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Most of the attention in Zimbabwe cricket this last week has been centred on their performances in the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.CONTENTS

• International cricket:
  • Zimbabwe v India
  • Zimbabwe v England
• Africa Cup
• Provincial cricket reports – Vigne Cup
• Interviews: Gus Mackay and James McMaster
• Letters

After a long break, we hoped the team would be fresh and ready to go, but unfortunately it didn’t work out like that. The engine is running in fits and starts, with the bowling being the most disappointing area. We have seen our team play brilliantly, but apart from a brave run chase against India – led of course by the incomparable Andy Flower – they did not play to the high standards we know they can obtain. Assessments of the matches against India and England are included in this issue.In one way I feel this tournament could have been organized better. That regards the fixture list. Long before the group matches were concluded, Australia and Sri Lanka are in the semi-finals, South Africa are virtually assured of a place, and the only match with any real significance is that between England and India for the remaining semi-final place.That means there are quite a number of meaningless matches, mostly involving the minnows Bangladesh, Kenya and Holland, remaining before the semi-finals start. The crucial matches between the two strongest teams in each group were played early on, when they should have been used as likely deciders, as England v India will be. Perhaps the fixtures were drawn up in this way to stimulate early local interest in the tournament, or perhaps it was done to put less pressure on the likely semi-final teams. Perhaps they just came out of the hat that way.In future, I would suggest that the weakest team in each group – which would include Zimbabwe – get their matches over with early. The likelihood is that the bigger guns will beat them, and each of the final group matches will be in effect a quarterfinal, with a semi-final place dependent on the result. This will sustain interest, which will otherwise be lost in a series of dead matches.Closer to home, this issue includes a report on the Africa Cup competition held in Lusaka recently, after an interview with manager Kish Gokal, and reports on the Vigne Cup and provincial cricket. Gus Mackay, recently appointed general manager of the Mashonaland Cricket Association, talks about his job in a major article. We also include an interview with Australian James McMaster, a strong ZCO supporter, who is visiting Zimbabwe for the first time and has some interesting observations to make.

A magnificent innings of 177 from Michael Vaughan has enabled England to carry the fight to Australia on the first day of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval. After Nasser Hussain won the toss, England ended the day on 295 for four when Vaughan was caught at slip off Andy Bichel in the final over. Vaughan shared in an opening partnership of 88 with Marcus Trescothick (35) and added 140 with Hussain (47).Vaughan continued to show the form which has put the 28-year-old second behind Sachin Tendulkar on the run scorers’ list for the calendar year 2002. He outshone his England team-mates and outwitted the Australian bowlers, showing the way for other players and teams to play and beat Australia.The Yorkshire opener had some help from Australia. Their usually reliable fielders dropped six catches on what proved to be a beautiful batting track with true bounce. But Vaughan’s amazing innings included an array of shots to all parts of the ground.Trescothick and Vaughan got England off to a great start with a run rate of over three an over. They share a similar approach to the game to that of Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden, and Vaughan played much like Hayden did in the opening Test at Brisbane.Each was given a life in the first session. Three balls after smashing Bichel (1/67) for six, Vaughan sliced to Langer at gully where he appeared to take a great catch. Vaughan stood his ground and the matter was referred to third umpire Steve Davis. As the evidence was inconclusive, he gave Vaughan the benefit of the doubt. The decision could have changed the course of the game, with Vaughan going on to make his best score outside England.Trescothick then hit the ball hard to gully, where Hayden couldn’t hold on, allowing the ball to go through to the boundary. Bichel later claimed a return catch as Trescothick drove, and once again the third umpire was consulted. Replays clearly showed the ball bouncing before it reached Bichel and Trescothick was ruled not out.Shane Warne was brought into the attack earlier than expected, and the leg-spinner went for nine in his first over. It was Glenn McGrath made the much-needed breakthrough, bowling Trescothick off the bottom edge as the opener’s luck ran out.Robert Key, playing in place of the injured John Crawley, was promoted to number three because Mark Butcher was suffering from a migraine. Key and Vaughan took England to lunch at 1/94, but Key had made just one when he drove Warne into the shin of Ricky Ponting who caught the ball at the third attempt. Key stood his ground but the umpires confirmed the bad news.This brought skipper Hussain to the crease and he took a back seat, enjoying the Vaughan show. The Yorkshire opener brought up his fifth century in nine Tests with a push to mid off. It was his sixth Test hundred in all, and included two sixes and 12 fours. In 12 matches he has made just under 1200 runs.Vaughan and Hussain took England to tea on 2/201. The Australians made it harder for themselves again in the second session, dropping two catches and missing the chance of a run out.Needing a breakthrough, Steve Waugh decided to bowl himself, but after five overs the skipper had some discomfort in his shoulder and returned the ball to Jason Gillespie, who still appeared troubled by his calf injury. When Vaughan ducked into a short ball he was hit on the shoulder, dropping his bat and crouching on the ground in pain.Hussain, tied down as he approached 50, gave Warne his second wicket when he was caught behind off the bottom edge on 47, trying to cut. Butcher, showing no effects from his migraine, took boundaries with his first two scoring shots and with Vaughan continued to punish the toiling bowlers.It was a clever bowling change that finally undid Vaughan, after Gillespie and McGrath had failed to break through with the new ball. Waugh turned to Bichel for the last over of the day and Vaughan pushed defensively at the Queenslander’s third ball, which carried to Warne at first slip.England played some great cricket today, but they also had a lot of luck. Day two should be a cracker with a new batsman at the crease and Australia hungry for more wickets. England will need to bat positively, with Australia’s batsmen eager for their turn on a beautiful wicket.

Ricky Ponting will make an early departure from the Caribbean as he continues to battle an injury to his right wrist. Ponting will fly out for Australia immediately after it became clear he was unlikely to play in the final ODI of the series against West Indies in St Kitts on Sunday.”Ricky has a tendon injury in his right wrist and he will be flying home to see a specialist in Melbourne,” Justin Steer, the team physio, said. “Given his unavailability for the last match of the series we see this as a good opportunity to have him see the specialist at his earliest convenience.”He suffered the injury while batting in the third ODI in Grenada on Sunday and was ruled out of Friday’s fourth game in St Kitts. Ponting’s absence means Michael Clarke will captain the side as they aim for a 5-0 series whitewash, with Michael Hussey to act as Clarke’s vice-captain.Ponting will be the third squad member to head home from the West Indies mid-series. Matthew Hayden was ruled out before the first Test with an achilles tendon injury and Brad Haddin departed after one ODI as he battled a broken finger.

Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy Quarter FinalSomerset v Worcestershireat The County Ground, Taunton17 July 2002
(reserve day 18 july)Gates open 8.30 a.m.
Play starts 10.45 a.m.Ticket prices for the above match are as follows:Adult £15.00Junior (under 16) £10.00Tickets will be available to Somerset County Cricket Club Members on a first come first served basis until Friday 5 July and thereafter available to the general public. TWO PER MEMBER.All postal applications made by Members must be accompanied by the appropriate slip in the membership book and a SAE.All postal applications made by non-members must be accompanied by a SAE.Telephone orders with a credit card will have a handling charge of £1.50 per application added. For telephone orders please call 01823 272946.

Day 1Large scores highlighted the opening day of the Canada Cup at King City. The competition being played on turf for the first time encouraged the players to respond with good batting performances including a century by Neeraj Bhardwaj , Ontario “B” ( 132 not out) against Manitoba. Three half centuries were also recorded , Samad Hamidi 67 (Ont “B” ) vs Manitoba, Abid Keshvani 58 ( Alberta) vs BC,and Durand Soraine 50 (Ontario “A” ) vs Quebec.B.C bowlers Shoeb Ahmed and Gurwinder Singh took four wickets each to lead their team to a five wicket victory over Alberta.Shoeb missed the half ton by two scoring 48 to be the top BC batsman. BC chasing a total of 188 wrapped up the victory with 21 overs to spare.Both Ontario teams put hugh totals on the board with the Ontario “B” team scoring a record 324/8 in their 50 overs. Manitoba could only manage 96 in reply.Ontario “A” scored 290 all out in 48.5 overs and coasted to an impressive 125 run victory.Day 2BC scored an exciting 2 wicket victory over Ontario “B” to remain undefeated at the 2002 Canada Cup . Given a revised target of 224 for victory BC scored the winning run with 8 balls remaining. Rahat Sharma with 51 not out steered the Westerns to their two wicket victory . Earlier Arjun Pradhan contributed an even 50 to the total. Ontario “B” batted first and for the second day scored a respectable total of 211/7 . Amit Kumar 55, Neeraj Bhardwaj 26 and Kenneth Carto 23* lead the way. But their downfall was their inability to bowl a stead line and length and only skipper Adam Baksh who took 3/36 in 9 overs seemed to get any attention from the BC batsmenIn other games the young and inexperienced Manitoba side felt the might of tournament favorites Ontario “A”. After winning the toss Manitoba elected to bat but were quickly bowled out in just 12 overs for 49. fast bowler Zaker Akbary took 5/25 in five overs while Canadian U15 player Ryan Lall mopped up the tail by taking 3/2 in one over. Lall returned to open the batting and scored an unbeaten 22. His partner and team mate from Canada’s U15 team Toney Mahabir easily put Ontario “A” passed the Manitoba total without loosing a wicketQuebec got into the winning column with a 46 run victory over Alberta.Batting first Quebec scored 203 all out in only 38.1 overs . Wicket keeper Rizwan Tarar scored 41 for the second consecutive day but it was Faisal Ali Shah with 42* who made certain that his team passed the 200 mark. Nikhil Nagpal took 3/31 for Alberta.In reply Alberta scored 157 all out in 40 overs. Top scorer was Azhum Ali with 36 .Sohail Aslam took 3/35Day 4B.C fails in big show down with Ontario “A” for the Canada Cup.B.C vs Ontario “A”The two undefeated teams meet on day 4 of the Canada Cup (U18 Canadian Junior Cricket Championship) at Maple Leaf C.C. in King City. Batting first on another well prepared stripe the batsmen were again king of the day as Ontario put 284 on the board allout with 2.3 overs remaining. Kissoon Perera with 62 and Shaheed Keshvani 40 lead the way supported by another good knock from Canada’s U15 Captain Ryan Lall (31).For BC their best bowler was Yasser Puri with 4/62. Ontario “A” surpassed the 1000 run mark for the competition , a remarkable feat when you consider in one game (against Manitoba) they only needed 50 to win. B.C. never showed signs of making a game out of this as only Canadian U15 Umer Nawaz (21) showed any resistance. For Ontario fast bowler Zaker Akbary, the leading wicket taker of the tournament took 3/18 . Skipper Jasjeet Mangat captured 3/42.Alberta vs Ontario “B”Ontario “B” continues to score large totals but also allows the opposition to do likewise.Batting first Ontario “B” were 259/7 in their 50 overs. Top scorers were Skipper Adam Baksh (51) Canadian U15 Gangadeep Mann (46) Amit Kumar( 42) and another Canadian U15 , Abdul Manjra (40 not out). The total brought the number of runs scored by the team to 999 however they have given up 812 in return and again had to struggle to beat Alberta by a mere 14 runs. For Alberta Waqas Mirza scored 69, wicket keeper Kendon Otterley added 35 and Shajib Jaidad 32 .Quebec vs Manitoba.When Quebec scored a massive 356/9 against the youngest team in the tournament everyone looked for an early. Everyone but the Manitoba players who must be given credit for batting their full 50 overs , a rare occurrence in Canadian Cricket at all levels. Not only did the bat the full overs but they scored a very respectable 216/8 in reply.The game saw the second century of the competition, 131 by Filip Patel of Quebec , Jahanzeb Chaudhary 50 and Divyesh Patel 37 were the other top scorers. For Manitoba , Eomal Fernandopulle with 93* lead the way with Dawson Roberts contributing 31. Sabir Sheikh took 3/34 for Quebec.The Final day tomorrow sees BC playing Quebec for the silver medal as Ontario”A” with their victory today clinched the Canada Cup once again. Manitoba tackles Alberta as both teams will be seeking their first victory. Both teams have shown tremendous improvement as the tournament progressed. The other game pits the two Ontario teams against each other.Final presentations are set for approximately 5.00 p.m as the games begin one hour earlier tomorrow at 9.30 am.Day 5Rain ended the 2002 Canada Cup with the final games all ending as “No results”Ontario “A” vs Ontario “B”Ontario A took the field knowing they had clinched yet another Canada Cup but there was the matter of pride and showing their friends on Ontario “B” why they were champions. The powerful batting machine quickly swung into gear as on the three previous times when they batted first a hugh total was put on the tins. Today it was 319/7 in 49 overs. Durand Soraine with a brilliant 81 * was top scorer, Shaheeed Keshvani (67) and Junaid Sidiqui (57) added to the massive score.After lunch the Ontario “B” innings had just began when rain washed out play with the “B” team at 28/1 in 4 overs.Quebec vs BCThis game was for the silver and bronze medals and Quebec batting first put a fine total of 256 on the board.. Divyesh Patel (41) Mehboob Rehman (39) and Filip Patel (37) were the main scorers . With his innings of 37 and a tournament total of 250 runs Filip Patel captured the Best Batsman Award for the most runs scored in the tournament.B.C were 36/1 when rain stopped play . Quebec won the silver as they had the better net run rate in the tournament.Manitoba vs AlbertaThese two teams were both trying to win their first game but the rain did not permit a result . Alberta with the better NRR took fifth overall and Manitoba finished last.Alberta batting first scored 265/9 in their 50 overs Adnan Kamal 62, Divyany Patel 52, and Nikhil Nagpal 39*were top scorers. Manitoba was 34/1 in reply.After the games the awards were presented.M.V.P.Alberta – Nikhil NagpalB.C. – Rahata SharmaManitoba – Eomal FernandopulleOntario “A” – Durand SoraineOntario “B” – Adam BakshQuebec – Filip PatelTournament Awards:Best Wicket Keeper Kendon Ottely ( Alberta)Best Fielder Adam Baksh ( Ontario “B” )Most Runs -Best Batsman Filip Patel ( Quebec)Most Wickets – Best Bowler Zaker Akbary ( Ontario “A”)Gold Medal and Canada Cup – Ontario “A”Silver Medal QuebecBronze Medal B.C.

LAHORE – It was indeed a solidly relentless all-round display in the field throughout, as Pakistan blanked out the Black Caps with great authority, taking the third and last game of the series by a convincing margin of 66 runs, with a bit more than four overs to spare.With this new-found consistency, having won 23 out of their last 31 games, Pakistan enters the truncated two-Test rubber with their morale and confidence pretty high. This was also Pakistan’s seventh consecutive victory over the Kiwis.As Shoaib Malik made his career-best score, 115, having a hand in three partnerships of 50-plus, Pakistan posted a huge 277, always a difficult prospect against the Pakistan attack under lights.Even with a depleted side, with Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq and Imran Nazir rested, the Pakistanis held such sway that by the end of the 30th over the asking rate was already 7 an over and climbing. The writing was pretty much on the wall for the Black Caps. And sensing a tame ending, the near capacity crowd in the Gaddafi Stadium, which created an electrifying atmosphere throughout, started filing out.Despite the task being rather daunting, the Black Caps may have made a fist of it had Craig McMillan and skipper Stephen Fleming stuck around in the middle for long. They didn’t, and from then on the slide down the slope was pretty swift.Malik also piled more misery on the Kiwis with his second career-best in the match – this time with the ball, with a return of 3-37, and more crucially clean bowling Fleming behind his legs. With this all-round display, he removed any contention for the Man of the Match award!With Shoaib Akhtar spearheading the attack along with skipper Waqar Younis, the crowd was treated to some great pace bowling. Shoaib’s raw pace was a spectacle in itself, and Waqar’s virtuoso display of swing bowling added spice to the difficult chase. It was Shoaib who continuously put the 100-mile barrier under a threat, one of his thunderbolts to McMillan clocking 99.3 mph (159 kmph). An unreliable, hence not deemed official (assuming the tv broadcaster’s gun is official), speed gun also clocked him at 99.9 mph. The PCB issued a press release as follows:’According to the speed gun operated in the ground by a sponsor, Shoaib Akhtar bowled a delivery at a speed off 161 kph during the third odi between Pakistan and New Zealand at Gaddafi Staium, Lahore.’Well this is an issue that will fire up lots of media speculation as the TV broadcaster’s speed gun was not working, so one can only rest this case as there is really no ‘official’ system in place for measuring speeds.The Black Caps were treated to some scary stuff by Akhtar from the word go, but it was Waqar Younis who disturbed Chris Nevin’s off-stump with a gem of a delivery, which pitched on the leg and swung out late. This early scalp brought McMillan in, and he along with Matt Horne did a measure of repair job with controlled aggression. Horne displayed lots of guts, flicking Akhtar for two consecutive fours over mid-wicket and square leg in the eighth over.Shoaib was replaced by Mohammad Sami after a rather expensive spell of bowling where he went for 23 runs in four overs. Horne rode his luck when he was caught behind off a no-ball in the very first Sami over. As the Kiwis went past 50 in the 11th over, Horne and McMillan continued to play their shots and also tried to maintain a healthy run rate. Horne (28, 44 balls, 3 fours) was bowled by Abdul Razzaq in the 15th over. McMillan (38, 48 balls, 3 fours) went soon after, his miscued pull off Sami, who also worked up considerable pace, regularly in the mid 140s, giving a simple chance to Inzamam at mid-wicket.Lou Vincent, who had quite efficiently kept wickets earlier in the day, along with Fleming (15, 26 balls) tried to steady the innings but their hopes more or less evaporated when Fleming was bowled by Malik round his legs.At the end of 30th over, the Black Caps were 137 for four and the required run rate was already creeping up to 7 an over. Vincent and Styris tried to make a fist of it, but the former was bowled by Afridi and Styris was comprehensively stumped by Latif off Malik, who also bowled Adams neck and crop.It was all over, and the remaining three wickets fell in no time, two of them, Brooke Walker and Daryl Tuffey being run out. Chris Harris, the last man out, tried to reduce the margin of defeat but it was Sami who snared him leg before for 37 to bring down the curtains on the Kiwi innings.Shoaib scores ton as Pakistan batting gives another organised display:
Malik (115, 142 balls, 12 fours) scored his second century in three games, as Pakistan posted a very competitive score of 278 for five wickets in their regulation 50 overs. Par for the course in this series as far as first innings scores go, as Pakistan had 275 at Karachi and New Zealand 277 at Rawalpindi.Though the finish was not as powerful as it could have been, with the last 10 overs going for just 71 runs, it still was a very organised batting display by Pakistan, fifth on the trot if one includes the last two games of Sharjah Cup 2002. And though the Kiwis bowled with a lot of discipline, conceding only three extras in the whole innings, and barring one dropped chance, they fielded with their usual athleticism, they still had no answer to Pakistan’s clinical efficiency in gathering runs.That too, without much help today from Younis Khan or Abdul Razzaq, great strikers of the ball that they are, getting in a proper innings. As Razzaq walked in at the fag end, only 17 deliveries remained. He got to face 11 of them, he slammed 22, with two fours and a six, all in the mid-wicket region, to provide some impetus to the innings which was tapering off at the close. Ostensibly because of Malik getting bogged down while looking for his hundred and debutant Misbah-ul-Haq trying to make a success of his first outing.Though the cornerstone of the innings was young Malik’s knock, his highest in One-day Internationals, the four good partnerships ensured Pakistan putting up a big total without any real difficulty.Afridi started the way he usually does, in an exuberant manner, flicking Andre Adams first delivery to deep square leg for a boundary. He had two more hits to the fence, and in trying to repeat one of them over mid-wicket, skying a simple catch to Matt Horne at mid-on off Andre Adams.Yousuf Youhana, who is in high season form these days, chipped in with a brisk 53 (of 51 balls, 5 fours, 2 towering sixes). He seemed to be in the kind of groove that had the promise of a third century in four innings, and was playing his strokes with great freedom once Scott Styris dropped him in the covers of Chris Harris. He really rubbed it in, by clouting Harris for a six and four in the same over and then spanking Ian Butler for two fours next over. But having made his 50 in style, Youhana gave it all away when he offered a simple caught and bowled chance to leggie Brooke Walker in his first over, and he didn’t fumble it. But by then the second wicket stand had posted 93, off mere 103 balls.Inzamam, out of sorts in recent times, seemed to be in his element, as he whacked Walker for a huge six over long-on. Malik reached his 50 in the next over, from 76 deliveries, and laced with six fours, some of them really glorious strokes.Inzamam played well for his 35 (40 balls, 1 four, 1 six) when trying to clear the field played one right down the throat of Daryl Tuffey at deep mid-wicket off Walker. Pakistan were 191 at this point and the third wicket partnership between Inzamam and Malik had yielded 72 runs. Inzamam was replaced by debutant Misbah who mostly concentrated on rotating the strike, but with Malik eyeing his century things slowed down a bit, and though Pakistan had posted 207 by the end of the 40th over, the next four overs only yielded 19. Malik reached his 100, off 130 balls with 11 fours, but the scoring rate was still a trifle slow. Malik and Misbah, after contributing 59 in 65 balls, departed in quick succession with Razzaq hitting out to help bring the innings to a brighter close, striking Styris for a six in the last over to make it count for a dozen.A highly defendable total; given Pakistan’s potent attack. And the Pakistan attack, despite being without Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq, didn’t allow them to reach anywhere near the target.

A delegation from the United Cricket Board, including UCB CEO Gerald Majolaand President Percy Sonn, met stakeholders from the Eastern Province CricketBoard in port Elizabeth this morning to explain the High Court order whichplaced the EPCB under provisional judicial management last Friday.The meeting included Eastern Province schools representatives, sub-unions,umpires and country districts and was also addressed by the two judicialmanagers who have been appointed by the court. The judicial managers areKevin Helm, a former treasurer of EPCB and Cliffie Louw, a former senioremployee of the Master of the Court’s office.The two judicial managers, in consultation with the UCB, have appointed aninterim committee to manage the affairs of cricket in the province. Thecommittee is: Graham Barclay, Geoff Dakin, Freddie Kriel, Yusuf Lorgat, Peter Muzzell, Brian Nonganga, Colin Rushmere, Raymond Uren.Dan QeQe was asked to serve on the committee, but was unavailable due toill health.In the afternoon, 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup executive director Dr AliBacher presented to the Council of the Nelson Mandela Metropole on theimportance of safeguarding next year’s World Cup matches in Port Elizabeth.The City Council also presented its preparedness to host the matches.”I have been very impressed by the positiveness from the Council and fromthe Mayor, Nceba Faku,” said Majola today. “I believe everything is back ontrack and that cricket affairs in the Eastern Cape are being looked afterwith an eye on the successful staging of very important World Cup matchesnext year.”

‘India will host the ICC KnockOut Tournament’, AC Muthiah, President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in Udhagamandalam on Thursday.Expressing surprise at BCCI secretary JY Lele’s statement in New Delhi yesterday that ‘the BCCI is not necessarily keen in hosting the tournament’, Muthiah clarified that ‘there is no hitch in India hosting the tournament. The Union Sports Ministry has cleared it and Sports Minister Uma Bharti has extended all support for the success of the ICC KnockOut tournament’, he said.’We do not want to deny the best of opportunity for the cricket loving public of India in missing out on the chance to witness players from all Test playing countries of ICC in action’ Muthiah told PTI.It may be noted that Malcolm Gray, President, International Cricket Council, had on March 21 met the Union Ministers and officials concerned and he had been assured of all Governmental support to the tournament when hosted by India. The final decision on India hosting the 2002 ICC KnockOut tournament will be taken in London on June 15.Asked to comment on India playing Pakistan in any future tournament, Muthiah said ‘the Government’s letter clarified that there is no hitch in these two countries competing in multilateral tournaments’.Muthiah said the Government had clarified vide its letter on May 10 that ‘India will continue to play Pakistan in multilateral tournaments at regular venues. Regarding bilateral contests between the countries, the Government after careful consideration has already decided that in the prevailing circumstances it would be inappropriate for the Indian team to participate in a two-nation cricket tournament against Pakistan’.The BCCI chief said ‘the Government has said that it has no objection to the Indian team playing in ICC KnockOut, World Cup and other ICC recognised tournaments despite the fact that certain matches in such tournaments may be played between India and Pakistan either in India or in Pakistan’.Accordingly, the Government has considered all venues in Test playing countries and venues recognised by the ICC for one-day Internationals such as Kenya as regular venues.As for India’s participation in the coming Asia Cup to be hosted by Pakistan, Muthiah confirmed that India will take part in the tournament. However, the programme for the Asia Cup would be decided at the meeting of the Asian Cricket Council in Lahore on May 24, he said.When drawn to comment on Lele’s statement that he `was not aware when and where the decision would be taken on the new sponsor for the Indian team’, Muthiah clarified that the Board has received offers for sponsorship approximately 45 per cent above the previous sponsorship of ITC and a decision would be taken by the BCCI Marketing Committee within two days. ‘The players will benefit immensely by the additional revenues since 60 per cent of the sponsorship revenue goes to the players’, he said.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, March 1:Rev. Wes Hall, president of the West Indies Cricket Board, expects the 2002 Cable & Wireless Series between West Indies and India to be quite competitive.Rev. Hall believes the visiting Indian cricket team can expect a warm reception right around the Caribbean and that will help to make the 2002 Cable & Wireless Series even more exciting.”Our crowds, particularly in Trinidad and Guyana where you will not be short of support, have always received your type of play with approbation,” Rev. Hall told the Indian squad during a three-hour stopover in Barbados on their way to Guyana.As a consequence, this has always led to very competitive matches between our sides and we expect nothing less than this during your two months of cricket in the Caribbean, he added.The Indians arrived on Easter Monday without captain Sourav Ganguly. He is attending to personal obligations and will join the side on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid believes it will be an evenly contested series.”West Indies have the advantage of playing at home and the pressure will be on them much more than it will be on us because we have nothing lose, but much more to gain from winning,” remarked Dravid.”Though they have not been playing too well on the road , West Indies has only lost two series at home in over 20 years, so that suggests it will not be an easy task for us. We will have to play competitively all around to be able to win this series,” he added.Indian coach John Wright, the former New Zealand opening batsman, is no stranger to the Caribbean. He was a member of Jeff Crowe’s 1985 side that was pummelled by a fearsome West Indies side led by (Sir) Vivian Richards.”The West Indies is a wonderful place to play cricket and we believe we have a wonderful opportunity to win away from home for the first time in a long time,” he said. “I think the Caribbean is very much like Indian because the people have a great love for the game and are so knowledgeable. They know this side can play attractive cricket and if we play to our full potential we are capable of beating the best.”Inevitably, Wright was asked the question about a possible duel between West Indies Brian Lara and India’s Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the two best batsmen in world cricket.”A coach never likes to single out an individual player on his side or on the opposition side,” Wright commented. “Sachin and Lara are two great players and they have a lot of respect for each other. We, however, have a few young, exciting players capable of influencing the outcome of the series.”India, who play five Tests and five limited-overs internationals in the 2002 Cable & Wireless Series, has not beaten West Indies in a rubber in the Caribbean for close to three decades, let alone won a series outside of the sub-continent in 16 years.Squad:Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Sanjay Bangar, Shiv Sunder Das, Deep Dasgupta, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Wasim Jaffer, Venkata Sai Laxman, Dinesh Mongia, Ashish Nehra, Ajay Ratra, Javagal Srinath, Sachin Tendulkar, Tinu Yohannan.John Wright (coach), Goutam Dasgupta (manager), Adrian LeRoux (trainer), Andrew Leipus (physiotherapist), Sumit Pai (analyst).

Gloucestershire were indebted to contrasting innings from Ian Harvey and KimBarnett as they edged out Worcestershire by 21 runs in the Benson & Hedges Cup match at Bristol.Harvey’s sparkling 92 from 64 balls was a limited-overs best for theAustralian, while Barnett made an anchor role 85 from 141 deliveries ina Gloucestershire total of 263-8.Half-centuries from Philip Weston and Anurag Singh led a spiritedWorcestershire reply, but 90 were needed from the last ten overs and itproved beyond reach as they finished on 242-7.Gloucestershire’s fourth win from four games assures the holders of a placein the quarter-finals, but Worcestershire may now need to win their gamewith Warwickshire tomorrow to qualify.The Gloucestershire innings was revived in dramatic fashion by Harvey andBarnett, whose parternship of 126 required only 18 overs.Harvey dominated it with some scintillating strokeplay for the good-sizedcrowd to enjoy. His half-century came from 39 deliveries and he surpassedhis previous best one-day score of 88, made against Sussex last year in theB&H quarter-finals.A century was within his grasp when umpire Nigel Cowley – to Harvey’s cleardisappointment – upheld an appeal by wicket-keeper Steve Rhodes for a catchoff David Leatherdale.Barnett and Jeremy Snape then added 66 in quick time before both departed inthe same Alamgir Sheriyar over.Sheriyar finished wth 4-19, but Stuart Lampitt, Matthew Rawnsley andLeatherdale went for more than 50 runs in their spells.Philip Weston and Anurag Singh gave the Worcestershire reply an excellentstart with a partnership of 150 in 35 overs before the former was caught inthe deep by Chris Taylor off Martyn Ball.Singh, who had survived two chances to Snape and Barnett, finally perishedto a catch by Jon Lewis at long off from the bowling of James Averis.Worcestershire’s hopes then rested with Graeme Hick, but when he chipped acatch to Snape at mid-wicket, there was no way back.