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Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s captain, has slammed the format of the NatWest Series, saying that it is unfair to expect top international teams to play back-to-back matches.The tight ten-match NatWest Series schedule means that 10 matches are played in 17 days, with back-to-back games on successive weekends. The visiting sides almost always draw the short straw and have a double-header over one of the weekends, while England play only the once with time to rest between matches.”I’m not happy full stop with back-to-back games. I’ve strongly stated that for some time," Fleming told reporters after the first game in the series at Old Trafford was abandoned. “The fact that it is the case in this tournament so be it, now is not the time to complain about it. But on principle, looking further ahead, I don’t think they should play a part because I don’t think it is realistic to expect high-class performances during a whole weekend.”Two teams do it and it tends to be one team that misses out. I’m strongly in favour of the scheduling having at least one day, even three days in between games. That’s just to make sure the paying public get the opportunity to see athletes at their best, not those that have had a big day before and are trying to repeat that which can be quite tough over 100 overs.”

Kenya have retained the same squad that featured in the first two Intercontinental Cup matches against Bermuda and Canada in Nairobi last year, for their forthcoming matches against Namibia and UAE.Kenya had a squad of 24 which has been cut to 14 led by Steve Tikolo. The only real question was whether Kennedy Otieno, back from a coaching and playing assignment in Australia, would be brought back into the fold, especially given some ill-advised comments he made about Kenyan cricket last year. The selectors opted to stick with a settled side.The match against Namibia was scheduled to be played in Nairobi at the end of the month but Kenya has been rocked by civil unrest since the highly disputed presidential elections on December 27. More than 250,000 people have fled their homes and over 500 killed in ongoing violence.The team leaves for UAE this Saturday ahead of their first match against Namibia on January 29. Kenya are unbeaten in this season’s Intercontinental Cup, and lead the table with 40 points and top the standings.Squad Steve Tikolo (capt), Thomas Odoyo, Jimmy Kamande, Alfred Luseno, Alex Obanda, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Peter Ongondo, Lameck Onyango, Elijah Otieno, Maurice Ouma (wk), Tony Suji, Hiren Varaiya

Pace-setters Basnahira North suffered their first defeat in the tournament when they received a 192-run thrashing at the hands of Kandurata under lights at the Premadasa Stadium. Captain Kumar Sangakkara once again set the tone for his team’s second successive win with a brilliant knock of 96 off 84 balls that led them to an imposing 296 for 5. Tharanga Paranavithana (75) who shared a 118-run third wicket stand with Sangakkara and Chamara Kapugedera (60 not out) were also among the runs. Basnahira North were bundled out for a disappointing 104 with Extras (21) being the top scorer.Wayamba kept their hopes of reaching the final alive when they defeated Ruhuna by 39 runs in a match reduced to 22-overs-a-side due to rain in Kurunegala. Wayamba rattled up 143 for 5 with Jehan Mubarak making an unbeaten run-a-ball 47. Ruhuna were never in the hunt following Farveez Maharoof’s double strike in his first over and were bundled out for 104. Legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi cleaned up the innings with 4 for 24. Wayamba’s second win in three games increases their points tally to nine, equal with second placed Kandurata. Ruhuna, who missed their captain Sanath Jayasuriya (who is abroad) for this game, are virtually out of the final with two defeats in as many matches.

Ramesh Nagdev, the former Gujarat player, died in the United States on Sunday aged 60.Nagdev, an attacking batsman who was born in Karachi and lived in San Jose, California, opened the innings with Sunil Gavaskar for Indian schools against the London schoolboys team in 1965-66.Nagdev represented Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy, opening the innings regularly with Nari Contractor, after playing for Bombay (now Mumbai) against the visiting Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) team in 1965 at the Brabourne Stadium. He also played for West Zone against the Australians, led by Bill Lawry, in a three-day tour match at Pune’s Nehru Stadium under the captaincy of Chandu Borde, another ex-India captain.In his career stretching from 1964-65 to 1969-70 Nagdev, who still holds the Bombay Schools record for the highest individual score in the Giles Shield tournament for senior boys (427, made in 1963-64), played 21 matches and accumulated 1164 runs at 36.He and Gavaskar also opened for Bombay University in the Rohintan Baria tournament and both played for the same college – Mumbai’s St Xavier’s. His highest first class score, 111, came in his last match against Baroda in Vadodara during February 1970.He is survived by his wife and two children.

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Anirudh Singh produced a fighting 92 but the rest of the Hyderabad batsmen capitulated around him on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semi-finals in Delhi. Hyderabad might have gone on to rue thier decision to bat first as Harvinder Singh, the former Indian seamer, struck four crucial blows and spearheaded the Railways’ effort. He was well supported by Jai Prakash Yadav, who continued his fine bowling season with 3 for 55, while Murali Kartik chipped in with two wickets.Anirudh’s patient innings spanned more than three and a half hours but he had his aggressive moments with 13 fours and two sixes. Only two other batsmen managed double figures and Anirudh couldn’t manage to string together vital partnerships.Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, made a fantastic debut and led the Hyderabad fightback with 4 for 29 in the final session. He removed all the four Railways batsmen to fall,including Amit Pagnis who raced along to 42 at a rapid pace. Yadav was at the crease when stumps were drawn having made 23 off 29 balls. However, Railways, with their potent seam attack, still held the edge in what was turning out to be a low-scoring thriller.

The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Asia has put question marks over New Zealand’s forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka. New Zealand are scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka in less than a fortnight, but Simon Wilson, spokesman for New Zealand Cricket (NZC), indicated that a final decision was unlikely until much closer to the departure date.”NZC is watching developments, talking to the various authorities, and assessing the entire picture in terms of security and safety, as it does with all overseas tours.”Stephen Fleming voiced his concern about the virus too. “If it progresses as expected we might have a problem getting there. When you take into account insurance complications and the already tight security measures … it’s definitely something to watch.”A primary worry for the cricketers is the transit through Singapore, where, according to official figures, 98 people have been infected by the virus and four have died. If the tour does go ahead, it is likely that the team will avoid Singapore and travel via Perth instead. So far, no case of SARS has been detected in Sri Lanka.

The count down to the final of ICC World Cup 2003 has started after six weeks of hectic cricket. With only the final left to be played, India are strongly fancied to take the World Cup home.

The general perception is that Australia deserve to win the final. Yes, Australia have played some excellent cricket in this World Cup, but one cannot forget the way India have fought back after their dismal performance against the Aussies at Centurion five weeks ago. Their transformation has been remarkable, and purely on the basis of springing back from that debacle, I think the Indians deserve to win the World Cup. Not too many teams in the world have the ability to comeback from such a situation.The remarkable comeback was made possible thanks to the leadership on and off field of Sourav Ganguly. Indian fans were really down after the defeat at Aussie hands and their reaction back home could have completely demoralised any team. The way Ganguly handled the situation with complete confidence and determination speaks volumes for his faith in his team. The players too responded by backing their captain, and they were cool and calm in their approach. The millions of fans back home and worldwide, who were disappointed after the defeat against the Aussies, were made to realise that it was too early to have written their team off after only the second game.

At the fall of each wicket, the idea of all the eleven players huddling in the middle with hands on the shoulders of each other is more evident proof of the positive body language of the captain and team. Because of this each and every fielder is motivated to perform well and this attitude has improved the fielding remarkably. They have saved many runs and have turned half-chances into dismissals of important batsmen. The result is eight consecutive wins, including victories against top one-day cricket teams like Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England.After the Centurion defeat, without wasting much time, the Indian team management made the necessary adjustment in the opening department of the batting line-up. The strategy they came up with was to open with Sehwag and Tendulkar through this World Cup, while the middle order was left flexible to be adjusted according to the situation in the game.Ganguly has almost perfectly applied the important principle of consistency in the use of team resources. The way he has combined the efforts of the three able frontline pace bowlers, the one leading spinner, with the other part-time bowlers has been virtually faultless.It will be quite unfair if the efforts and sound analysis of coach John Wright are not mentioned. Wright has been the backbone of this outstanding resurgence of Indian team. The recent match against Kiwis was very important to keep the Indian winning streak going and also to boost the self-esteem of players, since Indians recently lost five-two to New Zealand. The strategy of fielding first against New Zealand was an excellent example of the coach and captain putting their heads together and working things out.Wright’s recent interview just before the semi-final sums up what a coach needs to say, especially before important games. “We still have a long way to go and, as is the case against any opposition and in any circumstance, we have to achieve our game plans and play well,” he said. “If we do that the result will take care of itself.”Wright has played a key role in the transformation of Tendulkar’s form in this World Cup. After scoring just 36 against Australia, Tendulkar has gone on to play the most crucial and memorable cricket of his career. His 98 against Pakistan and 97 against Sri Lanka can be rated better than any century he has scored before. Sachin totally surprised Pakistan with the onslaught against Shoaib Akhtar and the two Ws. He is on course to be the Best Player of the Tournament and definitely deserves this distinction. It is his positive approach and almost six hundred runs in just nine games, which has helped India to achieve all these superb wins.Sachin’s positive approach will be the key to negate the efforts of McGrath, Lee and Bichel. India will have to rely on their other batsmen too – Sourav, Dravid, Yuvraj, Kaif and Sehwag have all chipped in with useful scores. Especially Dravid’s fifties against Pakistan and New Zealand helped the slightly turbulent ship to reach a safe haven. His innings reminded me of the fighting abilities shown by Javed Miandad in the 1992 World Cup for Pakistan.Merely batsmen and fielders cannot win cricket matches; one needs good bowlers as well. There has been criticism about the Indians not playing one extra bowler, either Agarkar or Kumble. The superlative performance of the three pacers Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Nehra have made up for all such criticism. They have stuck to an excellent line and length, and have made batsmen earn the runs. Bowling of Srinath and Zaheer Khan was one of the reasons for Pakistan’s defeat, and Nehra single-handedly destroyed the English batting line-up at Durban. Harbhajan Singh too has been effective and efficient.I can clearly hear the “Go India Go” slogans of Indian fans at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, back home and worldwide. What has still to be written into the history books is a win against Australia. Yes, India deserve to achieve that win and lift the prestigious ICC World Cup of 2003.
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Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s captain, has insisted his side are not in the VB Series to simply make up the numbers. He is aiming to qualify for the finals, despite injury worries over Craig Wishart and Stuart Carlisle.On their one-day tour of Australia so far, Zimbabwe scraped home by eight runs against Australia A last week, but went down to Western Australia by 70 runs at the weekend, and were comfortably beaten by Australia A today.Their preparation hasn’t been helped by Wishart’s knee injury he suffered against WA, and by Carlisle’s blow to the thumb while fielding today. However, Streak is still confident Zimbabwe can make an impact. “We haven’t come here to be a third playing nation, we’ve come here to make the finals,” he told . “We’re going to be all out to win every game.”Streak also had a word to say regarding the Australian team, claiming that they were right to be introducing younger players into an ageing squad. “When you look at the Australian team, you know, they’re not the youngest now,” Streak said. “Some of them are getting a bit long in the tooth.”Someone told me that the Australian bowls team is a younger average age than the cricket team. I don’t know how true that is, but it’s good for them to have a look at the youngsters.”Obviously they’re being looked at and I think it’s a wise decision by the Australian selectors to start blooding some of the youngsters. I was very impressed with a lot of the youngsters. Obviously Shaun Tait had a good outing against us and we are very impressed – he’s got pace.”Zimbabwe’s first game of the VB Series is against Australia on Sunday, January 11, at Sydney. The opening game, between Australia and India, starts on Friday at Melbourne.

Stuart Williams, who played 31 Tests and 57 ODIs for West Indies between 1993 and 2002, has had the little finger on his right hand amputated. Williams, 34, fractured the finger while fielding in the Leeward Islands’ Carib Beer Series fifth-round game against Windward Islands at St Maarten in early February. The decision to amputate the finger was taken after gangrene set in.Dinanath Ramnarine, the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) president, said that his organisation was discussing the standard of medical attention given to Williams with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).Williams played five matches for Leewards in the recently concluded Carib Beer Cup, topping the batting averages for them with 329 runs at 54.83.

Pakistan XI 188 for 2 (Salman Butt 91*, Taufeeq Umar 68) beat Rest of Pakistan 187 (Aamer Bashir 70, Danish Kaneria 4-42, Mohammad Sami 3-32)
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The senior Pakistan side, captained by Shoaib Malik, cruised to victory over the Rest of Pakistan in a one-day charity game at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium to raise funds for tsunami relief and the recent Baluchistan flood disaster. After The Rest were bowled out for 187, the result was never in doubt after Salman Butt and Taufeeq Umar put on 151 for the first wicket. In the end the senior XI won by eight wickets with more than ten overs to spare.Mohammad Sami, who had been under an injury cloud, proved his fitness for the forthcoming Indian tour by taking three important wickets, including the opener Faisal Athar for 0 as The Rest stumbled to 13 for 2. Then Danish Kaneria took over, grabbing four wickets as the batsmen struggled – the only decent stand was one of 92 for the fourth wicket between Aamer Bashir, who top-scored with 70, including nine fours, and Faisal Iqbal, who made 34. In all the last seven wickets tumbled for only 44 runs.In reply Butt and Taufeeq had few problems, piling on 151 befopre Taufeeq edged Imran Tahir through to Zulqarnain Haider after scoring 68. He hit ten fours and a six. Shoaib Malik was also caught behind after a quickfire 23 from 18 balls, but it mattered little: Butt was still there at the end, having hit 13 fours.