Geoff Marsh, the former Australia and Zimbabwe coach, has said that Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket in 2007 is a hasty decision. Marsh, who was coach in 2004 when a series against Australia was aborted due to player strikes, said the Zimbabwe Board XI’s 3-0 drubbing at the hands of an Australian Academy side was evidence that the country should not be rushed back into Test cricket.Kevin Curran, Zimbabwe’s coach, announced yesterday that his team would be ready for Test cricket in November 2007, for a home series against West Indies. Speaking to , Marsh expressed his concern after the young Centre of Excellence side hammered the opposition, which included some international experience, with ease.”That’s (against) our academy. So you’ve got to say, ‘Well, where are they at?'”, Marsh said. “They’ve got to be competitive. We’ve just sent a cricket academy side there and absolutely belted them. You would like to see Zimbabwe back in Test cricket, no doubt about that, they’ve got some terrific young talent in the system but they’ve just lost too many senior players. The whole thing is sad … I think next year is too early.”Marsh’s tenure as coach of Zimbabwe sadly coincided with the politicalisation of the national side, and the defection of many key players, and he chose not to extend his marginalised coach’s extention after it expired in 2004.Incidentally, Marsh’s son Shaun, was just one of a crop of Australian batsman to pick runs off the Zimbabwean side. Marsh made 170 in the first match, while Tasmania’s George Bailey hit consecutive centuries for the team led by Tim Nielsen – a contender to replace John Buchanan as Australian coach after the World Cup.Australia are due to tour Zimbabwe for three one-day internationals in June of next year.

Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, who was docked his entire match fee for arguing a wide-ball call with the umpire in the match against West Indies, has sought clarification over the on-field communication between umpires and captains.Ponting once again apologised for his behaviour but suggested that there was nothing wrong with a captain approaching the umpires if he felt the situation warrantedit. His view hadn’t found favour with Chris Broad, the ICC match referee, who fined him after the game finished on Tuesday night.Speaking to the media before the team left for an afternoon practicesession, Ponting said: “I know that’s happening even at the board level andICC level at the moment with the umpires having some input into a lot ofthat stuff. Chris did say to me the other night that he doesn’t see it asappropriate at all for a captain to be even approaching an umpire duringthe course of the game so there does need to be some clarification there.”Asad Rauf, the Pakistani umpire, was the target of Ponting’s ire duringthe opening game, and Ponting admitted that he had overstepped the line.”It was just one of those heat-of-the-moment sort of things that I tend toget a bit wrapped up in from time to time,” he said, before adding that hehad no qualms about owning up to his mistakes.”It’s always easy I think to do that, I’ve always been one when I made amistake to put my hand up and say that I’ve done it. It was important forme as a leader of my team. I wanted to get that point across to my teamthat it’s not acceptable. Everyone knows when they’ve made a mistake. Somepeople unfortunately don’t like owning up to them.”That said, Ponting still believed that there needed to be a dialoguebetween the captain and on-field officials to smooth over certainsituations. “I think it’s more the timing of it than not being allowed todo it,” he said. “The captain has got to be able to do that at differenttimes over the course of the game, so as long as the timing’s okay I thinkthat will continue.”

India U-19s crushed their Pakistan counterparts by 174 runs in the third one-day match to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the four-match series at the Bagh-e-Jinnah ground in Lahore.The Pakistan U-19s put up another poor show with both bat and the ball, suffering their third defeat in a row, after having lost the opening tie by 82 runs and the second by just seven runs. The fourth and final match will be played on Sunday here at the Gaddafi Stadium.Put into bat by home captain Riaz Kail, the touring side were propelled by half-centuries from Tanmay Srivastava and Virat Kohli, totalling 298 for nine in the allotted 50 overs and then bowling out Pakistan for 124 in a ball short of 37 overs.Srivastava and Kohli revived a timid Indian start at 47 for two with a third-wicket stand of 152 runs revived the fortunes of the Indian batting after they were 47 for two. Srivastava’s 88 came from 114 balls with seven fours while Kohli’s 80 was made from only 92 balls, with nine fours.Tanvir Afzal, the medium-pacer, took three wickets for 45 runs in eight overs while fast bowler Raza Rehman bagged two wickets in ten overs for 58 runs.Pakistan’s batting suffered from the very start, collapsing to 38 for five as a variety of Indian bowlers extracted maximum support from a good wicket. Rana Adnan top-scored with 27 as did the last man Mohammad Naved.India’s legspinners contributed to much of the damage, captain Piyush Chawla and Sumeet Sharma each snapping up three wickets. Abu Nachim, the fast bowler, also chipped in with two cheap wickets.

The ICC might have washed its hands of Darrell Hair, but the elite umpire just won’t go away as quietly as the mandarins in Dubai must have hoped he would.A week after being told that he would not be allowed to officiate in another international match, rumours continue to rumble that Hair might be seriously considering suing for damages. Hair’s case appears to have been strengthened by leaked reports in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph which state that he received an excellent rating from the ICC immediately before the infamous Oval Test last August. The ICC report effectively ranked Hair as second best in the world, and on decision-making statistics alone, measured from video evidence, he was rated top, with 253 correct out of 263 – a success rate of 95.5%.The newspaper claims to have a copy of the ICC’s individual report on Hair in which states that “you do not shirk your responsibilities in this area, putting your faith in the process to get the correct outcome.” It continues: “Your pragmatic approach to problem-solving has enabled you to find commonsense solutions that arise. You display a first-class knowledge of laws and regulations.”Cricket Australia has demanded that the ICC explain the decision to sack Hair, but as yet there has been no public response.In the same paper, Robert Craddock wrote that if the case did go to court then “the ICC will have a major challenge explaining how a man ranked the world’s No. 2 umpire one season could be dumped out of the game the next … by throwing Hair out of international cricket, the ICC has also completely undermined its own staff.”

Daren Ganga is unlikely ever to bring a house down with his batting in themanner of a Chris Gayle or Brian Lara. But there is a lot to be said foran opener in his mould, especially on a day, and a pitch, like this.For over five hours, Ganga stood resolute, surviving trial by new ballswing, by reverse swing, by leg-spin and by unpredictable bounce. Thoughmost of the nine boundaries in his 214-ball stay were executed with apleasant correctness, unlike his 82 in the last Test, you are unlikely torecall any of them. Yet with his unbeaten 77 rest a substantial portion ofWest Indian hopes in this match.”I was trying to consolidate the side’s position,” Ganga told reporters atthe end of the day. “The plan was to make as many partnerships as possibleand with Shivnarine Chanderpaul we got one going for a while. We tried todo it with Runako Morton and Dwayne Bravo as well but they both got out.The plan is to get as close to 304 as possible now.”Neither was it an easy effort and nor was it particularly pretty on theeye. That has much to do, said Ganga, with the pitch though he was at leastcandid enough to admit that, occasionally, such pitches are a pleasantsurprise. “There is inconsistency in terms of bounce and it is toughgoing. It is important to be patient on this pitch. It isn’t a sportingtrack because it’s very slow and you can’t play shots too easily on this,”he said.But he added, “This is a true test of character though, a real test ofskill as a batsman. I am enjoying the challenge and as all great batsmenhave done in the past, you have to prove yourself on all types ofsurfaces. As a batsman, you have to be tested in all conditions. In termsof concentration and technique it was one of my better knocks.”It has been one of his better tours too and following a fifty in Multan,the signs that West Indies have found a long-term partner for Gayleare promising. “Yeah, so far this year has been good for me. Against Indiaand in New Zealand earlier this year, I was pretty consistent. I have setmyself goals and am trying to achieve them. We knew it would be difficulton this tour, we knew we would be challenged but we have shown characterso far.”If nothing else though, this Test will be a special one for him, for itbrought him his first international wicket. And it wasn’t a small oneeither. “Yeah getting Inzamam’s wicket yesterday was special. It was agreat joy to get such a big scalp. I haven’t done much bowling but it’sopened my eyes and I want to bowl more and become one of the options formy captain in the future.”Scalping big names is something Umar Gul is getting used to already.Having notched up Lara in Lahore to a list that already includesSachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman to name three, he was at itagain here. A marvelous post-lunch spell of reverse swing brought threebig names in two overs – Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lara and thelast two castled by peaches. Lara, bowled by one cutting away from him,was part of a plan.”We plan against all batsmen and teams. We knew Lara shuffles early on andis a candidate for leg-before so my aim was to try for that,” Gul said.Despite three wickets and looking the most likely paceman to take more,Gul said the pitch wasn’t helpful for fast bowlers. “It isn’t that greatfor fast bowlers. You can keep the spinners on at one end and rotatebowlers at the other which Inzamam did well. It is a difficult pitch forfast bowlers but you have to be able to bowl on all kinds.”But if you’re not confused enough about the nature of the pitch already,Gul added, as an afterthought, that “it’s not a sporting wicket becauseeven I batted well on it.”

On a day when England needed to be firing on all cylinders to preventAustralia taking control of the fifth and final Test, Andrew Flintoff’scontribution with the ball was a cause of concern. Despite taking the newball, he bowled just six overs in the day in two three-over spells – one ofwhich was interrupted by lunch – to raise further fears about histroublesome left ankle.England nevertheless insisted that all was well. “His ankle is fine,” saidEngland’s leading bowler of the day, Steve Harmison, whose sentiments weresimultaneously expressed by the England press officer sat beside him. “Itwas just that myself and Jimmy were bowling well and the rain break came ata good time for us.”Even so, Flintoff’s absence from the front line of the attack was apuzzlement – especially on a day when England were lacking the services oftheir most consistent performer of the tour, Matthew Hoggard, who failed afitness test before the start of the match.”When you lose your best bowler of the series it’s up to the other bowlersto step up a little bit and hopefully that’s what we’ve tried to do,” addedHarmison. “Jimmy bowled well. Monty bowled well and I felt I got better asthe day wore on. It’s nicely poised, and it’s a good time to have a breakand recharge the batteries and come back tomorrow.”Glenn McGrath is another man who knows about bowling through the pain of asore ankle, having undergone similar surgery to remove a bone spur inOctober 2003 . “I’m not sure how Freddie’s going at the moment,” he said. “Iknow I felt great until I snapped one of the other spurs off.”But bowling’s a funny thing, and it’s amazing how much pain you can bowlwith. It’s only in between the overs that you really feel it. I’m sureFreddie will keep going, and keep hitting the deck.”It was a day of disappointments for Flintoff, after earlier falling short ofhis second century against Australia. “He was batting well and we’re alldisappointed for him,” said Harmison. “Australia bowled in good areas anddidn’t give us much to hit, and they tried to starve him of the strike asmuch as they possibly could. Perhaps we [the tail] could have got a few moreand helped Andrew get us up to 300 or nearer 350.As to Flintoff’s general morale, as a gruelling series draws to a close,Harmison said: “I don’t think he’s taken it any more personally than therest of us do. We’re all disappointed, despondent and devastated. At the endof the last Test that dressing-room was horrendous, it was not a very niceplace to be. But you have to put a brave face on and you have to show a bitof fight. I think Fred took it on the chin a bit more than anyone else ascaptain. But he’s trying his best and we’re all trying to win this Testmatch for England.”Subject to fitness, Michael Vaughan is waiting in the wings to take over forthe one-day series, but Harmison was adamant that his friend was not keen tohand over the reigns. “I think Fred will be very disappointed if he’s notcaptain for the one-dayers, if that’s what happens.”He just loves captaining England. There is no better job in AndrewFlintoff’s eyes than being captain of England, but if that happens ithappens. I’m sure he’ll fall into line – as he would if Andrew Strauss hadbeen named captain for this series.”

The man in charge of preparing Barbados for next year’s World Cup has denied reports that that matches at the Kensington Oval had been cancelled in the lead-up to the tournament.Stephen Alleyne, the chief executive of the Barbados organising committee, has reacted to reports suggesting that the ground development had fallen behind schedule and matches early in 2007 would have to be called off by clarifying that there were never any plans to host first-class matches at the ground prior to the World Cup.”Following the pitch-testing in September of this year, in concert with the [World Cup planners] we agreed a programme for the re-growth of grass which did not allow nor anticipate any first-class cricket until the beginning of the event.”The other fact mitigating against first-class games is that the first quarter of next year has been reserved for the overlay completion in preparation for the tournament. I am happy to report that all is proceeding according to plan.”

Chennai and Bangalore will host the second edition of the Afro-Asia Cup in the second week of June, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced. The tournament is part of a gruelling schedule that awaits the Indians with non-stop action till the summer of 2008.With the World Cup ending towards the close of April, India head to Bangladesh for a short tour of two Tests and three one-dayers, followed by a full-length tour of England between July 7 and September 8. The tour includes three Tests, seven ODIs and a one-off ODI against Scotland. The Afro-Asia Cup will be held between the two tours.There will be the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa and home Tests will finally return after a gap of nearly 17 months when India host Pakistan for a series of three Tests and five one-dayers. There won’t still be any respite as India head to Australia in November, followed by another home series.”We will go to Australia for a four-Test series and take part in a one-day tri-series with Sri Lanka as the third team,” said Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary. “We will return on March 7. “Then we are hosting a three-Test series against South Africa,” Shah said. Later, the team departs for Pakistan for the Asia Cup.

Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, hopes his players won’t be overawed at the presence of India’s cricketers when both sides meet in their opening match of the World Cup.”Most of them are superstars but I would be very upset if our cricketers were to get overawed by it. Once you enter the field, you are equals,” he was quoted as saying to . “We would like to keep our focus despite who the person is – after all he has got two arms and legs.”Whatmore, 55, expressed his disappointment at the ‘minnow’ label tagged to Bangladesh, a side that has beaten Australia, India and Sri Lanka. “I would like to know what’s the meaning of minnows is in [the] Oxford Dictionary. We have secured important triumphs. But yes we are ninth in order so in that sense the other big teams are ahead of us. India is one of them and they are the first one we have to contend with.”I don’t remember when it was last when we played India; I think it was back in 2004. Given the geographical proximity, I would have thought we played more often.”Habibul Bashar, the Bangladeshi captain, echoed Whatmore’s concerns. “We have done well in recent past but then we never played a big team in year 2006. As we play against India, we realize they have a number of superstars. We have none. But we want to play as a unit with significant contributions coming from each and everyone rather than a couple of individuals.”Both coach and captain felt Bangladesh’s warm-up win over New Zealand was down to an all-round effort and expected more of the same from their players. Whatmore felt Tamim Iqbal, the rookie opener, would come good – “It will be a bit of a baptism by fire for him but I think he will acquit himself well” – while Bashar was wary of the left-arm variety in his spin department. “All our spinners, be it frontline Mohammad Rafique and Abdur Razzak or Saqibul Hasan, are left-arm spinners. We don’t have variety and I would have loved to have an offspinner. But they are the best spinners we have.”

West Indies’ last two World Cup games are shaping up as a valedictory to the captain Brian Lara, who will retire from one-day internationals after the tournament. Lara, who turns 38 on May 2, said: “My day in the sun is over. It’s tough playing one-day internationals out there.”Lara, who has appeared in 297 matches scoring 10,354 runs with 19 centuries, will almost certainly finish his career against England at the Kensington Oval on April 21. West Indies can still make the semi-finals but need an unlikely sequence of results to allow them into the last four.Lara will continue to play in Tests and after the 67-run defeat against South Africa he looked ahead to the tour of England. “We’ve got to pick ourselves up,” he said. “Cricket is going to go on.”Lara is in his third stint as West Indies captain and has been the subject of much criticism for the team’s lacklustre performances. He said the campaign had been a major personal disappointment. “It’s a situation where you are playing your last few one-dayers and you hope you can end up in a World Cup final or a semi-final,” he said.It is his fifth World Cup but West Indies have only once reached the last four during his career when they were beaten by Australia in Mohali in 1996. Lara denied that contract negotiations, which were still going on when the tournament started, had affected the West Indian performance.”We’ve got a players’ association and a West Indies Cricket Board,” he said. “These matters are handled at that level by people who are astute enough to understand the delicate situation. We are just the players.”Whatever the situation, when we go on the cricket field we try our best. I know the disappointment of the cricket fans. I am sad that we have disappointed the Caribbean and our supporters around the world.”We feel it a lot and we know the man in the street is definitely disappointed. When we go to practice and see the people waving on the side of the road, we understand what cricket means to them.”West Indies still have to play against Bangladesh on April 19 and England two days later. “We’ve got to dig deep,” Lara said. “It’s tough playing games where you’re not really involved in the tournament but you’ve got to put that aside and show some character and pride.”Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, said it would be sad to see Lara go. “He’s been an unbelievable performer for the West Indies,” he said. “I hope the team plays for him in his last two games. He’s been a credit to the game.”