Rahul Dravid picked up both the Test Player of the Year and the Player of the Year at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony at Alexandra Palace in London on Tuesday night. “It was a great honour, totally unexpected,” said Dravid. “I was very surprised because a lot of people here have had a good year. I’m really happy, and honoured, to be selected.”Earlier, the first award of the night, Umpire of the Year, went to Simon Taufel, the young Australian official. He received the most votes from cricket’s Test captains and match referees.The next award, Emerging Player of the Year, went to Irfan Pathan, the 19-year-old Indian left-arm pace bowler. “I feel really good about this,” said Pathan. “I have the confidence to do well in international cricket, but this award will boost my confidence even more. It will motivate me a lot, but it’s a big motivation to play for India anyway. Every single match is a big challenge.”Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, praised Pathan: “On behalf of the ICC and the cricket community, we congratulate Irfan Pathan on winning the Emerging Player of the Year award. He is a highly gifted player, and along with the other nominees in this category, [has] a very bright future in cricket.”The New Zealand team won the Spirit of Cricket Award, while Andrew Flintoff, rounding off an excellent summer, scooped the One-Day Player of the Year prize. Flintoff, 26, took 12 wickets at an average of 20.50, and scored 551 runs at an incredible 78.71 during the year-long voting period. Unsurprisingly, Flintoff was also part of the one-day team of the year.Flintoff was his usual self-effacing self, saying: “If somebody had said three years ago that I’d be up here with Ricky [Ponting], and Jacques [Kallis], I probably wouldn’t have believed them,” said Flintoff. “My career over the past 18 months has taken a massive turnaround. I’m in a bit of a purple patch at the moment – not only in my cricket, but in my life.”And Flintoff, who became a father earlier in the week, concluded: “My job’s been made easier by the class players in the [England] side. We’re really just 11 mates who go out and play, and enjoy each other’s company, and enjoy each other’s successes.”Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, explained: “Andrew Flintoff has certainly had a tremendous year in 2003-04, and we congratulate him on winning this award.”World one-day XI
1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Ricky Ponting (capt), 5 Brian Lara, 6 Virender Sehwag, 7 Jacques Kallis, 8 Andrew Flintoff, 9 Shaun Pollock, 10 Chaminda Vaas, 11 Jason Gillespie.
World Test XI
1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Brian Lara, 6 Jacques Kallis, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Shane Warne, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Stephen Harmison.

On how hard it was to break out from his bad run of form
It was difficult. But I knew I had the ability to come back, and it was only a matter of one big innings. I was determined that if I cross 50, I’ll convert it into a century. I was playing well at Bangalore when I made 39 in the first innings, but I failed to convert that. Here, though, I converted my start into the hundred that my team needed.Did he, or India, have a specific gameplan for this game?
Our gameplan in this match was the same as in the last one. We knew the first spell from the bowlers was the most dangerous, and we planned to play carefully, take no risks, and see that through. And so we did.On the role of Sunil Gavaskar, India’s batting consultant, in the gameplan
Strategies and so on are decided at team meetings, but he [Sunil] has been a help to us, by sharing his experience of international cricket. If anyone has a problem, he helps out with that, and motivates us all.On the pitch
It’s a good track to bat on. Yes, the ball kept low at times, but that [only] happened when the ball was really old, after 75 overs had been bowled. After the new ball was taken there was no uneven bounce. It was good to bat on today, and I expect the same tomorrow. Perhaps in the fourth and fifth days it will take even more spin than it already is, and get slower.On missing his double-century
[Somewhat bemused] I still had 45 runs to go for my double-century. Had I got out in my 190s you could have said that I missed making 200, but I was far away from it.On why he became more aggressive and played some reckless strokes after reaching his century
I thought the team would benefit if I went for my strokes and got some quick runs. But I guess my shot selection wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t picking the right balls to hit. But I realised at one point that it was more important for me to bat through another session rather than score quick runs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that.Was he affected by all the wickets that fell at the other end?
No. My plan was the same throughout, to punish the loose ball but to minimise risk otherwise. The number of wickets that had fallen at the other had had no impact on the way I was playing.How did he react to the criticism of him, and the calls for his being dropped, during this recent bad phase?
When you don’t perform, everybody puts pressure on you. When you do, those same people acclaim you. I wasn’t worried, and besides, I had got some confidence from my innings of 146 in the warm-up game before the first Test. I knew that if I spend time at the wicket, the runs would come. And that’s just what happened.On his making around two-thirds of the runs scored while he was at the crease
Look, some of our batsmen were unlucky. Rahul [Dravid] got an inside edge, [VVS] Laxman got a ball that kept really low: had these strokes of luck not gone against us, we would perhaps have been just three or four wickets down at close of play today. We could have set them a bigger target for tomorrow.On how many runs he thinks India can make on the third day
I think 100 more is possible, that’ll give us a lead of 150, and we’ll be well on top.On which of the Australian bowlers he was most impressed with today
[Jason] Gillespie bowled really well.… And Warne?
Well, he took wickets, but I don’t think he bowled quite that well.

After both sides claimed winning draws in their semi-finals, Canada and Scotland will meet each other on Sunday when the three-day final of the inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup starts.Scotland, who ruthlessly outplayed Kenya at Abu Dhabi, will be on a high after their batsmen seemed to run into some form: six separate players passed 40 once against Kenya. Fraser Watts, who opens the batting, became the first player since John Kerr in 1927 to score successive first-class hundreds for Scotland when he put together to 146 in over six hours in the first innings.Although Craig Wright, Scotland’s captain could say that said the winning draw against Kenya was due to having “a bit more firepower in the bowling department” they still need to find more bite as they struggled to make any serious incisions when Kenya batted out time in the last two sessions after being set an impossible 607 to win. John Blain remains incisive with the new ball, but there are no such guarantees with Gavin Hamilton’s medium-pace if the batsmen take control mid-innings. It’s unlikely that Paul Hoffman will return figures like 5-5 again, but there are a number of bowlers that Wright can call on.The value of winning the tournament should not be underestimated. Wright said: “We want to achieve one-day international status. We are aiming to prove we are consistently the best Associate Member country and any elevated status would give cricket a massive boost in Scotland.”Canada, for their part, will hope to repeat their successful game plan against UAE, who were put under pressure from the start after Canada posted an imposing 337 before the end of the first day. Ian Billcliff, Canada’s captain, indicated that “the partnership between Zubin Surkari and Don Maxwell was absolutely vital and enabled us to apply pressure with runs on the board,” but he considers that the game will “come down to application.”The tournament has so far provided some astonishing performances, not least among them John Davison’s match figures of 17-137 against USA, which were the second best in first-class cricket since Jim Lakers’ 19-90 against Australia in 1956. But with Davison missing for Canada due to commitments with South Australia, and Dougie Brown unavailable for Scotland through injury, if something special happens, the performer’s talents will have been nurtured in the earlier rounds.Canada (probable) 1 Zubin Surkari, 2 Ashif Mulla (wk), 4 Don Maxwell, 4 Ian Billcliff (capt), 5 Haninder Dhillon, 6 Jason Patraj, 7 Sunil Dhaniram, 8 Austin Codrington, 9 Sanjayan Thuraisingam, 10 Umar Bhatti, 11 Kevin Sandher.Scotland (probable) 1 Douglas Lockhart, 2 Fraser Watts, 3 Cedric English, 4 Gavin Hamilton, 5 Ryan Watson, 6 Colin Smith (wk), 7 Kyle Coetzer, 8 Craig Wright (capt), 9 John Blain, 10 Paul Hoffmann, 11 Asim Butt.

England’s cricketers believe they have been used as “political pawns”, after the latest – and presumably decisive – twist to the never-ending Zimbabwe saga.Nineteen months on from a near-identical situation, on the eve of the 2003 World Cup, the players have once again found themselves holed up in a South African hotel, awaiting orders from the England & Wales Cricket Board, after the Zimbabwe performed a spectacular U-turn over the issue of its ban on 13 members of the British media.While the journalists’ ban was being enforced, there seemed no way that the tour could proceed, and for the first time since the saga began, even the ICC seemed sympathetic towards England’s plight. But by lifting the ban at lunchtime on Thursday, the Zimbabwe government whipped away England’s get-out clause, and left them once again facing a hefty fine for failing to comply with the Future Tours Agreement.”From the players’ perspective, the last 24 hours have been extremely disappointing and saddened the players for a number of reasons,” said Richard Bevan, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, in a press conference in Johannesburg. “It’s naive to say that sport and politics don’t mix, but you are able to draw a line in the sand and say you should not cross that particular line, and using players as political pawns is unacceptable.”Friday’s first one-day international in Harare has been cancelled, and the players are understandably keen that it should not be rescheduled for a later date. “[They] have acted in a proper manner throughout by supporting the ECB in a very difficult position,” added Bevan. “The players have also asked the ECB to re-consider the issue of replaying the match that has been cancelled tomorrow.”It is particularly disappointing for the players that an issue that has been ticking away for a year and a half should remain unresolved even on eve of the first match, and Bevan was keen to stress that the decision to tour was in no way indicative of the players’ moral stances.”Deciding to tour Zimbabwe does not condone the issues that are going on in the country,” he said. “We have discussed on many occasions whether this tour should take place.

Graeme Smith was all smiles as he faced the media after captaining South Africa to their first Test victory since March 2004, and was fully confident that his team would carry their momentum forward into the final two Tests of the series, the first of which begins in Johannesburg on January 13.”It’s a great feeling,” said Smith. “One win doesn’t make us world-beaters, and there’s a lot of hard work ahead, but we wouldn’t be arriving in Jo’burg if I wasn’t confident of victory. We’ve shown our ability as a team to win Tests, and I’m looking forward to it.”It was a hard 2004,” admitted Smith, who is hoping for brighter things in the New Year. “We didn’t start well in Port Elizabeth, we slipped up in Durban after starting well, and then got lucky at the end – but that gave us momentum and confidence, and it’s lasted all five days here.”The balance of the side is looking good,” he added. “The bowlers have taken a lot of heat over the last few months, but they’ve come back superbly. This was a good wicket with good bounce, and we put the England batting line-up under a lot of pressure all Test. It was superb.”Smith singled out two key figures in South Africa’s victory. The spinner, Nicky Boje, who took four wickets in the second innings to go with his crucial 76, and the Man of the Match, Jacques Kallis, who made 149 and 66 to add to his 162 at Durban, and of whom Smith could not speak highly enough.”I’m running out of things to say about Jacques,” said Smith. “I think he’s the best player in the world and I’ve told him that. There have been a lot of 60s and 70s from the batsmen throughout the series, so it would be nice to see someone else moving on to take the pressure off him.” Kallis himself admitted that he was currently in a purple patch, but added that so long as he carried on boring the Barmy Army for the rest of the series, he’d be happy.Boje, meanwhile, “came to the party”, in the words of his captain. “We knew the pitch would get drier as the game went on,” explained Smith, “and that was one reason we didn’t enforce the follow-on. The wicket played pretty well throughout and the seamers had to graft, but Nicky really came to the party.”England must now face up to the psychological blow of being within touching distance of a 2-0 lead one week, only to end up 1-1 the next. “I guess they’re very disappointed,” said Smith. “If they’re not then there’s something wrong. But there are two big games left in the series, and it’s crucial to get a big performance at the Wanderers.”

Australia’s cricketers will ask for plastic bottles of beer to be banned at New Zealand grounds after some players were hit while fielding during Saturday’s one-day win over New Zealand.On what was a poor day for New Zealand cricket in general, Matthew Hayden was also spat at and hit by cardboard boxes during Australia’s 10-run win the opening one-dayer.Glenn McGrath also got into an argument with a security guard on the boundary, leading to Ricky Ponting insisting that the official be removed. “I actually saw Glenn chasing the security guard,” Ponting told reporters. “He told me a few overs before that he was having some problems with that guard. I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t going to happen again and at least get that guard away."For his part, McGrath admitted that he was not blameless. “I had … an altercation might be the right word … with a security guard on the fence,” he explained. “But I was a bit fired up at the time, so I probably should accept 50 % of what happened there myself.”But Ponting was clearly far from happy with off-pitch behaviour which twice caused play to be stopped. "Someone’s going to get hurt," he argued. "If a full plastic bottle hits someone in the eye or the back of the head, then we don’t want that. Get the police involved or whatever."And Adam Gilchrist was in no mood to disagree. “As far as bad-mouthing and personal abuse goes, the crowds here are on a par with anything we have come across, even in South Africa."Officials will meet the company responsible for security at the venues on Monday to discuss arrangements for the next game in Christchurch.

ScorecardDominic Thornely scored his second century in consecutive matches and his fourth of the season to have New South Wales well-placed in their important match against Tasmania at Bellerive Oval. Thornely, who made a hundred against Western Australia last week, was unbeaten on 108 at stumps after pushing his side to 6 for 303 in a game they need to gain points in to remain in conention for the final.New South Wales began badly, losing Greg Mail to the first ball when he edged Damien Wright, and the pace throughout the day was slow – Thornely took 200 balls to reach three figures with 13 boundaries. Thornely built on the solid work of Matthew Phelps (72) and Phil Jaques, who hit the umpire Steve Davis in the back of the head, and will re-join Matthew Nicholson (23) tomorrow.Brett Geeves and Wright were the pick of Tasmania’s attack and collected two wickets each. Tasmania sit in fifth position and have no chance of making the final.