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Where dem hats?
Charl Langeveldt didn’t get his chance, picking upwickets four and five with the last two balls of his spell, while MuttiahMuralitharan was denied by Justin Kemp deflecting one off the pad to shortleg. Lasith Malinga though got it right, even if it was hat-trickinterruptus. Shaun Pollock was cleaned up by a slower ball – by Malinga’sstandards anyway – and Andrew Hall lobbed the last ball of his eighth overto cover. Chaminda Vaas gave up a single to Kallis in the next over, andafter a toe-touch and stretch, Malinga ran in to spear one outside offstump. Kallis went for it, got the edge, and tried to con the umpire bystanding there. No cigar. Hat-trick for Malinga, and it got even better aball later.Anything coach can do
Chamara Silva’s judgement of a run wasn’t quite the best, but few were prepared for what followed. Herschelle Gibbs picked up the ball and started to sprint to the stumps, with Silva onlyslightly quicker to turn than the QE II. Within range, and with Silvacomfortably adrift of the crease, Gibbs dived into the stumps like a rugbywinger over the try-line. Up in the players’ balcony, a fielding coach waswatching. His name? Jonty Rhodes.Oranges are not the only fruit?
You hear of peaches, but it was a Jaffa that Vaas came up with early in the South African innings. Pitched outside the line of off stump, it had AB de Villiers poking forward hesitantly. He never had a chance. The ball jagged back so sharply that it brushed the pad on its way to clipping the top of middle stump.Bring it on
No matter how awry his direction may be at times, Malinga rarely compromises on pace. His thunderbolts were expected to play a major part in Sri Lanka’s campaign, but thus far it hadn’t quite gone to plan. Having already got some tap from Graeme Smith, he hurled one down at88.2 mph. Another foot further, and it might have been the perfect yorker. As it was, it was right in Smith’s hitting zone, and the ball raced to the sightscreen even before Malinga had uncoiled himself from his follow-through.An edge will do
By the time Malinga stepped up for his final over, it was time to bring out the Imodium in the South African dressing room. And seldom will have an outside edge been celebrated quite like it was when Robin Peterson just about managed to get bat to another expressdelivery. The ball streaked to third man and Peterson demolished thestumps at the bowlers’ end in celebration, leaving Sri Lanka to pondertheir own late collapse.

Plastic eyesore
It’s easy for an outsider to watch on TV and passjudgement on the abysmal crowds at some of these World Cup games. This wasthe first match to be played at a new stadium, and a near-full house mighthave been expected. But when the cheapest seats in the house cost US$25(5000 Guyanese dollars) – those on the grassy mound, which was fairly full- and the next lot cost either US$75 or 100, you can’t really blame theaverage Guyanese for staying away. The three big stands were largely hugeswathes of shiny plastic, and if such eyesores are to be avoided, the ICCand the local organisers need to take a long hard look at prices thatwould put a tout to shame. For the record, 5,220 trooped through thegates.Seen and heard
As the wickets tumbled, the few South African in the stands and the media enclosure looked dazed. Cricket’s consummate chokers have crumbled under pressure before, and there was a certain macabre thrill in witnessing the latest episode. Perhaps it was appropriate that a fringe player hit the winning runs, instead of those who have been there and choked that.

Clare Connor, the England women’s captain, is to play alongside some of the game’s greatest names after signing for the club side Lashings.Connor will become the first female cricketer to play for the club, which includes a horde of former and current international players.”To play alongside some of the best internationals players will be a massive thrill,” she told Lashings’ website. “In broader terms, I think this opportunity shows just how far the women’s game has come and I am genuinely grateful to Lashings for that recognition. I hope this is the start of something very special.”Connor, 29, led England to their first Ashes victory in 42 years in 2005 and was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list, to add to the MBE she received in June 2004.Lashings’ chairman David Folb, was thrilled at the signing: “Out of all the great names that we have signed, both past and present, none has made such a major impact on the cricketing stage as Clare Connor who has been fundamental in raising the profile of the women’s game,” he said. “She is held in high regard all over the world, as she is not only a great player and captain of the present national side but also a charming person. We are delighted that she is going to be joining us this season.”Lashings also secured the services of the recently retired Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu, who is relocating to England. Connor joins the likes of Viv Richards, Curtly Ambrose, Chris Cairns, Mark Waugh, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to play for the Kent-based side.

At the post-match presentations in New Zealand Stephen Fleming was invariably asked the same two questions. The first was always how to improve on some dire performances in their heavy losses to Australia. The second – without fail – was about their only world-class performer.”And what about Dan Vettori?”There was no need to trumpet his figures or embellish his performance. Fleming would exhale in relief that he had him – or that he was getting him back when he missed a one-dayer. Vettori, on the other hand, may not be as grateful for his team-mates. The batsmen rarely give him enough runs to show his true value and the bowlers fail to take the top-order wickets, forcing him into defence instead of attack.Vettori is New Zealand’s Andy Flower – each man has done great things, getting by with little help from their friends. Richard Hadlee at least had Martin Crowe, Courtney Walsh held hands with Curtly Ambrose andBrian Lara, and Muttiah Muralitharan delivered around Aravinda de Silva before Sri Lanka’s new breed arrived. For New Zealand, Fleming occasionally approached world-class form but has recently slipped away, so Vettori is left with nobody.Spin bowlers need support, mainly from their fast bowlers, but also from their slow-bowling colleagues and their batsmen. Vettori, however, is handed scraps when he deserves to be waited upon. His team-mates have let a great bowler be reclassified merely as good. He has lugged their weight almost since debuting against England in 1996-97. A spot in the World XI for the Super Series Test against Australia may be his only chance of getting the allround polish he’s been lacking for 62 Tests.Still only 26 and four away from 200 wickets, Vettori’s brilliance is shown in his constant threat against Australia. Without a five-wicket haul since the drawn series in 2001-02, he dusted his fingers with three in Bangladesh and has since recorded two against the world champions. Left-arm spin, like the Kiwis’ tendency to ignore Test cricket, befuddles Australians. Phil Tufnell managed it occasionally, Murali Kartik turned one-off rings around them at Mumbai last year, but Vettori does it regularly. And yey his side is rarely on top.

Vettori can’t stand the Harry Potter comparisons, yet he’s the closest New Zealand have to a wizard. The glasses and the teasing curls add to the look, but his effectiveness is in concreting the feet of Australia’s batsmen while twirling them into tentativeness. In 13 Tests he has taken 51 wickets against them, including half of his 12 five-wicket hauls and one of his two 10-wicket collections, at an average of 33.45 – two runs per wicket better than his career mark. Australians figure highly on his all-time list of dismissals. Shane Warne comes top on nine, Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn are second on five, and Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer sit one spot further back.Australia’s plan rested on seeing him off in the one-dayers and trying for some sort of aggressive retribution during the Tests. Only Gilchrist managed it – spectacularly. The problem for Australia – and for Vettori’s worrisome lower back – was that he bowled more as his peers were attacked. In four of the past eight innings he delivered more than 40 overs, and fatigue and familiarity contributed to his home series tailing off. He was visibly affected by the injury and the lack of early-innings support from his fast men on seaming pitches.Much of his time over the past two Australia series has been spent walking back to his mark, head in the air with arms dangling waiting for the next appeal. Vettori is both a delight and a pain to watch. A man stranded with many sparkling but unused utensils, he is too often bowling to the openers on pitches suited to pace.The World XI’s opponents make Vettori an attractive option for the Super Series Test at the SCG in October. Unlike his five main rivals for two possible spin berths – all of whom are above his ICC ranking of16 – Vettori has never faced them on raging turners. Only Danish Kaneria and Anil Kumble come close to Vettori’s record in Australia, with 29 wickets at 37 in eight Tests.Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashley Giles have four Tests between them in Australia while Vettori has punched into them regularly. Taking six wickets in his first series, he had at least 10 in each of his next three. By early March, he had eight in three innings against Australia before going wicketless in the final match. He has never played Australia in more than three Tests and his record against the best deserves to be recognised.If Australia have Shane Warne coming on behind McGrath, Gillespie, Kasprowicz or Lee, then the World XI needs something that can scare their one-off rival. Vettori will do it over any length of spell and is the best slow-bowling option. It is an issue Sunil Gavaskar and his fellow selectors, who choose the squad in the coming weeks, should be raising as often as Fleming’s interviewers.

New Zealand 255 for 5 (Fleming 108, McMillan 70*) beat South Africa 253 for 8 (Smith 80, Rudolph 42, Boucher 40) by 5 wickets
Scorecard

Stephen Fleming engineered a five-wicket New Zealand triumph over South Africa at Christchurch to level the six-match series at 1-1. His 108, and a 102-run partnership with Craig McMillan (71 not out), took New Zealand to the target of 254 after they were in a quandary at 66 for 3.In contrast with an overpowering performance towards the end, McMillan was ill at ease when he began, and an airy-fairy sweep nearly brought about his end. Gradually, he settled down and provided Fleming support. Together, they milked singles when boundaries were scarce, and towards the end, smashed fours and sixes. In the five overs before Fleming was dismissed, 51 were scored, with six fours and two sixes peppering the boundary.While McMillan upped the ante with three fours in an over, Fleming thundered away to his century with a straight-drive that shot down the ground. It was that sort of a day for Fleming. The fall of wickets had no effect, and he only came harder and harder at South Africa. Tight fields were rendered useless with shots that were tantalisingly out of the fielders’ reach. Cover-drives and pulls were brought out of the bag when murderous cut shots weren’t on display. But it had to end sometime.Going for one more big hit, he swung Makhaya Ntini to square leg (226 for 5). It was the last success for South Africa, because McMillan got to his fifty and then struck the ball even harder, while Chris Cairns ended it all with a massive six.South Africa’s innings of 253 was built around Graeme Smith’s 80, and destructive sideshows by Mark Boucher and Jacques Rudolph. Smith yet again paved the way with an innings that reflected the three stages of South Africa’s innings – survival, rebuilding, and, finally, attack. After opting to bat first on a damp wicket, he watched New Zealand remove Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis in quick time (28 for 2). But the pitch slowly lost its venom, and by the time Daniel Vettori bowled his first ball, and saw it whacked into the stands, the wicket had completed its transformation from beast to beauty.A steadying partnership with Boeta Dippenaar ensued, and after that, the fun and games began. Rudolph scored 42, and Boucher got out on 40, but not before tonking every bowler who bowled to them. The midwicket and cover boundaries were targeted, and sixes endangered spectators. Smith fell in the pursuit for big runs, but by then he had got South Africa to a position of relative strength.His bowlers, though, had a mixed day, with Ntini firing in threatening deliveries and picking up two early wickets at one end, and Shaun Pollock barely able to control the swing at the other. Fleming duly took advantage with a series of demoralising cut shots. Nel, who usually scares batsmen even before he bowls, found his first two balls swung away to square leg for ten runs. Hamish Marshall played a couple of pretty shots as well, but threw it away to a harmless delivery (66 for 3).Scott Styris began circumspectly, but soon found the fence regularly. Clean hitting was on the menu when out of nowhere, Gibbs pulled off a stunning one-handed catch, ending Styris’s part in the match (124 for 4). Then, McMillan walked in, and played his part in the doubly whammy that floored South Africa.

Craig McMillan has been dropped for the New Zealand side to play India in the fifth National Bank Series One-Day International with India at Wellington on Wednesday.McMillan has been sadly out of form for the series and will play State Shield cricket for Canterbury against Central Districts in Christchurch tomorrow while he will also play in the State Championship match against CD in Timaru starting on Thursday.Fast bowler Shane Bond will return to the side.In a bid to get more bowling time for left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, he will play for Northern Districts in their match against Wellington at Hamilton tomorrow. The game is a day-night match.The New Zealand team will be: Stephen Fleming (captain), Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori.Selection convener Sir Richard Hadlee said of McMillan’s dropping: “Craig has been struggling for form with the bat and has some technical issues to address.”We would like him to concentrate on rectifying these and we think it would be easier for him to do this at a domestic level where there is less pressure.”And after playing for Canterbury against Wellington in the State Shield on Sunday, Bond had been cleared by New Zealand Cricket’s medical panel to rejoin the side.Hadlee said Cairns would play again for Canterbury tomorrow and was likely to be considered for the last two matches in the series in Auckland on Saturday and Hamilton on Sunday.In relation to Vettori, Hadlee said: “With the seam bowlers dominating the Indian batsman to the extent they have so far in the series, Daniel has not been required to play much of a role with the ball.”He has decided he would like to get a few overs under his belt and, with that in mind and our support, he is heading back to Hamilton today to play for Northern Districts.”The selectors and management team are pleased that Daniel has been proactive in recognising the need to get more through more work for the betterment of himself the team and New Zealand Cricket and we commend him for his decision,” Hadlee said.

Tama Canning’s half century wasn’t enough to lift Accrington’s place on the Lancashire League points table at the weekend.Batting first against Todmorden, Accrington scored 147, with Canning scoring 54 of those.Former Australian Test bowler Matthew Nicholson turned it on with the bat when Todmorden got into some strife. His 31 not out was enough to see Todmorden to victory with five wickets in hand. Canning went wicketless for Accrington.Meanwhile, Wellington player Ben Jansen had another good day for Liphook and Ripley in the Hampshire league. He scored 80 as L&R finished on 289/5 and then took three for 32 as Hungerford were all out for 158.

It was another predictable day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where West Indies played out its final preparatory match before next week’s first Test against Australia.As the tourists completed their third sub-200 total from four first-class innings played on this tour so far, a spectator fanned a banner pleading “Bring back Viv”. But the great Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards was nowhere in sight. And just as last week was Western Australia’s opportunity to upstage these once-feared tourists, so this week became Victoria’s chance to annihilate them.The result for the Windies: a seven-wicket loss in Perth, followed by today’s innings and sixty-three run drubbing inside three days by the bottom-ranked Australian domestic side. And both coach Roger Harper and captain Jimmy Adams are at a loss for explanations.”I have no explanation. It has been a disappointing performance to put it mildly. I’m not one to get angry but I’m very very disappointed,” said Harper.”It is very very frustrating because I know we are capable of a lot better cricket than we have displayed here and as we displayed in Western Australia. But it’s difficult to put an exact finger on it as to what will bring out the consistency we’re still striving for. Physically, I have no doubt that we’re working a lot harder, a lot better in terms of preparation. We’re still trying to get the precise, definite answer,” he said.Asked about what went wrong with the team’s batting – they were bowled out for 167 in the first innings and 114 in the second – Adams was direct.”I won’t take very long to describe, it’s just not good enough,” he said. “The bottom line is that we’re just not batting as well as we should be batting. We’re just not doing the basic consistent things. It’s just not happening.”For Victorian captain Darren Berry on the other hand, the match couldn’t have gone better. His bowlers began well in the first innings under overcast conditions on a helpful pitch, his batsmen continued the good work by amassing 7/344, and the Bushrangers finally tasted their opening first-class victory of the season. To top it all off, Berry himself claimed his four hundredth first-class catch today.”I think everything went right for Victoria. I think the toss was the start because it was a difficult wicket to bat on. I thought our bowlers bowled well and it was a good team effort. I don’t think it’s my position to comment on how the West Indies played, I’m more concerned about how Victoria played and I was extremely happy with our performance,” he said.The stars for Victoria were twenty-year-old paceman Mathew Inness (9/73 for the match, including career best figures of 6/26 in the first innings) and twenty-five year-old batsman Brad Hodge (134*), who was forced to retire hurt overnight after a Courtney Walsh delivery left his thumb severely bruised.There were other positives too. The patient batting of Jason Arnberger (99) in the first innings. The bowling of first-class debutant Ben Oliver (2/13 off six overs in the second innings, including the crucial wicket of Brian Lara). The successful return from injury of Damien Fleming (2/27 off tenovers today). And of course, the clever bowling of Test spinner Colin Miller (3/26 off 15.3 overs).After losses in the opening two Pura Cup matches, Berry believes today’s win will give the Victorians the confidence and inspiration they need for the next round of domestic matches.For the West Indians, the result simply exacerbates their woeful start to this Australian tour. With the first Test just four days away, the search is on for that elusive answer to their problems.Adams thinks the answer lies within. “I don’t think it’s so much a technical problem. I think what we have to do is to do whatever we can amongst ourselves to reinforce to the team that the players here are good players, quality players. I think they’re players that have done enough often enough, and ones who you figure will always carry that self belief. There might be a few younger players where it’s up to the rest of us to keep reinforcing that ‘You are good enough and you’re here because you’re goodenough’.”Adams says the most important thing is for the team to come together to solve the problems. “I think everybody has a role to play. I think even players who are struggling and might be young players, they still have a role to play. It’s not going to happen because one man stands up, it’s going to happen because the whole team comes together. And as well, you can’t get away from the fact that it is going to require discipline.”At the same time, coach Harper says the team still has time to realise its potential. “I still think we have it in us to play good cricket and precisely because of our unpredictability, it’s possible for us to getthrown out there and string it together. And hopefully we can achieve it come the Test match,” he said.

Stuart MacGill has replaced Andy Bichel in the only change to Australia’s twelve-man squad for the Second Test against South Africa starting in Cape Town tomorrow.Pace bowler Bichel was Australia’s twelfth man in the opening match of the three-Test series at Johannesburg two weeks ago. Though captain Steve Waugh has hinted that he expects the pitch to offer genuine assistance to slow bowlers, it is widely anticipated that leg spinner MacGill will assume the same role at Newlands.Fellow leg spinner Shane Warne is poised to play his 100th Test match for Australia, while opening batsman Justin Langer will embark on his 50th.A win would officially confirm Australia’s status as the world’s number one Test team.The squad is: Steve Waugh (c), Adam Gilchrist (vc), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Stuart MacGill (12th man to be named).

In a tour that hasn’t gone to plan after a sparkling start, West Indies travel to a ground on which they posted both their wins on the tour so far against a formidable South African line-up.West Indies upset the hosts at St George’s Park in both the first Twenty20 international and the first Test, but have lost their way since. A loss in Sunday’s ODI would see them surrender the series, but the visitors are not the only team with a few worries.South Africa have done poorly in Port Elizabeth of late – their last win came in an ODI against India in November 2006 – and coach Mickey Arthur said the team were eager to perform.”I’m not a 100% sure why we haven’t played to the best of our abilities there, but all I do know is the team will be keen to put on a very good performance, because we’ve let Port Elizabeth down of late,” Arthur told the . South Africa, though, would take confidence from the convincing win in Cape Town, where West Indies never looked in the hunt while chasing 256.Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis failed in Cape Town, and it was the left-handed batsmen Graeme Smith and JP Duminy who did the bulk of the scoring. South Africa, however, were unable to pick up the momentum towards the close of their innings – perhaps falling 15-20 runs short – but it didn’t have a bearing on the final result.Arthur indicated there wouldn’t be many changes, given the series is still alive. The bowlers never looked in trouble against a brittle West Indian line-up. Shaun Pollock, playing his farewell ODI series, had impeccable figures of 10-5-13-2, while Morne Morkel’s career-best figures of 4 for 36 suggested he’d recovered fully from the injury that had ruled him out since South Africa’s tour to Pakistan last year.”Before we start looking to juggle the side too much, we want to try and get the series out of the way first, and then look to give our other squad guys an opportunity,” Arthur said. “We have quite a few niggles in the squad and we need to manage those. But I don’t foresee too many changes.”For West Indies, it’s the batting that’s the main concern. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was expected to play at No. 3 in Cape Town in order to provide much-needed momentum at the top, but a bruised knee meant he came in at No. 5 and batted with a runner. Chanderpaul’s 54 was the only significant resistance to South Africa’s attack and if he can’t take the field on Sunday, it would be another headache for West Indies, who are already missing the batting skills of Chris Gayle.Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards made a promising start in Cape Town. Taylor nipped out both Gibbs and Kallis, but his four-wicket haul was not backed up by his team-mates. Stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo, who bowled despite a side strain in the first ODI, might again have to send down a few overs himself. Bravo would also like to change his luck at the toss; he’s called it wrong the last three occasions, perhaps a right one could help bring about the right result.Teams (probable)
South Africa
Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Johan Botha, Charl Langeveldt, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel.West Indies
Brenton Parchment, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor.

Tim May has attacked the upcoming glut of games between Australia and India by saying it devalues cricket. May, the head of the international players’ association, warned the 21 Tests and ODIs the two sides will play against each other from June revealed money-grabbing motives of administrators.”It’s getting completely out of control,” May told the . “We’re very seriously worried that a few countries are playing too much cricket.”It’s our ongoing battle with the ICC. Australia will play India 21 times in the eight months from June this year. From the perspective of players and spectators, it’s going to dampen your interest. And it detracts from the commercial value of the product. Vision has been lost about what’s important and what is not.”Until the 2005 Ashes series an Australia-India series was considered one of cricket’s headline events. The sides clashed in three gripping Test series between 2000-01 and 2004-05, each winning one with the other drawn.Australia are due to play seven ODIs in India in October, before a four-Test series in Australia the following summer and seven tri-series ODIs. To this list has recently been added a three-match ODI series in Ireland in June.”They were already playing each other 18 times and now they’ve thrown in another three (in Ireland),” May said. “We’re concerned about that. Players have a passion for the game and want to maintain that passion every time they play. But it’s becoming harder to play every game as though it’s their last.”No one wants a two-bit product where blokes are only giving 75% because that’s all they’ve got left. Or because they need to pace themselves for more games coming up.” May, who has criticised the heavy workload on players in the past as well, also took a shot at the upcoming World Cup, arguing that it dragged on purely because of TV broadcasters.”Our World Cup is too long,” he said. “Everybody bar the people who sell the TV rights believe we could compress it. The ICC sells the rights for significant amounts of money and obviously the broadcasters want to get their money’s worth. We have to develop the game in some countries but there are arguments about whether the World Cup is the place for them.”