slower. So I suppose we had the better of thebatting conditions” remarked the opener.Despite Astle’s hundred New Zealand only managed 211 at the end of theday. “Their bowlers bowled particularly well throughout the day,especially Harbhajan Singh with a lot of turn and variation” saidAstle. Harbhajan finished up with impressive figures of 2/25 in hisquota of 10 overs.”We were going to go for the kill in the last ten overs. But theybowled even better at the death, specially the two left-handers,” headded.New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming was delighted with his side’sbowling performance. “Nathan’s hundred was obviously a good one. Butmore important was the way all the bowlers bowled.”The New Zealand new ball bowlers Darryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills set thetune by bowling impressive spells. Especially Tuffey who had figuresof 7-2-7-1 in his first spell, which put the Indians on the backfoot. “Both of them bowled really well and set the stage for theothers” remarked the captain. “This is the best performance I haveseen them involved in.”Summing up the side’s performance Fleming said, “We have improved alot from the last game. But we still want to improve on things likeplaying the spinners better.”

John Reid is in the wars again.The tough-talking, and acting, International Cricket Council referee, and former New Zealand cricket captain and all-rounder has drawn the continuing ire of the Pakistan Cricket Board who have taken exception to his appointment as match referee to the Pakistan-Bangladesh Asian Test Championship match.As soon as the appointment was announced, the PCB announced it would be protesting against Reid.In the past, in his role as match referee Reid has been involved in fining and suspending Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis for ball tampering while Azhar Mahmood had been fined and warned on similar charges.Reid was also involved in acting on the reports of umpires concerned at fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling action. He sent the umpires report to the ICC for action by the ICC’s bowling committee which agreed with the umpire.Reid said today he had no comment to make on the Pakistan protest although he did say he was disappointed by it.Reid said that despite the protest he was still available to go to the match and do the job he had been appointed to.The issue is an important one for the ICC and raises questions on its administration of the world game.The Pakistan view is that the ICC created a precedent for an official being challenged after Sri Lanka successfully sought the removal of Australian umpire Darrell Hair from their games in the 1999 World Cup. Hair had been involved in calling Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing on a tour of Australia.Since that time however, the ICC has toughened up its governance in order to seek more control of its member countries, especially in the wake of match-fixing controversies.ICC president Malcolm Gray said from Melbourne today that all he knew about the Pakistan complaint was what he had seen on CricInfo on the Internet and would be talking with ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed tonight to see if a protest had been received.

Just minutes after seeing his side cruise to a nine wicket victory over wooden spoonists Essex, Somerset Coach told me, “We were very very good. On a flat wicket at Chelmsford the boys did well to bowl them out twice.”He went on, “Jamie Cox’s innings was the best that I have seen him bat, and he received good support from Rob Turner, with Richard Johnson and Jason Kerr bludgeoning important runs at the end.”What was the situation regarding the Championship runner’s up position I asked him.The coach said, “It looks like the Kent game will end in a draw, which means that we need six points from our final match next week to be certain of second place. This will leave Kent needing twenty points from their last match at Old Trafford, which is a tall order.”

* In the fitness of thingsThe Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) has finally decidedto ask Indian team’s physiotherapist Andrew Leipus to oversee thefitness tests for players named for the SA tour. This after initiallydeciding to put Sachin Tendulkar’s personal physician, Dr Anant Joshi,in charge of the tests.Dr Joshi and chairman of the selection committee Chandu Borde willboth be in attendance when the players are put through the drills.”Leipus has been sent a mail asking to be present for the fitness teston September 22 afternoon and September 23 morning at the WankhedeStadium,” BCCI executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar informedcricketnext.com on Thursday.The previous decision of the Board to let Dr Joshi run the show haddrawn a lot of flak from journalists around the country. With Leipuson board, at least all controversies will now be put to bed.* Waiting to be heardThe wheels of justice grind slowly. That is a truism in India even ifthe petitioner in question were to answer to the name of MohammadAzharuddin. The hearing of the former India captain’s petition challenging thelife ban imposed by the BCCI has now been adjourned to September 20.Second additional chief judge of the Hyderabad civil court J ShyamSunder Rao adjourned further hearings as the Andhra High Court’sinterim stay on further proceedings issued on July 18 was stillapplicable. The BCCI moved the High Court after Justice Rao refused toallow them more time to file a written statement on the match-fixingscandal.

It wasn’t Wednesday and Walcott, Worrell and Weekes were not immediately in sight. But this was a day for the ‘W’s at the Sydney Cricket Ground nonetheless, as Damien Wright and Shane Watson combined to overcome the impact of a magnificent Mark Waugh innings and propel Tasmania to a tense 15-run first innings win.Admittedly, paceman David Saker’s impact was also particularly significant.But, in the midst of an action-packed six hours of cricket, the third day of this Pura Cup match between New South Wales and Tasmania will probably be best remembered for what happened at 3:47pm.For it was at that moment that Waugh, Wright and Watson were enjoined in the passage of play that all but settled a gripping battle for the first points of the two teams’ seasons.Waugh (168), endeavouring to plot New South Wales’ course to the two points from the ruin of a mid-innings collapse, lashed fiercely at a Watson (3/88) leg cutter. Wright, at gully, worked hard and low to his left; flung an outstretched hand at a rapidly travelling ball and conceived a truly magnificent catch.Suddenly at 9/462 as it chased Tasmania’s 504, New South Wales was all but out of a contest that Waugh and fellow centurion Michael Bevan (102) had helped to ignite with a pair of superb innings.”He was just going so well that I suppose we needed something really big to happen to get him out,” said Wright of his remarkable interception.”I was just thrilled; he hit it pretty well and the next minute it was literally in my hands!”To come here in the first match of the year and take two points off these guys is great; we’re really really happy with that. It’s a brilliant start.”Though Jamie Cox, Dene Hills, Ricky Ponting and Bevan had all notched hundreds before him, Waugh ventured to – and beyond – the landmark with an aplomb that made his the best century of this match.He was at his artful and elegant best, showing no ill effects from the finger injury he suffered two days ago and hitting the ball with a majesty that verged on the sublime. Classical drives, especially through the covers, were matched by cuts and leg glances of the highest quality.Importantly, he also fashioned hope for his team where little had seemed to exist through the preceding two days of this match. With Bevan, he crafted a stand of 81 for the third wicket; he added another 113 for the fourth with Mark Higgs (37); and then led the way in further unlikely stands of 71 and 31 with tailenders Stuart MacGill (34) and Stuart Clark (31*) respectively.”I don’t think I’ve been in better nick,” Waugh said at the end of play.”I was happy with the innings and happy with how I hit the ball. Just a bit disappointed not to get us over the line for two points.”Ultimately, it was Wright’s catch and a disastrous mini-collapse which saw four wickets tumble for the addition of only 20 runs in mid-afternoon which scuttled the chase.Higgs, Shane Lee (17), Brad Haddin (0) and Don Nash (0) departed in what amounted to little more than the batting of an eyelid as Saker (4/115) and Watson combined to suddenly extract life from a generally benign pitch.MacGill then frustrated the visitors for 43 minutes by hitting out agriculturally – and surviving twice as he offered catches to Cox at third slip off Watson – and Clark also helped to narrow the margin between the teams. Ultimately, though, it was not enough.Tasmania had reached 0/30 in its second innings by stumps, ensuring that it will now take an overall lead of 45 runs into the final day.But it appears that the match might now be as good as over anyway, given that either team’s prospects of claiming wickets in quick succession over the closing six hours shape as remote.Which is a shame in a number of ways. Because, more than once over three days of high quality cricket, this game has crystallized what it is that is good about the domestic game in Australia.

Canadian cricket faces huge challenges. Not only is Canada going to the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand in January 2002 but we are currently establishing a programme of fitness and activities to allow our Senior Team to participate credibly in the World Cup in 2003 in South Africa. Of critical importance is competition and competition against top class opposition.Bob Woolmer, ICC High Performance Consultant concludes his inaugural visit with a media scrum at 11:30 am in Room 6A at the National Sports Alliance building in Toronto. Located at 1185 Eglinton Ave E (Don Mills and Eglinton). ICC Americas Development Manager, Robert Weekes will be in attendance. Further information can be obtained by calling 416 426 7312 or by fax on 416 426 7172.Bob has had several days of meetings with local players, administrators, fundraisers, volunteers and fitness specialists. Player’s needs, equipment, tours and training in the build up to the WC 2003 have been addressed. Specialist training and coaching as well as camps and academy visits are planned.Facilities, management and coaching have been all discussed. Not only must Canada participate, we must ensure that we qualify for the much-delayed ODI status. On field play is only one aspect of that qualification.U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19 building blocks must be in place. Of even greater importance is expanding the base of schools playing cricket with more trained coaches and officials.Without this base, Canada’s progress can be slowed.ODI status by 2003/2004 is a target. A second target is Full Member status following Bangladesh and Kenya. Can we meet these challenges? Yes we can. We must have turf wickets in major centres across Canada and trained local expertise in all areas of the game. Budgetary requirements must be met and the CCA Executive has approved a Fundraising drive and Committee to lead that drive.We thank the ICC Full and Associate members for the past support. We shall need the continued support by Full Members like India and Pakistan playing games in Canada!Cricket Canada – let it grow. Get on board.

Most of us in India watch cricket because we want to see India win. Weconstantly live in hope and find cheer in the smallest achievements ofour men, rare as they are. Over the years, we have, however, come tonot expect Indian victories and are quite willing to be satisfied withhonourable defeats. Unfortunately, we are denied even these smallmercies most of the time.

Equally depressing in international cricket are some other trends,which are not of India’s doing. I refer to the number of bowlers withsuspect actions dotting the scene and the irrational, even ethicallyunsustainable, stands sometimes taken by their respective cricketboards. The Pakistan Cricket Board has, for instance, announced thatit will support paceman Shoaib Akhtar if he challenges, in a court oflaw, the recent International Cricket Council decision to review thelegality of his bowling action. PCB officials have been reported asattributing any seeming abnormality in Akhtar’s action to a congenitalphysical idiosyncrasy. This is carrying a tired excuse to extremes,and the very idea that a member body can go to court against theparent is quite preposterous.Most knowledgeable cricket viewers have serious doubts about thepropriety of the bowling actions of a number of bowlers whom they havebeen watching closely over the years. I have heard many of them,including Test umpires, voice strong opinions on the subject, althoughtheir public utterances may often be more politically correct. Much asI admire the extraordinary qualities of head and heart of Sri Lankanoff-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, I have strong reservations about thelegality of his bowling action, an opinion echoed by many aninternational cricketer, at least in private conversations.Increasingly, much of the debate among some of these expert spectatorsat Test matches tends to centre around the minor chucking epidemicthat seems to have swept international cricket. Doubts are frequentlyexpressed especially about the wrong ‘uns sent down by bowlers likeHarbhajan Singh and even Saqlain Mushtaq, the faster deliveries ofShahid Afridi, not to mention the express deliveries of Shoaib Akhtarand Brett Lee. Long experience suggests that what the naked eye of theexperienced cricketer sees is seldom proved wrong by technology.My own view on efforts by captains and cricket boards to defend thesuspect actions of their bowlers for emotional or patriotic reasonshas always been that it is just not cricket. It is an extremelydisappointing scenario that allows an Arjuna Ranatunga or a PCB tomake an international issue of what should remain a strictlycricketing problem of a technical nature, and subsequently takes awaythe powers of umpires on the field to rule on unfair bowling actions.Just as sadly, numerous cricket commentators of immense knowledge andexperience have supported such essentially political moves, forsakingthe time-honoured values of cricket. It is difficult to escape theconclusion that they are part of the gigantic promotional machinery ofthe cricket bandwagon that wants to perpetuate icons who sell, even ifthey are flawed.

New Zealand has picked players to succeed for the Bangladesh series and they have been advised it would be unwise to under-perform.Announcing the side for the first Test in Hamilton starting on Tuesday, Sir Richard Hadlee, the selection chairman, said it had been five years and 40 Test matches since New Zealand had fielded the same team in successive Tests.That there were no changes was a reward for the third Test performance against Australia in Perth, and for the Australian tour overall, Hadlee said.”We’ve picked the players to succeed and we want them to win convincingly,” he said.Hadlee said the selection of Mathew Sinclair, the one batsman in the side who has struggled for his best touch recently, had not taken much debate at all.He averaged 52 in New Zealand conditions and deserved the chance, Hadlee said.Sinclair had been advised he was under pressure and Hadlee said the side had been picked for the first Test only.As far as the bowlers were concerned Hadlee said they would find the conditions in New Zealand much more suitable than those they had struck in Australia.”In Australian conditions the margin of error is very small. Here there is more in, and off, the track,” he said.It would be up to captain Stephen Fleming and coach Denis Aberhart to decide who would be given the new ball but it was certain that Shane Bond would be at one end with it and it would be between Chris Cairns and Chris Martin who supported him.Whatever else happened, Hadlee said standards set in Australia must be maintained and progress must continue to be made.If Bangladesh was able to play well and put New Zealand under real pressure that would be ideal.On the issue of Lou Vincent opening the batting instead of a specialist, such as Auckland’s Matt Horne, who scored his second century of the summer today against Bangladesh, he said that Horne had made a lot of progress over the last 12 months.He had some personal problems and had to rebuild his career and he offered another choice and option for the selectors.There was more depth in the pace bowling department available to the selectors with 10 or 12 players now vying for positions in the side but there was still no obvious second spinner sorting himself out from the crowd.Aberhart said the intention in Australia had been to be competitive, to learn and to move forward and that would continue against Bangladesh with the players looking to show more confidence as a result of the improvements they had achieved.He said that left-arm fast-medium bowler Shayne O’Connor had an MRI scan last night and New Zealand Cricket’s medical personnel were still assessing the findings but it did not look good for O’Connor in the short term.”They [the medical specialists] were not willing to commit on when he might be playing again,” Aberhart said.Dion Nash was the other player not considered for the side.Of the decision to choose a 12th man so far out from the Test, Hadlee said: “Chris Drum is in excellent form. He bowled well in the final match of the Australian tour taking a five-wicket bag and had a psychological edge over Bangladesh after claiming four for 32 for Auckland yesterday.”We have told Chris that, barring an unexpected injury, he will be 12th man but we know that having him waiting in the wings will keep pressure on the other seamers to perform at the highest levels,” he said.