Thursday, February 13, 2003:::
“Now he has gone too far by taking a diuretic tablet to improve weight loss and in doing so has tarnished a great career. He has simply gone over the top a bit trying to look good and lose more weight.” Dean Jones, on the Shane Warne drug controversy
Source: Cricmania.com”The contrasting mindset of the two teams reminded me of a Wimbledon encounter between Vijay Armritraj and Bjorn Borg two decades ago. Armritraj had won the first two sets and was on match point in the third and yet his body language gave away his panic-stricken and flustered state of mind. Borg, on the other hand, looked calm and self-assured and went on to win.” Imran Khan, on the Australia-Pakistan encounter
Source: The Daily Telegraph, UK”There is a world of difference between brazen cheats who hoodwink fellow competitors and the likes of Warne, who in my opinion, has just made an honest mistake.” Ian Botham, on the Shane Warne drug controversy
Source: The Melbourne Herald Sun, AustraliaMonday, February 10, 2003:::
Party like it’s 1999
Mark Waugh is reasonably confident rather than totally convinced that Australia will win the 2003 World Cup.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, AustraliaThe missing six balls
Former South African off-spinner Pat Symcox observes that the sizzling West Indies-South Africa lung opener has gotten the 2003 World Cup off to a pretty good start.
Source: Wisden OnlineBob Woolmer Column: Technology will play a key role
The modern day coach and player have both got to embrace technology in this era of high competition, according to pioneering coach Bob Woolmer.
Source: The Gulf News, Bahrain

India’s triumph in the 1983 World Cup gave the subcontinent’s bidto conduct the competition four years later a tremendous fillip,and for the first time, the World Cup – labelled the Reliance Cupafter the new sponsors – was held outside England, when bothIndia and Pakistan jointly hosted the event in October-November1987.Other than the overs per innings being brought down from 60 to 50­ it would have been next to impossible to bowl 120 overs a dayon the subcontinent – there was no alteration in the teamsinvolved or the general format. Once again, the eight teams wereplaced in two groups; Group A comprised India, Australia,Zimbabwe and New Zealand, while group B comprised England,Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

For a change, India and Pakistan were the joint favourites forthe title, although the chances of England and the West Indiescould not be not ruled out. Group B was obviously the moreintriguing one, with three heavyweights fighting it out in thepreliminary stage, so predictably enough, most of the interestcentered round matches in that group. Close finishes proved to bethe order of the day, and a couple of minor surprises meant thatPakistan and England made the semifinals from the group at theexpense of the West Indies.The pattern was set on the opening day, when Pakistan beat down aspirited challenge from Sri Lanka, winning by just 15 runs. A daylater, England surprised the West Indies by two wickets, thewinning runs being scored with three balls to spare. Pakistandefeated England by 18 runs and then got the better of the WestIndies in a scorcher, the final margin being one wicket and thewinning runs being scampered off the last ball.By now the competition was becoming known as much for its nailbiting finishes as for its impeccable organisation. In the returnround of matches, Pakistan again defeated England to make sure ofa berth in the semifinals, and the battle for second spot now laybetween England and the West Indies. The two-time championsseemed to be clawing their way back with two successive victoriesover Sri Lanka, in the first of which Vivian Richards hammered amajestic unbeaten 181 that surpassed Kapil Dev’s 175 not out asthe highest individual score in a World Cup. But a secondsuccessive loss to England knocked them out of contention, andeven though they beat Pakistan in their final league match ­handing the co-hosts their first defeat in six games ­ it was nomore than a consolation prize for the West Indies.Things were less hot in the comparatively passive Group A ­ butonly just. Intense competition was lacking for India andAustralia, who as expected were always ahead of New Zealand andZimbabwe. But close finishes were prevalent in this pool too. Infact, the first match between India and Australia at Madrasproduced the closest possible finish, with the latter winning byone run. New Zealand and Zimbabwe then produced another thrillerthe next day at Hyderabad before the former edged past theirgallant opponents by three runs despite a heroic 141 off 138balls by Dave Houghton.A few days later, Australia defeated New Zealand at Indore bythree runs in the only rain-affected match of the tournament.Postponed by a day because of heavy rain, it was curtailed to 30overs a side after captains Allan Border and Jeff Crowe expressedtheir preference for a game rather than sharing the points for ano-result.The rest of the matches went according to the form-book, andIndia, with five straight wins after that narrow loss, took thetop spot, while Australia with a similar record were second. Bothteams had 20 points, but India’s slightly superior rate saw themavoid a semifinal meeting with Pakistan at Lahore. Instead, theytook on England at Bombay, while Australia had to make the tripto Pakistan.At this stage, all seemed set for an India­Pakistan final clash.India seemed to be peaking just at the right time, whilePakistan, in getting the better of West Indies and England intheir group, had shown themselves to be potential champions. Itwas also the clash that everyone was looking forward to, a realdream final.Such dreams, however, were shattered, for it turned out to be anAustralia­England final. Australia set one up for the underdogswhen they shocked Pakistan by 18 runs. The next day, Englandmaintained the trend by upsetting India by 35 runs. It wasunbelievable, but full credit went to both Australia and Englandfor displaying a professional approach against in-form opponentswho may have been a touch complacent.Both matches followed a similar pattern. Australia scored 267 foreight in 50 overs, and Pakistan seemed well-placed at 150 forthree, and with Javed Miandad and Imran Khan going strongly, theyrequired 118 runs off 15 overs. But Craig McDermott then gotamong the wickets, and Pakistan were dismissed for 249 in 49overs, with the tall and well-built pace spearhead finishing withfive for 44.

At Bombay, Graham Gooch led the way with a stroke-filled 115 asEngland scored 254 for six in 50 overs. At 204 for five, and with10 overs in hand, India had things well under control, for therequired rate was only five an over. But irresponsible battingcaused a sudden and shattering debacle that saw India bundled outfor 219 in 45.3 overs.The final at Calcutta evoked comparatively lukewarm interest inthe subcontinent, although 93,000 spectators were present at theEden Gardens. Though the final victory margin was only sevenruns, the match was not that close, for Australia always seemedto have things under control from the time they led off with 253for five in 50 overs. David Boon top-scored with 75, enough toget him the Man of the Match award.England had the benefit of sizeable contributions from most oftheir top-order batsmen, but tight bowling and brilliant fieldingsaw to it that they were always behind on the run-rate.Ultimately they fell agonisingly short, finishing at 246 foreight in 50 overs. Australia, then in the midst of a rebuildingprocess and given little chance of winning the title, ended updeserving champions.

Thursday, March 20, 2003:::
“Indians were just not geared up for the big stage — right from Tendulkar downwards,” Indian spin great Bishan Singh Bedi
Source: Mid-day
“I don’t subscribe to the fact that we have taken the game to a new level. We can get better – no question – in every part of the game. If we sit back, we will do world cricket a disservice,” Australia’s coach John Buchanan
Source: The Guardian, UK
“India had a very good outing (sic) till the final, but unfortunately they squandered away a great opportunity by choosing to bat second,” former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar
Source: The New Indian Express, India

Hashan Tillakaratne, who celebrated the first match of his captaincy tenurewith his eleventh Test century, believes Sri Lanka still have work to do onthe final day despite his side’s strong reply to New Zealand’s 515 for 7 anda fourth day wash-out.Play was called off with 48 overs still to be bowled in the day with SriLanka on 424 for 6. Tillakaratne was unbeaten on 126, a dour but defiantinnings that makes a draw the likeliest resultNevertheless, Tillakaratne still wants to chisel out more runs: "We want topress for 500 runs and get at least a 50-run lead – ­ it would be a psychological factor for the series."It is a good batting track, conducive to batting and I must thank thebatsmen for how they applied themselves. They showed a lot of commitment andeverything went well."He paid a special tribute to Romesh Kaluwitharana, who played the innings ofthe day, a sparkling boundary-studded 76 from 90 deliveries in his Test fortwo years."Coming back after two years, it was a brilliant 76 and I am sure that hewill be getting more runs in the future," said Tillakaratne.He made no apologies for his grinding approach, the left-hander contributingjust 26 runs to a 107-run partnership with Kaluwitharana."At that time we were in a spot of bother," he said. "I wanted Kalu andmyself to bat on and get 316 (to avoid the follow on) and that is what wedid."Kaluwitharana, although disappointed to have missed out on a possible fourthTest hundred, was delighted to have grabbed his opportunity to cement aplace."Coming back after two years it was a challenging match for me," saidKaluwitharana. "I was under pressure. I know I have to score runs to stay inthe side and this was an opportunity for me."Having been left out of the side two years ago, I worked hard on occupyingthe crease for long periods and scoring heavily. I was inconsistent but nowI know I can spend more time at the crease."Jeff Crowe, the New Zealand manager, was disappointed with the performanceof his bowlers, who bowled too many loose deliveries during the last twodays."We haven’t bowled well enough. Not enough balls have been put in the rightspot to put enough pressure on the Sri Lanka batsmen after our good firstinnings."I thought the Sri Lankans played very well today – they waited for the badball and dispatched it accordingly."

Those Somerset supporters who were present at the County Ground recently and who were fortunate enough to see Gareth Andrew make his debut in the National Cricket league match against Durham Dynamos will be in no doubt that the young all rounder has a very promising future ahead of him.What is particularly pleasing about the nineteen year old is that he is Somerset born and bred, and his talents have been nurtured through the age group teams by a succession of local coaches, none of whom will be surprised by what he has gone onto achieve and all of whom will be absolutely delighted for him.Gareth hails from Bruton and it was whilst he was playing for the local cricket club that he came to the notice of the Somerset coaches.Peter Robinson recalls that it was at the Under 11age group when he visited the indoor nets at the County Ground that he was first impressed by the young all rounder."It was his bowling that impressed me most, because you don’t get many lads of that age who can send it down the way that he did. He has always looked like he could go on and produce good performances at the top level right from an early age."Somerset Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson first encountered Gareth when he was coaching the Under 13’s team. "The way that he played against Durham is the way that he has always played his cricket, and right from the start he has always been a hard hitting striker of the ball, and it’s no real surprise to me that he has made it at that level," Pete told me.By the time that he was fifteen Gareth was playing for the Somerset Under 17’s and scoring runs and taking wickets against boys who were two years older with considerable success.When he left Ansford School at Castle Cary at the age of sixteen Gareth became part of the Somerset Academy, where Julian Wyatt was in charge. During his first year at the Academy he played for the Somerset Board XI and also appeared for Somerset Seconds.After missing part of last season with an injury, Gareth spent three months after Christmas out in Australia and judging by the way that he has so played far this season this has obviously helped him considerably.Gareth gave a good account of himself when he played for the first team in one of their pre season friendlies so it will have come as no great surprise to County Ground regulars when he was drafted in to make his debut for the Sabres against Durham.Somerset coach Kevin Shine rates the youngster very highly and told me: "Gareth Andrew is a very talented young player. He is a three dimensional cricketer and is one for the future."Gareth’s successful debut is just the start of what everyone hopes will be a long and successful career for the Cidermen, and will no doubt act as an incentive for the large group of very talented young players who are currently part of the ECB Regional Academy at the County Ground, who will all now have their sights very firmly set on playing for Somerset.

The Glamorgan squad for the Twenty20 Cup match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, on Friday June 20th is as follows :

RDB Croft (10) *IJ Thomas (27)MJ Powell (14)MP Maynard (25)DL Hemp (4)A Dale (11)MA Wallace (18) +MS Kasprowicz (3)SD Thomas (7)DS Harrison (20)DA Cosker (23)OT Parkin (8)

There will be live ball-by-ball commentary available online via the BBC RadioWales webpage. To listen in, just click on the BBC logo at the top of the Glamorgan homepage.

Yorkshire 246 and 27 for 1 trail India A 336 for 8 dec by 63 runs at HeadingleyA fine maiden first-class century from Parthiv Patel was the highlight of the second day of this tour match. Patel, still only 18, thumped 22 fours, and faced just 146 balls in an impressive 129. Wasim Jaffer had earlier hit 67, with a high ratio of 15 boundaries, but soon after Patel came in India A were in some trouble at 113 for 4, still only halfway to Yorkshire’s score. But Patel shared handy stands with Rohan Gavaskar (16) and Murali Kartik (13), then piled on 69 for the seventh wicket with Amit Mishra, who clonked 52 not out.SS Das eventually declared with a lead of 90, and was rewarded when the opener Chris Taylor flicked him a catch off Amit Bhandari with the total on 5. Yorkshire had grafted to 27 without further loss by the close, and an exciting final day beckons.

Nasser Hussain said today that criticism of his attitude during the second npower Test against South Africa was "absolute drivel". And he insisted that he wanted to continue his England Test career beyond the current series.Hussain stunned cricket followers by resigning the captaincy immediately after the drawn first Test at Edgbaston. That left Michael Vaughan, already England’s one-day captain, with just three days to prepare himself for leading the team at Lord’s – a match South Africa went on to win by a crushing innings and 92 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.Hussain was out to a rash pull in the second innings at Lord’s, and was also involved in a brief onfield row there with South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith. But Hussain, retained in the team for this week’s third Test at Trent Bridge, defended his actions: "Every time I’ve put on an England shirt on, I’ve given it my absolute utmost for the country and I will carry on doing that for as long as England want me."I’ll always be an ear there for Vaughany, for Fletch [coach Duncan Fletcher], for any young player – as you saw when someone [Smith] got stuck into Jimmy Anderson, I was there for him because I believe young players need that backing," Hussain also told the BBC. "The bottom line for me is that there’s only one important goal and that’s England getting back into this series and the England team doing well. Any talk about me being quiet or down is absolute drivel."After that Lord’s defeat the former England opener Geoffrey Boycott accused Fletcher of harming the English game by refusing to allow international players to turn out for their counties. But Hussain, who was in charge when Fletcher, a former captain of Zimbabwe, first took charge of England on the 1999-2000 tour of South Africa, insisted that Fletcher had been nothing but a positive influence."I’ve got the utmost respect for Mr Boycott – he’s been brilliant, the work he’s done with me on my batting," said Hussain. "Unfortunately, on Duncan Fletcher he’s got it wrong. He has been one of the greatest things that has happened to English cricket and we mustn’t knock him. Duncan Fletcher invariably gets things right and we must get behind him now because he’s got a new young captain – they need to form a relationship, and we must all get behind them and work in the same direction, not constantly knock from the outside."Hussain, 35, who has now scored over 5000 Test runs, insisted he would not follow his England team-mate Alec Stewart in retiring from international cricket at the end of the South Africa series. England tour Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies during the forthcoming northern winter, and Hussain, who retired from one-day internationals after the World Cup, insisted he was available for Test duty. "Whenever Michael Vaughan or David Graveney ring me up and say `There’s a Test match next week’ – wherever it is in the world – `We need you, we want you,’ I’ll be the first one there because I desperately enjoy playing for England."

Close South Africa 151 for 1 (Smith 80*, Kirsten 9*) trail England 173 (Gough 34, Ntini 5-75) by 22 runs
Scorecard

Honeymoons are meant to last rather longer than 48 hours. But for Michael Vaughan, the harsh realities of Test captaincy are suddenly all too apparent. After losing the toss and being asked to bat first in seamer-friendly conditions, England were rolled over for a dismal 173 in less than 49 overs, a total that was soon put into perspective by yet another effortlessly solid opening stand from Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith.By the close, South Africa trailed England’s first innings by 22 runs, with nine wickets remaining. Smith himself was still there on 80, taking his series tally to 442 runs after less than two matches, and his career total past 1000 runs in only his 11th Test. Still only 22 years old, and with the scalp of one England captain under his belt already, he now has a second victim caught flush in the crosswires.Vaughan’s first day in charge couldn’t really have gone much worse. England lost five wickets in the first session alone, and had slumped to 118 for 9 before Darren Gough and James Anderson provided a fig-leaf of respectability with a last-wicket stand of 55. But the simplicity of their partnership merely demonstrated the good nature of the pitch. There was some customary early movement, ruthlessly exploited by South Africa’s seamers, but it was nonetheless a bold decision from Smith to field first. With a bit of application from England’s batsmen, it could have backfired horribly. Instead, Smith has stolen yet more of the initiative in this series.South Africa were even a bowler short, as Dewald Pretorius picked up a side strain after four ineffective overs. But Makhaya Ntini, Andrew Hall and Shaun Pollock were more than a match for England’s batsmen. Ntini was the pick of the bunch, bowling fast and straight from wide of the crease to pick up 5 for 75, his best figures in an overseas Test, while Hall, who only last week was seeing out his season with Worcestershire, celebrated his 28th birthday with 3 for 18, including two in five balls before lunch. Pollock, as ever, maintained an exemplary line and length, but was grossly under-rewarded for his efforts.The danger signals were evident from the earliest overs. Marcus Trescothick was never allowed to settle, and after being dropped by Smith himself at second slip, he over-compensated for Ntini’s tight line and inside-edged a forcing shot onto his own stumps (11 for 1). Mark Butcher started in fine fashion by thumping Ntini for three fours in successive deliveries, but then nibbled a superb outswinger from Pollock straight into Andrew Hall’s midriff at third slip (35 for 2).Nasser Hussain was greeted to an ovation seldom seen at Lord’s, but he was over-eager throughout his brief stay, and was eventually bowled all-ends-up for 14 as he attempted an ambitious drive at Hall (73 for 3). Hall then struck again in the same over, as Anthony McGrath (4) gave his critics further ammunition by playing across the line to his fourth ball and squirting a leading edge to mid-off (77 for 4).Vaughan, at this stage, was doing his best Michael Atherton impression, clinging onto the wreckage as everyone else leapt overboard. But when Ntini returned to the attack, Vaughan heaved a pull shot to Neil McKenzie at fine-leg, who steadied himself to take a comfortable catch (85 for 5).

The procession continued in the afternoon session. Stewart pulled Ntini straight to Paul Adams at square leg for 7 (96 for 6), and when Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles and Steve Harmison were removed in quick succession, complete humiliation was on the cards. Gough and Anderson averted that, but when it came to their day job, they were once again badly off-colour.It was left to Steve Harmison to make the breakthrough, as Gibbs played on for 49 (133 for 1). England, however, should have struck in the fourth over of South Africa’s reply, when Smith drove loosely at a half-volley from Anderson. But, as if breaking his spirit was not enough, Smith managed to pick out Hussain at point, who fumbled once before letting the ball drop agonisingly to the turf. Hussain, apparently, had injured himself in the warm-up and had been kept out of the slip cordon as a result. Sometimes, there is just no place to hide.Click here for today’s Wisden VerdictEngland 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain, 5 Anthony McGrath, 6 Alec Stewart (wk), 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Darren Gough, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 James Anderson.South Africa 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Graeme Smith (capt), 3 Gary Kirsten, 4 Boeta Dippenaar, 5 Jacques Rudolph, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Andrew Hall, 9 Dewald Pretorius, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Paul Adams.

Bruce Reid, the former Australian left-arm fast bowler, has taken over as the bowling coach of the Zimbabwe cricket team. This was confirmed by the Zimbabwe national coach Geoff Marsh, who had recommended his former Australian team-mate’s name to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. “He has been appointed for the home series against West Indies and the ensuing Australian tour and we’ll look ahead after that,” said Marsh, when asked about long-term plans.Reid, who is on contract with Hampshire in England and helps out New South Wales in the Australian summer, was available. Zimbabwe had made use of another former Australian fast bowler – Rodney Hogg – during their England tour. Marsh explained: “[Hogg] was very good, but he is tied up with business in England and was unavailable for a period, so Bruce, who will be going back to Hampshire next year and was free in the [Australian] summer, agreed to the offer.”Reid is one man who would know all about the benefits of coaching – he had an average start to his own career, and improved vastly after Bob Simpson worked on his action. This will be the first time that Reid will be involved in coaching a national team in any capacity.