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Lee whacks Sri Lanka with four by four
Brett Lee was the Man of the Series for his 16 wickets – he was consistent with four in every innings – and Ricky Ponting believes he is benefiting from extra thinking about his work. “The more you play the smarter you become and the more you understand what you have to do to be successful,” Ponting said. “That’s where it is with Brett at the moment.”Supersub strikes again
Rhett Lockyear’s impression of the supersub Gary Pratt continued as he contributed to his third dismissal of the match by running out Dilhara Fernando. Fernando hit to midwicket and was lethargically attempting a third when Lockyear turned and threw in the same action. The ball bounced over the stumps and Brett Lee completed the duties without the need for the TV umpire. On day three Lockyear, a Tasmania 2nd XI player, helped run out Prasanna Jayawardene and on Monday caught Michael Vandort. Pratt, who ran-out Ricky Ponting at Trent Bridge, would have been proud.Where there’s smoke …
It has been an eventful week for Bellerive Oval’s weather, with rain, bad light, cold conditions and beautiful sunshine. Today there was another element: smoke. A bush fire in south-west Tasmania caused the problem, but despite the poor visibility it did not force an interruption.… there’s fast-bowling ire
Lasith Malinga added to the on-field fire by belting consecutive sixes off Stuart Clark before lunch, but he was nursing a bruise after the break. Brett Lee unleashed more short-pitched bowling on the tailenders and Malinga was struck in the jaw. It wasn’t like Malinga, who blazed 42, had been mean to the opposition fast men. Australia’s Nos 8 to 11 didn’t bat in the series.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has downplayed reports of a rift that has emerged between the national selection committee and the team’s management over a number of issues, mostly revolving around the make-up of the team.The schism first emerged on Pakistan’s tour to India, with what appeared initially to be a miscommunication over the identity of a replacement player. The selectors, in apparent agreement with the coach and captain, had initially agreed on calling up Abdur Rauf as replacement for the injured Umar Gul.Having announced it officially during the second Test at Kolkata, the board changed tack later that evening and decided to send Rao Iftikhar Anjum instead. It is now understood that Shoaib Malik, the captain, and coach Geoff Lawson had wanted Iftikhar Anjum all along and convinced the board directly later, thus bypassing the selection committee.Since then, Cricinfo has learnt, there have been continuing disagreements over the playing XI in the current series against Zimbabwe. The selection committee has been keen to use the opportunity to blood new players in various positions. In particular, they were adamant that Nasir Jamshed should make his debut as opener; the team management, as well as Malik were instead eager to use Kamran Akmal as opener and play an extra bowler in place of Shahid Afridi.Before the series began, a heated debate is said to have taken place between Salahuddin Ahmed, chairman of selectors, and Geoff Lawson, the coach, over the matter. But as a result of a recent policy shift, it is now the selection committee that decides on the final playing XI during a home series.Jamshed has thus played and made an immediate impact in his first twoODIs. But Pakistan have also appeared a bowler short in both games, struggling to bowl out Zimbabwe with only three specialist bowlers and five realistic bowling options in total.Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, didn’t deny the reports, but sought to play them down instead, claiming them to be nothing more than everyday professional tussles. “Everyone is operating within their sphere of responsibility,” he told reporters in Hyderabad.”Both the selection committee and team management have separately told me in the last few days that they have a good relationship. If they don’t disagree on matters during meetings, what is the point of having these meetings at all? This is healthy debate and not signs of a rift.”Sources close to the matter maintain, however, that the issue is swiftly developing into more than just professional differences in opinion. One source adds that there has been another run-in with Malik following Pakistan’s win in the first ODI at Karachi. The last selection committee, headed by Wasim Bari, was widely thought to be little more than a rubber-stamp for Inzamam-ul-Haq’s choices while he was captain, particularly towards the end of its tenure. The current committee, the first in Pakistan’s history to employ full-time, paid selectors, is understandably keen to avoid a similar situation with Malik and eager to assert its authority.Ashraf also played down the contents of a report by manager Talat Ali following the tour to India, in which, according to a couple of local newspapers, the contributions of Younis Khan, Gul and Shoaib Akhtar have come under fire. The report is due to be discussed at a meeting of the board’s governing committee in Karachi on January 25.”We expect everybody to give an honest opinion in a respectful way,” said Ashraf. “We expect the manager and the coach to do this in their reports. The governing board is looking at the issue and the report will be discussed professionally. The idea of these reports is not to apportion blame but to learn from mistakes on future tours.”

Paul Wilson, the big-hearted former West Australian and South Australian fast bowler, has been appointed coach of the WA women’s team for 2004-05.The position represents the first step in Wilson’s quest to eventually become a first-class coach. “Since retiring in March I’ve received quite a few offers to take up various roles in not only cricket but other areas of business,” he said. “After thinking about things I’ve decided to develop my coaching aspirations and pursue a desire to coach at first-class level.”I’m honoured and excited to get the coaching job because it’s such a good challenge and a great way to start my representative coaching career.”It does not, however, promise to be the easiest of beginnings. The Western Fury have won only two games in the past three seasons, and the coach’s position was billed by The West Australian newspaper this morning as “the toughest job in Australian cricket”.They did, however, beat Victoria and Queensland in the Women’s National League last summer. It is hoped that Wilson’s involvement will lift both the performances and profile of WA women’s cricket, which has recently come under the Waca’s umbrella.”Women’s cricket is screaming out for some direction but, along with the amalgamation with the Waca, this is great,” said the veteran WA player Zoe Goss.`Blocker’ Wilson took 151 wickets at 30.77 in 51 first-class matches, going wicketless in his one and only Test in India in 1997-98. He has Level Two elite coaching qualifications.His appointment now finalises all major coaching appointments for Waca representative teams and squads in 2004-05, as per the following list.Western Warriors Squad Coach Wayne Clark
2nd XI Coach (WA `A’) Doug Harris
State U19’s Coach Ali De Winter
State U19’s Women’s Coach Charlie Burke
State U17’s Coach Greg Williams
State U17’s Women’s Coach Adelle Brambles
WACA Pace Bowling Academy Dennis LilleeThe former Tasmanian player and current Waca coaching officer Alistair De Winter replaces Darrin Ramshaw as the state’s Under 19s coach. “On behalf of the Waca I’d like to pass on congratulations to each of the coaches appointed,” said Rob Langer, WA’s manager of cricket operations. “But now that the formalities are out of the way the hard work begins.”

Twelve months after the death of Bob Woolmer, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has admitted that he will never forget the inspirational coach.”Pakistan cricket will always be indebted to Bob Woolmer for his contribution to the game,” Inzamam told AFP. “I want to forget the tragedies of the World Cup, but I can never forget Bob. He was not only an excellent coach, but also a very good human being.”Woolmer, who had also coached South Africa, was found dead in his hotel room in Jamaica on March 18, 2007, just a day after Pakistan had been sensationally knocked out of the World Cup following a shock defeat to Ireland. The tragedy was initially treated as murder but after the biggest manhunt in Jamaican history and following months of wild speculation, an inquest jury in October eventually returned an open verdict on Woolmer’s death.Inzamam was so shattered by the events that he quit one-day cricket in tears immediately after Pakistan’s last game in the World Cup.”He [Woolmer] was helpful to all and very accommodating. He always thought about the team and saw to it that we kept improving,” said Inzamam, who also quit Test cricket in October last year. “After the defeat to Ireland we were all depressed but Bob was trying to console everyone and was trying to convince us that it was just a bad day and things would improve for the team.”He asked me what were my plans. I told him that my mind was not working and we would talk the following day, but that opportunity never came and we got the shocking news of his death.”Mushtaq Ahmed, the former legspinner, said Woolmer was an inspiration for all those he coached. “Bob was successful at county level where he coached Warwickshire, then lifted South Africa and was hoping to build Pakistan into a great team before he met a cruel fate.”The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has dedicated their indoor cricket school to Woolmer, which was inaugurated by both the Pakistan and South African teams. “Bob will be remembered in Pakistan cricket and hopefully his legacy will continue,” said PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf. “His memory is still fresh because his contribution to Pakistan cricket was immense.”Both Inzamam and Mushtaq said they were willing to help at Woolmer’s academy in South Africa.”I feel for his family because they are the real sufferers. Whenever they need me to coach at Bob’s academy, I will be more than willing to go,” said Inzamam. “Perhaps through this we can pay back for what he did for Pakistan.”

Stephen Fleming has expressed his concern for New Zealand’s chances in the forthcoming NatWest Series, saying his bowlers lack the penetration to bowl teams out and restrict the runs.New Zealand crashed to a 3-0 loss in the recent Test series, and came unstuck in their first warm-up limited-overs match against Derbyshire. A host of injuries have not helped matters, and Fleming was not upbeat about the bowling situation: “You do need variation through the middle, and to take wickets through the middle, otherwise teams score 250-300 quite regularly.”He added, “Going into the tri-series, one of my concerns is the ability to take wickets, that’s the best way to hold a run rate. Our bowling’s still flat, it lacks penetration on flat wickets.”The New Zealander’s fielding against Derbyshire was suspect as well, with Fleming himself dropping Hassan Adnan before he went on to win the game for Derbyshire. “That gave them a platform, I dropped a catch and he got a hundred which doesn’t help. I hate it … you want to do well and get on the winning side.”He added: “They’re only little things, we’re so close to having a good tour, but that’s just enough to be getting hurt. We’ve got to be careful we don’t get too dejected, there were some good things and it was our first hitout one-day wise, but we still should knock over county sides.”New Zealand face Essex in a day-night game at Chelmsford today, and are boosted by the return of Chris Cairns, who was rested for the game at Derby. Daniel Vettori, meanwhile, has been bowling in the nets and is slowly recovering from his injured hamstring. He has targeted the next warm-up match, against Northamptonshire this Sunday.

ScorecardTaufeeq Umar and Faisal Iqbal, with a fourth-wicket partnership of 161, put Pakistan A in an excellent position on the first day of their three-day match against Kenya in Nairobi. Taufeeq consolidated after some early wickets fell around him to make 144, while Faisal was not out on 90 at stumps, as Pakistan A reached 352 for 4.Thomas Odoyo gave Kenya reason to cheer in the morning, accounting for the first two wickets to fall, those of Salman Butt, for 15 (28 for 1), and Bazid Khan, for 26 (97 for 2). But Odoyo had to be substituted in the afternoon session, and Kenya missed him sorely. Collins Obuya, who had turned in such impressive performances in the last World Cup, was woefully off-colour, conceding 34 in his six overs. As it happened, the highest number of overs in the day were bowled by Steve Tikolo, the captain, who took 2 for 95 in his 28 overs.One of Tikolo’s wicket was that was Taufeeq, who was lbw to him after hitting up 144. But Pakistan A were already on 305 by then, and they did not let the momentum slip. Naved Latif, on 22 not out, kept Faisal company till the end.

The 13 striking players have been left out of the seven-man squad for next month’s Hong Kong International Sixes.The board chose to stick with the players who at the weekend secured the draw which put Kenya through to the Intercontinental Cup semi-finals.Kenya squad Hitesh Modi (capt), Ravindu Shah, Rageb Aga, Lameck Onyango, Rajesh Bhudia, Kalpesh Patel and Abeed Janmohamed.

The three-member BCCI team, currently in Pakistan to assess the security measures taken for the Indian cricket team’s tour in March, expressed satisfaction with the arrangements made after visiting the stadium in Peshawar.”We are satisfied with the (security) measures being planned by Pakistan,” said Ratnakar Shetty, joint secretary of the BCCI. He, along with Yashovardhan Azad, the Inspector General of Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Amrit Mathur, the BCCI media manager, will do the rounds of the venues in Pakistan, with special attention paid to security and the facilities available.Meanwhile, Tasneem Noorani, a secretary in Pakistan’s interior ministry, said that the Pakistani government was not aware of any specific threats issues against Indian cricketers. Reacting to news reports that Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly faced death threats from certain militant groups, Noorani said he was unaware of such a thing.”It appears that concerns were due to threats they might have received in the past,” he said. “There are no known threats from any of the groups. The whole thing is being exaggerated. It appears that someone is out to give ideas to unwanted elements.”No dates have yet to be announced for the tour, though it has been suggested that Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar will host the three Tests.

Kenneth Gordon, the former media manager from Trinidad and Tobago, has been elected, as expected, as the president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) at the sixth annual meeting held in St Maarten on Sunday. Gordon, who was the sole nominee for the post, replaces Teddy Griffith who had indicated last June that he would not accept nomination. Valentine Banks was elected the vice-president after defeating Clive Lloyd, the former West Indies captain.Gordon, 75, was in a one-horse race as two of his opponents, the former WICB president Pat Rousseau of Jamaica and the former WICB director Tony Marshall of Barbados, withdrew their nominations last month. He will now be at the helm of the regional association for at least the next two years and will oversee the West Indies’ staging of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, the first time the event will be hosted in this region.Gordon has had a long, distinguished career and a rather hefty resume: he has served as the chairman of Neal and Massy Holdings, a major Caribbean conglomerate, and was managing director of the and chief executive officer and chairman of Caribbean Communications Network (CCN). He was also instrumental in the establishment of a number of regional media houses in Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados. Apart from that, Gordon was also as a senator in parliament and a government minister in Trinidad and Tobago.Banks, 55, is presently serving as vice-president of the WICB. A banker by profession, Banks, who is from Anguilla, was previously the president of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association.

Christopher Mpofu has been dropped from the Zimbabwe A squad for the remaining limited-overs matches against Bangladesh A at Kwekwe Sports Club on Wednesday and Friday.Mpofu did not make the trip to Kwekwe with the rest of the squad on Monday and his chances of making the Zimbabwe senior team for the Bangladesh tour are now slim. He struggled in the first match at Bulawayo last Thursday conceding 47 runs in his seven overs and was dropped for the following two matches.The 20-year-old has not played for Zimbabwe since the second Test match against New Zealand at Queens in August last year. He was overlooked for Zimbabwe tour to the West Indies two months ago before being called up into the Zimbabwe A squad for the four-day matches against Bangladesh A but only played in the last match at Queens which Zimbabwe A won by seven wickets to level the three matches series 1-1.Meanwhile, Sean Williams has opted out of the Zimbabwe A squad for the last two one-day matches against Bangladesh A and is returning to his club in England on Wednesday. He refused to travel to Kwekwe as he feared delaying his return might see him lose his contract with Clara Vale Cricket Club in Newcastle.Williams had his hands bruised during the third match on Sunday after he dived to stop the ball and had to go off the field of play for treatment but returned tobowl. His batting did not impress as he scored only 20 runs in three innings which might be blamed on having to bat down at No. 7.Williams was drafted into the squad at the request of Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran, who is keen to have him around for the Bangladesh matches at the end of this month. It is not clear whether Williams will be called up given his decision to return to the UK.Meanwhile, allrounders Piet Rinke and Gregory Strydom have been drafted into the squad. The pair are expected to strengthen the batting line-up, which has been found wanting the first three matches. It is also a chance for the duo to redeem themselves after their failure against West Indies. Rinke and Strydom are big hitters of the ball but both have a weakness when facing genuine quick bowlers, which was exposed in the West Indies.Zimbabwe A are trailing the tourists 3-0 in the series that has been reduced to five matches from the original six. With the way they played in the three matches, a 5-0 whitewash cannot be ruled out.