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Legspinning allrounder Collins Obuya, one of Kenya’s heroes in the 2003 World Cup, has struggled to live up to the potential he showed then. Shortly after the tournament he suffered a knee injury, and since then he has suffered from the yips and a crisis of confidence.But thanks to private sponsorship raised by the Kenyan Cricket Association, Obuya will fly to Australia next week to spend time with Terry Jenner, the legendary legspin coach who is widely credited for helping Shane Warne scale the heights of international cricket.”Collins has struggled with is bowling ever since that knee injury in 2003 and we decided it would be wise to have him work with a specialist on his action as we try to get the players fit for the World Cup,” explained KCA chief executive, Tom Tikolo. Obuya was signed by Warwickshire shortly after the World Cup, but the knee injury quickly ended his county ambitions. He suffered another blow when an appendicitis caused him to miss the 2004 Champions Trophy in England.Although he is now fit, Obuya has struggled to find any consistency with the ball. In four Intercontinental Cup matches this season his four wickets have cost 61.25. This has impacted on his batting, with only one fifty in six innings and an average of 18.00.Jenner is renowned for his one-on-one coaching technique, and it is expected that Obuya will stay with him while in Australia.

Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire who has proposed a US$20 million winner-takes-all contest between England and a West Indies XI, could be prepared to bankroll an English version of the Indian Premier League, but only if the England & Wales Cricket Board can guarantee him a return on his investment.Stanford has been in talks with the ECB all week, because he believes that, if done properly, a proposed English Premier League offers the only realistic rival to India’s riches. He told The Times on Wednesday that he already had a group of investors lined up to get involved if the notion can get off the ground.There are plenty of hurdles to overcome before Stanford’s wishes can be granted, however, not least the likely opposition from the first-class counties who might fear being marginalised in such a deal. “The ECB are conservative,” Stanford told The Times. “”They realise they’re at a crossroads. They either let the Indians do it or they step up and get a game plan.”The ECB, for my estimation, need to be the driver,” said Stanford. “The organisation here is better, the management is better, the structure is better. It’s inevitable that the ECB will create a Twenty20 league, it’s inevitable that it will involve the private sector and it’s inevitable that the game will evolve.”Stanford said that he was willing to be a “big supporter” of English cricket, but warned that the players, fans and administrators shouldn’t just look at him as a benevolent uncle of the game. “There’s two types of investor,” he said. “There’s the philanthropists, who don’t exist. The others look at the return. If I do anything outside the West Indies, I want to see what kind of return I get.”Julian Hunte and Donald Peters, the president and chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), have also been in London for discussions that have been described by all parties as “very productive”, although the ECB have not commented on the possibility of creating the EPL.

Sri Lanka A 377 ( Silva 122, Charumbira 4-84) drew with Zimbabwe Provinces 247 for 7 (Matsikenyeri 45, Zhuwawo 44, Mutizwa 42)
Scorecard</aSri Lanka A started their tour of Zimbabwe with a draw in a two-day game against Zimbabwe Provinces at the Harare Sports Club. Kaushal Silva starred for the visitors with a hundred while Patiant Charumbira led the hosts' attack with a four-wicket haul.Silva, the wicketkeeper, hit an unbeaten 194-ball 122 while Mahela Udawatte and Dammika Prasad scored fifties as Sri Lanka scored at 4.24 runs per over to compile 377 in their first innings. Charumbira, the right-arm fast-medium bowler, grabbed his first four-wicket haul of his career as Sri Lanka were bowled out by the end of the first day.In their reply, Zimbabwe lost wickets regularly and were stuttering at 131 for 6 before Forster Mutizwa, with a patient 105-ball 42, and Cephas Zhuwawo, with a 61-ball 44, lifted their side to 247 for 7 by the end of the second and the final day.The first four-day game between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka A will start on October 14 in Harare while the second will be played at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo from October 20.

Ryan Watson is set to be named as Scotland’s new captain after Craig Wright resigned following the team’s disappointing performance in the World Cup.”I can’t see anyone other than Ryan Watson becoming captain,” Roddy Smith, the chief executive, old The Scotsman. “I think Ryan will be at the forefront of the selectors’ thoughts.”Watson stood in when Wright flew home after a family bereavement, leading the team against South Africa. Although Wright returned for the final match yesterday, he immediately stood down. “I felt it was the right time to give someone else an opportunity to make their mark,” he explained.

Scorecard

Brad Hodge justified his bold day-three declaration by setting up another chasing win for Victoria as they moved to the top of the Pura Cup table. Hodge closed the Bushrangers’ innings 117 runs behind South Australia on Sunday and his gamble paid off as he and Michael Klinger were the key contributors in running down the target of 322 for a three-wicket win.Klinger was unbeaten on 87 after steering the final stages of the chase and the home side ended the game with three overs to spare. While Klinger applied the finishing touches, Hodge kept the Bushrangers in sight of the result with 84 from 124 balls, including 11 fours and a six.The dismissal of Nick Jewell, who crawled to 36 off 111 deliveries, allowed Hodge and David Hussey, the first-innings century-makers, to accelerate and they produced a crucial stand of 79 in 71 balls. Hussey fell to a reflex take by Tom Plant at short leg and Hodge left with his side at 4 for 225, edging to first slip off Cullen Bailey.Bailey, the legspinner, was the most successful of South Australia’s bowlers with 4 for 103, but he was unable to stop Klinger. The Redbacks, who kept their two points, reached 5 for 204 before their first-session declaration, with Ben Cameron unbeaten on 51.

It’s hard to describe what Gravy did. He can’t explain it himself. He doesn’t like to be called an ambassador, yet he represented Antigua in the manner best befitting it: with joy. Gravy is a performer. He cross-dresses and dances and writhes and swings from the rafters and puts on a show that you will not ever forget. For twelve years he kept doing it. In many ways, he was the face of the Antigua Recreation Ground more than Viv Richards or Curtly Ambrose.It’s easy to stereotype Gravy. A chap slightly off his rocker, a blazing extrovert, an attention seeker, and a man with no worries. Actually, he is soft, sober, sentimental. On the record he has always said that his official retirement – exactly two cricket seasons ago – had all to do with the fact that he had given 12 years of his life to another country, USA, and so wanted to give exactly 12 years to his own country.Off the record he will tell you of the hurt that came along with never, ever being given any financial support even when he had requested it, from sponsors or from the Board. Continents away, Percy Abeysekara is flown around with the Sri Lankan team as official cheerleader. Gravy says he has never received a cent for buying the costumes he wore every day of cricket at the ARG. Today, he says, the guys at the gate ask him for a ticket if he wants to enter.He has not walked away in disgust – and he hasn’t gone to the press about this because it may show Antigua in poor light – but he cannot be asked, for anything in the world, to return to his act.So, the summer of 2000 it was when he walked around the ground in a white wedding dress and waved goodbye. "When everybody came to the edge of the balcony with the cameras and the flashin’ and the waves and the thank-yous, it felt like I wasn’t touching the ground."It was quite by accident that Gravy started doing what he did. He visited his first Test here in 1988. It started to rain during the presentation ceremony, and the podium was left open. "Something told me, Gravy, this is your time. I went down on the podium, in the rain, and started dancing. Everybody was excited about it. They loved it."Gravy now runs a little stall by the Sir Vivian Richards Pavilion with his girlfriend, Hyacinth. "I been talkin’ to her 6 years before I held her hand." Why? "Everything takes time, and good things come to those that wait."At least three posters mourn Gravy’s retirement. One of them says that ARG grounds men are on strike because Gravy retired. Thus the dead pitch. Another one illustrates the great triangle of retirement. Curtly Ambrose forms one side, Courtney Walsh the other, and Gravy the third. It’s actually quite apt if you listen to Gravy’s most cunning plan of all:"The only three people who knew what I was going to do was myself Gravy, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. We had a plan and we used it systematically. When the water cart comes onto the field, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh supposed to get the drinks first. Then I start my antics. That is when I’m at my best, when the water cart is on the ground. It allows me a chance to make the opposition not to be a part of the water cart. They forget to drink the water because they’ve never seen anything like me. They’re thirsty and they’re back in play. They’re listening to me, watching me. By that time, Ambrose and Walsh have taken their wickets."The nicest thing anyone has told Gravy has come from Viv Richards. "Gravy,what you’re doing," Richards told him, "keep on doing it, cause the world is happy when you do it.""Everybody tells me that they miss me. What they don’t know that I miss it more than them."More Roving Reporter
The King’s maa
Remembering Frank Worrell
`It got to me. Big time’
Awesome
Meet the CEO
Sobers is a hero – official
‘Murray would have ate that, maan’
She’s on the ball
The romantic
Just lukewarm

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The trend of low scores and poor pitches continued at the Champions Trophy, as New Zealand crushed South Africa by 87 runs at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. In conditions where batting was an onerous task, Stephen Fleming played an outstanding knock for the second time in a major one-day competition against South Africa. In the World Cup, he had creamed 134 effortless runs; here, his 89 was the difference between the two sides, enabling New Zealand to mount 195. His opposite number for South Africa, Graeme Smith, was the second-highest score with 42 – but none of the other batsmen had much of a clue.The pitch was a different one to what had been used a couple of days back when West Indies were mauled by Sri Lanka, but the result wasn’t much different. Early on it offered more pace and bounce than the track on which West Indies got rolled over, but as the day wore on strokeplay became increasingly tougher, especially against the older ball. By the time South Africa were midway into their innings, there was a puff of dust every time the ball landed on the turf, and the abrasive nature of the pitch made the ball grip the surface – it was all far too much for the South African batsmen, and for most of the New Zealanders as well.The one batsman who conquered these tough conditions was Fleming. At the start, when strokeplay was relatively easier, he executed some crisp strokes, flicking wide off mid-on with characteristic flair and cutting and driving with panache on the off side. He played and missed more than once early on, but when wickets fell regularly at the other end, he cut out the risks and ensured that he stayed through most of the innings.The stand-out feature, though, was his crisp timing in a match where everyone else struggled. Even as wickets fell around him, Fleming calmly worked the ball around for ones and twos, seemingly unconcerned by the lack of support, and then opened out again towards the end, sweeping the spinners and hoicking Makhaya Ntini when he returned for a second spell. In fact, Ntini’s extra pace made him the easiest bowler to get away, as he leaked almost six an over.Fleming’s innings meant that New Zealand managed a decent total – in the circumstances – despite the absence of a significant partnership: there were five stands of 20 or more, but none topped 47 as batsman after batsman deserted Fleming despite getting starts. The South African bowlers did a fine job, but the extravagant turn Robin Peterson and Smith managed – more than once Smith managed to rip it past Fleming’s outside edge – should have suggested to both the captains that batting in the evening would be even more fraught with danger.

And so it turned out, as South Africa struggled right from the start of their run-chase. The wreckers, however, were the medium pacers, as Mills and Oram used the conditions to perfection. Mills did the early damage, trapping Boeta Dippenaar in front, and nailing Herschelle Gibbs with a superb indipper. Jacques Kallis, the birthday-boy who had celebrated with three wickets in the afternoon, walked out, and on a pitch getting increasingly treacherous, he was the one batsman who had the technique to cope. Mills, however, ended his resistance too, effecting a superb one-handed return catch as Kallis went on the drive too early.Smith continued to battle hard, though, just as his opposite number had done for New Zealand. While Fleming managed 89, Smith couldn’t even make half as much, as Oram took over from where Mills had left off. Mark Boucher gifted his wicket away to a wide one, Smith himself miscued a pull, while Shaun Pollock was left wide-eyed as an Oram special stopped on him, making him scoop a catch to cover.With six wickets in the bag, Fleming finally unleashed his twin-spin attack to wrap it up. Daniel Vettori was supposed to be the dangerman, but on a track offering so much turn to any slow bowler who could land the ball, the ability to bowl it flat and hasten it after pitching was a more deadly proposition. Vettori, flighting it generously, managed only one wicket in seven overs as Jeetan Patel ripped through the tail with his flat offbreaks. Andre Nel, his face usually a rich concoction of expressions, was left gaping after a huge turner got through his defences, and thereafter the end was only a moment away.At the post-match presentation, Smith offered his congratulations to Sri Lanka before realising he had got the opposition wrong – the way the ball turned, though, he could be forgiven for imagining they were up against Muttiah Muralitharan, not Jeetan Patel.

New ZealandLou Vincent b Pollock 17 (27 for 1)
Nathan Astle b Hall 14 (74 for 2)
Hamish Marshall b Nel 1 (76 for 3)
Peter Fulton c Boucher b Kallis 2 (86 for 4)
Jacob Oram c Dippenaar b Peterson 7 (99 for 5)
Brendon McCullum c & b Peterson 21 (135 for 6)
Daniel Vettori c Boucher b Smith 9 (156 for 7)
James Franklin b Kallis 9 (180 for 8)
Stephen Fleming c Pollock b Kallis 89 (192 for 9)
Jeetan Patel run out (Pollock) 2 (195 all out)
South AfricaBoeta Dippenaar lbw b Mills 0 (1 for 1)
Herschelle Gibbs b Mills 0 (3 for 2)
Jacques Kallis c & b Mills 8 (25 for 3)
Mark Boucher c McCullum b Oram 8 (50 for 4)
Graeme Smith c Vettori b Oram 42 (69 for 5)
Shaun Pollock c Patel b Oram 1 (71 for 6)
Andrew Hall c Vincent b Patel 13 (99 for 7)
Robin Peterson c Fleming b Vettori 0 (100 for 8)
Andre Nel b Patel 0 (105 for 9)
Makhaya Ntini b Patel 1 (107 all out)

Jagmohan Dalmiya, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and three other former office bearers of the BCCI appeared today before the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Crime Branch, which is probing alleged misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 21.74 lakh (approx US$49000) from the World Cup 1996 account.Dalmiya, SK Nair, former BCCI secretary, Kishore Rungta and Jyoti Bajpai, both former treasurers, were accompanied by their lawyers. According to PTI, all four of them were questioned by the police till 5 pm, local time, in the absence of their lawyers.Earlier, Dalmiya and the others had petitioned the Bombay High Court for anticipatory bail claiming they apprehended arrest following the case filed against them by the BCCI on March 16. Dalmiya contended that the case was filed by his rivals with a view to pressurise, harass and humiliate him. The other office bearers told the court that they were being implicated in the case only because they were Dalmiya’s supporters.Dalmiya denied discrepancy of any nature with respect to of the World Cup 1996 (imprest) account. He said it had been audited regularly and that this account stood merged with accounts of the BCCI every year.He also said that after ceasing to be the PILCOM [Pakistan-India-Sri Lanka Committee] secretary from January 23 this year, he closed the account and handed over all records to the BCCI.

India’s cricketers enjoyed a “rest” day today, warming down after theirsecond tour game at Chelmsford, but one or two minds might have just beenworking overtime. Rahul Dravid and Co. would have wished for the twopractice games to provide a few answers; instead there seem to be morequestions on hand with three days to go until the first Test at Lord’s.Wasim Jaffer or Gautam Gambhir? VVS Laxman or Yuvraj Singh? Mahendra Singh Dhoni aswicketkeeper? The first two aren’t new instances – Jaffer is prone to a string of failures while Laxman’s spot is never certain. But what of Dhoni? In Bangladesh he kept his Test spot thanks toa Man-of-the-Series performance in the preceding one-dayers, but he’s donelittle of note to be sure of a place here. One can point to his 76 atChelmsford, or even his buccaneering 139 not out against Africa XI atChennai, but the conditions were nowhere near as demanding as they will be atLord’s.What’s more worrying is Dhoni’s decline behind the stumps. He was never a naturalwicketkeeper, starting off as a football goalie, and it was mainly thanksto his persistence that he improved in that department. There was a periodearly in his career when he gave up batting for one whole year just to getbetter with the gloves. He showed considerable improvement last season butthe fumbles have reappeared recently. He has struggled so far in the tour games, often parrying the ball rather than waiting for it, and his grassedchances off Andy Hodd and Robin Martin-Jenkins at Hove and Stuart Broad atChelmsford, all straightforward ones at international level, woulddefinitely get the team management thinking.Making his job harder is Dinesh Karthik’s presence in the team as aspecialist batsman. Karthik is the more agile wicketkeeper and is betterstanding up to Anil Kumble’s bouncy offerings. There will surely be a temptation to ask him to keep as well as bat. It would no doubt add to his burden – squatting all daybefore opening the batting can’t be easy – but it would also allow theteam a chance to play the extra batsman in Yuvraj.India’s batting is awesome on paper but, as was shown at Chelmsford, it justtakes a persistent bowling attack to open up the cracks. The top order is weak,the middle is inconsistent and the tail is mostly redundant. Lord’s isusually good to the batsmen and India’s batting galacticos, as theGuardian newspaper called them, will need to stand up. If they needsome expert advice about batting on the ground they just need to lookaround the dressing room and spot a man who managed three hundreds on thetrot here.For Dilip Vengsarkar, the current chairman of selectors, Lord’s, where he cracked centuries in 1979, 1982 and 1986, was his backyard. He downplayed the achievement, when Cricinfo asked him about it, butexplained why the ground was special.”Every player has his favourite grounds. I’ve got four hundreds at the Feroz Shah Kotla but nobody remembers that. And they were against better teams – three againstWest Indies and one against Asif Iqbal’s Pakistan. Everybody only talksabout the three hundred at Lord’s. Of course it was a great feeling. It’sspecial playing at Lord’s. Walking through the long room you have a heavyfeeling in the heart. You see the honours board, the pictures on the wall,the packed atmosphere. It’s electrifying. But once you hit the grass, it’sjust another ground.”Did he have to make any special adjustment to counter the famous Lord’sslope? “Too much is made of the slope at Lord’s,” he said nonchalantly. “Every ground has some slope – go to Leeds you have a slope,at Chelmsford there’s also a slope. You need to adjust to different conditions and the slope is just one part of it. It’s not as tough to adjust as it’s made out to be.”But which of the three hundreds will he most cherish? “I think the centuryin 1986 was my best. We won at Lord’s for the first time and went on towin the series. The bowlers won the game for us – Chetan Sharma bowledsuperbly, Kapil Dev was equally good, Maninder Singh too. To finish on thewinning side after making your third successive hundred was verysatisfying.”India had never won a Lord’s Test before 1986, they’ve yet to win onesince. As much as he’s proud of being part of that side, Vengsarkar willhope that India double that victory tally in the coming days.

Scorecard
Ramnaresh Sarwan hit an unbeaten century (106 off 117 balls) to take Guyana to a three-run victory over Barbados at Crab Hill in the opening round of President’s cup on Monday. Chasing 244 runs in the allotted 50 overs, Guyana recovered from 33 for 3 to 206 for 6 when they accepted bad light at 5.30 pm, two runs ahead of their target score and prevailing on the Duckworth-Lewis system. Earlier Kurt Stevenson propelled Barbados to a score of 243 with a well made 75 but they added to their own woes in the field by dropping three catches, including one off Sarwan when he was on 57.
Scorecard
Powered by Runako Morton’s 87, Leeward Islands crushed Jamaica by nine wickets in the opening round of the President’s Cup in Wildey at Barbados. Batting first, Jamaica floundered when they lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for a meager 145 in 38.1 overs. Curtis Roberts, the opening bowler, bowled out his quota of 10 overs in one spell and snapped up three wickets. Leeward Islands’ batsmen then polished off the required runs in 29.2 overs.
Scorecard
Trinidad & Tobago, the defending champions, got their President’s Cup campaign off to a disastrous start when they fell 14 runs short against Windward Islands. Chasing 191 runs for victory, T&T were comfortably placed at 123 for 3, when Daren Sammy, the medium-pacer, removed both Ricardo Powell and Samuel Badree in successive deliveries and triggered a collapse. They lost their last five wickets for 35 runs and ended up losing a game that was well within their grasp. Earlier, the Windwards recovered from a worrying position of 44 for 5 to register a respectable score of 190 for 9 – a total that proved just enough.