All posts by csb10.top

David Morgan, the ICC president-elect, has said he hopes new spectators, drawn to the game by Twenty20, will come to love the other formats as well.”I’m proud that Twenty20, a format first developed by the England and Wales Cricket Board, had such a widespread appeal, bringing in new, wider and young audience, which ICC welcomes,” Morgan said at the closing ceremony for the Indian Premier League.Morgan felt cricket was fortunate to possess three formats. “[That is] Twenty20, which thrilled so many people, one-day cricket which is equally thrilling and Test cricket, the pinnacle. In fact, last week all three formats were evident with two great Test matches in Kingston and Manchester.”Congratulating the Indian board and Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, for the tournament’s success, Morgan said it had changed the face of domestic cricket around the world. “It has provided opportunities for other cricket playing nations [to take it forward]. It has got widespread appeal and has attracted new audiences to the game.”There are plans to organise a Champions League – a tournament involving the top two domestic Twenty20 teams from various countries – in England in October this year, following the Champions Trophy.

I think England played very well at Trent Bridge in the second Test against India. Michael Vaughan did fantastically well – and I’m talking about his batting! He did well enough with the ball, but he is not the sort of bowler you throw the ball to when you get on a turner and expect him to bowl out a Test side. A couple of wickets here and there is useful, but it might come as no surprise to you that I spent the final stages of the Test bemoaning the fact that England had gone in without a front-line spinner. What’s more, I reckon Nasser Hussain might have felt much the same.He could certainly have justified playing a spinner on the last day at Trent Bridge because the ball was turning. Of course, there’s always the outside chance that I might be a bit biased, but I reckon you should always play a spinner anyway. If you want to play five bowlers, that’s great but surely there should be a place for a spinner among those five? I know we were struggling to get a quorum of fit seamers by the end, but it might not have mattered had we had a specialist spinner to take advantage of the conditions.Looking back, I can remember playing in England sides when we had only three seamers and me, and I was called into action about an hour before lunch on the first morning. It only needed one of the seamers to go round the park and I was on. With five seamers, there are loads of options and if you want to play that many, fair enough, but I can’t help but feel that selection is over doing it.I know there was once a feeling that the Indians were not that good against pace, but even if that holds water, you could still have four pace bowlers and find room for a spinner. Let’s face it, if you go into a match with five bowlers you must be able to find room for balance and variety by playing a spinner.For one thing, it’s not altogether fair on the seamers they did pick. By the time it comes to their turn to bowl, they could be out of nick. They stand around all day having been picked as a seamer and end up bowling just half a dozen overs. The other thing is that most of these quick bowlers are used to taking the new ball, either for England or for their counties, or at least coming on first change. It might not put them in the greatest frame of mind to come on third change when the ball is far from new and they’ve been grazing in the outfield for a while.I could understand it if the batting wasn’t firing so you might pick four seamers and go for the extra batting option, but five bowlers of the same type and no spinner doesn’t make sense to me. I know there were swingers and seamers and bang-it-in bowlers, but I would just like to think that the selectors might sit down and think they got it wrong for Trent Bridge. No big deal, but put it in the memory bank for next time. Next time? That’s Headingley, so it might have to be the time after next.All in all though, things are going well for England this summer. I thought the new boys did OK and looked at home. I know it’s said it’s easier to come into a winning team, but that again is a sign of progress. England are getting better as a unit, which is shown by the way they can slip the new boys in almost unnoticed as far as the efficiency of the team is concerned.We’ve got to keep it going now. Keep scoring the big runs, keep bowling the opposition out. Basic stuff, but so important and now we’re one up with two to play, keep the old size nine on the throat and not let the opposition get back into it. It’s happened before that we’ve been well on top and then allowed opponents to wriggle free. After the win at Lord’s, the draw at Trent Bridge must not be seen as a way back for the Indians. We need to hit hard again at the first opportunity.

It is important that the performance of the Indian team in their ICCChampions Trophy opening game against Zimbabwe be viewed withsympathy. This was obviously a weary touring side – incessant cricketfor months in various lands followed by a long drawn out row overcontracts is enough to affect even the fittest of players. They thenhad to make a long trip from London to Mumbai, then on to Chennai andfinally to Colombo – a delayed flight on the last leg to boot.Consequently, there was no mistaking the fatigue of the team memberswho took the field against opponents who on the other hand were freshand had not played competitive cricket for some months.Zimbabwe have almost always been tough opposition for India. In thehead-to-head record, India are way ahead but what this simple factwill not convey is the numerous occasions on which the Indians havehad to sweat it out before securing victory. In sub-continentalconditions, the Indians’ superiority is much more marked and in normalcircumstances, India should have won with some deal of comfort. Butagainst the background I have already described, the narrow margin ofvictory perhaps was not surprising.The batting did not exactly cover itself with glory. If the recoverywas strong – 87 for five to a final total of 288 for six – questionsmight well be asked as to why there was a crisis in the first place.Some complacency, a few faulty shot selections and yes, a bit ofstaleness were evident.One may be tempted to say all is well that ends well. But there islittle doubt that the famed Indian batting will have to perform up toreputation in the game against England. It is not a healthydevelopment if there are to be retrieving partnerships for the sixthand seventh wickets every time.Rahul Dravid is perhaps enjoying the finest phase in his outstandingcareer. He is right now at a stage when little is going wrong for him.His timing and shot selection is impeccable and it matters littlewhether he is playing in the West Indies, England or Sri Lanka orwhether it is Test cricket or the limited overs game.

For that matter, Mohammad Kaif also seemed to be carrying on fromwhere he left off at Lord’s on that memorable day a couple of monthsago. The young man represents the new face of Indian cricket. I alwaysthought his style and approach and technique was more suited to Testcricket and while that view remains, the manner in which he hasadapted himself to the quicker tempo of the limited overs game hasbeen admirable. He has obviously worked hard on his game and it isabout time he is given the opportunity to cement his place in the Testside too.Unfortunately, the bowling problems remain, whether it is Test cricketor the shorter version. While the four main bowlers more or less didtheir job creditably, the problem lies with the ten overs to be sentdown by non-regular bowlers. In 12 overs on Saturday, Tendulkar,Ganguly and Yuvraj gave away 78 runs. With the team management firmlybent on playing seven batsmen, there is tremendous pressure on thefour bowlers to come good and if any of them fail, the back-upstrength just does not inspire confidence.But there is no need for the Indians to press any panic buttons evenif they are in the proverbial group of death. The victory overZimbabwe does not guarantee the runners-up of the 2000 tournament aplace in the semifinals. A crucial match against England remains to beplayed.Perhaps VVS Laxman can replace Dinesh Mongia and Ajit Agarkar can takeAshish Nehra’s place. That could strengthen the team even if it doesnot solve the problem of the lack of a fifth main bowler. But with thepolicy of playing seven batsmen firmly in place, there is very littlethat can be done in this regard except to hope that the main bowlersare niggardly and that the remaining ten overs are not very expensive.The Indians have a few days to work out the necessary tactics andthere is no doubt that the team members will welcome the rest andrelaxation. Somehow one senses the players will rise to the occasionagainst England.

England 364 (Pietersen 115, Ambrose 67, Broad 64) beat New Zealand 123 (Anderson 7-43) and 232 (McCullum 71, Oram 50*, Sidebottom 6-67) by an innings and nine runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Given the fine line England have trodden between success and failure over the last few months, during their elongated head-to-head with New Zealand, they wrapped up the series with deceptive ease on the fourth day at Trent Bridge. Ryan Sidebottom, on his home ground, responded to a slightly below-par display on the previous two days with a six-wicket haul to seal an innings-and-nine-run victory after just an hour’s play.Sidebottom has been a frustrated, and often angry, participant during this Test as he watched James Anderson and Stuart Broad claim the bowling honours. He hasn’t quite been at full pace – the back spasm on the first day may have played a part – but, with conditions better for batting than at any stage during the game, Sidebottom showed why he has taken on the mantle of England’s premier bowler.Gareth Hopkins fought hard on his debut in both innings, showing a better technique than many of the top order against the moving ball. But he was the first to depart when Sidebottom found his outside edge with one pushed across the batsman. In his next over, Sidebottom removed the last major obstacle to a swift finish for England, when Daniel Vettori lofted a skewed drive to Kevin Pietersen at point. From then on it was only a matter of time.The lower-order showed little desire to hang around as they flayed at Sidebottom’s probing line. Kyle Mills edged to Andrew Strauss at first slip, then Iain O’Brien was smartly taken by Paul Collingwood at second slip, diving sharply to his left. Collingwood’s batting is in a slump, his bowling is hindered by a sore shoulder, but he can still catch.Jacob Oram offered the lone resistance, finally coming out of his shell and showing what a threat he will be in the forthcoming one-dayers. Instead of ducking the short ball on a slow pitch he took it on, launching a couple of huge sixes over deep midwicket, once off Broad and then a repeat off Anderson.He reached an entertaining half-century off 39 balls, but in the process exposed Chris Martin to four balls of Anderson’s over. It took just one, a thick edge to second slip where Collingwood pouched another neat catch. Anderson deserved to wrap up the match, claiming his ninth wicket, after putting England in such a strong position with his memorable burst on Friday.Anderson also helped spark England’s resurgence in New Zealand, when he took a five-wicket haul in Wellington, as the team recovered from their embarrassments in Hamilton. The bowling attack was changed, freshened up by youth, and in four of the last five Tests they have responded for Michael Vaughan. There is a long way to go for this England team, and some tough questions still to answer, but they at least have the winning feeling to build on ahead of greater challenges.

West Indies A began their tour to England with a convincing victory over British Universities in the delightfully scenic setting of the Parks in Oxford today. The visitors were not particularly tested as they cantered to an 85 run victory.Jamie Dalrymple, a former England Under 19 representative, won the toss and sent the West Indies A side into bat. Despite the early loss of Devon Smith, skipper Darren Ganga and Donovan Pagon punished loose bowling from the student seamers. Spinners Dalrymple, Monty Panesar and Robert Ferley – all with first-class experience – bought some control, Pansesar bowling Ganga while Pagon offered a return catch to Ferley.Panesar struck the stumps a second time to account for Dwayne Bravo, while Lendl Simmons was well held by Matthew Banes to give Dalrymple a deserved wicket.Excellent knocks at the death ensured the West Indies’s innings did notstagnate, Keith Hibbert and Runako Morton batting with an encouragingfreedom. Morton hit three fours and a six in his 57, while Hibbert’s 39 was a more workmanlike innings, coming from 48 balls. A total of 225 looked a par score on a slow outfield, with a wicket which helped the spinners.The Universities were unimpressive in response. A stream of early wickets reduced them to 64 for 5, Jermaine Lawson picking up three scalps. Michael Brown and John Francis were stubborn, while Banes tried desperately to come to terms with the track during a painstaking 11. A late flourish from Tim Murtagh and Tom Mees, who put on 38 for the ninth wicket, helped restore some pride for the students, who were finally bowled out for 140 in the 45th over.The West Indies are on a six week tour to Britain, playing four first-class matches and a host of one-dayers. The highlight is a three day match with India at Arundel. The next match they play is against the Sri Lankans, under lights at Hove, on Wednesday. That will be a much sterner examination than offered by the students under the dreaming spires of Oxford today.

• It was the 1546th Test match in cricket history.
• It was England’s 780th and Pakistan’s 277th Test match.
• It was the 59th match between these two sides. The record now reads: England 16, Pakistan 9, drawn 34.
• It was the 38th match between these two sides in England. The record now reads: England 14, Pakistan 7, drawn 17.
• It was the 11th match between these two sides at Lord’s. The record now reads: England 3, Pakistan 3, drawn 5.
• Ian Ward (left handed batsman and right arm medium fast bowler) and Ryan Sidebottom (left handed batsman and left arm fast medium bowler) were making their Test debut for England. They became 604th and 605th Test cricketer respectively to represent England.
• Ryan Sidebottom furnished the tenth instance of an English Test cricketer’s son following his father in Test cricket. His father Arnie Sidebottom had made his solitary appearance against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1985. The father and son pairs who have played for England in Tests in chronological order are: Charles (2) and David (3) Townsend, Fred (1) and Maurice (39) Tate, Joe Hardstaff Snr (5) and Joe Hardstaff Jr. (23), ‘Frank'(5) and George (7) Mann, James (1) and Jim (46) Parks ,Len (79) and Richard (5) Hutton, Colin (114) and Chris (6) Cowdrey, ‘Micky’ (8) and Alec (109) Stewart and Alan (1) and Mark (27) Butcher. There have been three more cases of father and son pairs playing Test cricket but only one of them represented England.
• Umpires Darrell Hair and Peter Willey were standing in their 38th and 23rd Test match respectively.
• Waqar Younis was making a comeback as Pakistan’s skipper. He had last captained Pakistan against Zimbabwe at Karachi in 1993-94.
• Rashid Latif was making a comeback in to Pakistani side after about three years. He had last played for Pakistan against Zimbabwe at Harare in 1997-98.
• Darren Gough was playing his 50th Test match. He became 45th player from England and 170th player overall to do so.
• The wicket of Cork in England’s only innings was 50th for Wasim Akram in England. He became first Pakistani and 19th bowler from the opposing sides to do so at English soil. Incidentally Australia’s Dennis Lillee with 96 wickets from 16 matches holds the record for most wickets in a career at English soil.
• The catch of his Rashid Latif in first innings was 200th for Alec Stewart in his 109th match (including 35 while not keeping wickets). He became seventh player in Test annals to reach this target after two Australians Ian Healy (366) and Rodney Marsh (343), one West Indian Jeff Dujon (267), one fellow countryman Alan Knott (250) and one Pakistani Wasim Bari (201).
• Darren Gough became the eighth Englishman and 38th bowler in Test history to complete 200 wickets in a Test career when he dismissed Rashid Latif in first innings. The seven other Englishmen who have taken 200 wickets are Ian Botham (383 wickets in 102 Tests), Bob Willis (325 in 90), Fred Trueman (307 in 67), Derek Underwood (297 in 86), Brian Statham (252 in 70), Alec Bedser (236 in 51) and John Snow (202 in 49). By an odd coincidence all eight Englishmen have taken their 200th wicket at home soil.
• When Alec Stewart (captaining England in place of injured Nasser Hussain) asked Pakistan to follow on, he provided the 85th instance of an English captain enforcing the follow-on over the opponents. It was also the seventh such occasion for England against Pakistan.
• The wicket of Latif in second innings was the 100th for Gough in matches in England. He became 11th bowler to do so.The bowlers with maximum Test wickets in England are Fred Trueman (229), Ian Botham (226), Bob Willis (176), Alec Bedser (167), Brian Statham (148), Derek Underwood (145), John Snow (140), Jim Laker (135), Tony Lock (104) and Ray Illingworth (102).
• Saleem Elahi suffered the mortification of failing to score in both innings of the Test. He became sixth Pakistani batsman to bag a pair against England. The others are: Mohammad Ghazali (at Old Trafford in 1954), Imtiaz Ahmed (at Dhaka in 1961-62), Iqbal Qasim (at Lord’s in 1978), Mudassar Nazar (at Edgbaston in 1982) and Aaqib Javed (at Headingley in 1992).
• Elahi also provided the 24th instance of a Pakistani batsman suffering this fate and 366th instance in all Tests. He, however, became only the fifth Pakistani opening batsman to record this embarrassing feat after Majid Khan (v Australia at Perth in 1978-79), Mudassar Nazar (v England at Edgbaston in 1982), Saeed Anwar (v West Indies at Faisalabad in 1990-91) and Aamir Sohail (v New Zealand at Hamilton in 1992-93).
• Elahi also provided the 18th instance of an opening batsman recording a pair against England with South Africa’s Louis Tancred being the only one to have done so twice.
• Stewart’s four catches in the second innings equalled the existing record of most dismissals by a keeper in an innings against Pakistan. John Murray, Alan Knott (on four occasions) and Bruce French are the others to do so for England.
• The seven catches in the match by Alec Stewart equalled the existing record of most dismissals by a keeper against Pakistan. Alan Knott had made seven dismissals on two occasions – at Trent Bridge in 1967 and at Headingley in 1971.
• Five Pakistani batsmen Yousuf Youhana, Azhar Mahmood, Younis Khan, Rashid Latif and Waqar Younis achieved the dubious distinction of getting dismissed twice on same day on the fourth day of the match. This, however, is not a record of most batsmen getting out twice on the same day for Pakistan. The record is of six batsmen suffering this misfortune which has been recorded on three occasions – v India at Delhi in 1952-53, v England at Headingley and at The Oval in 1962. The Test record is held by India as nine Indian batsmen were dismissed on the third day against England at Old Trafford in 1952.
• The victory was England’s 79th by an innings margin – sixth against Pakistan. It was also the 248th instance of a side registering a win by an innings margin. Incidentally England has won most matches in this fashion.
• The Man of the match award was the second for Andrew Caddick. His only other award had come against South Africa at Durban in 1999-00. Caddick had then shared the award with Gary Kirsten in a drawn game.
  

England captain Nasser Hussain, England women’s all-rounder Sarah Collyer and SM:TV presenter Tess Daly launched the npower Lions’ Den at the AMP Oval today.This initiative, from the ECB and npower, will turn a section of around 300seats at each Test Match Ground into a ‘Lions’ Den’ – an enclosure reserved for children. Youngsters in the Lions’ Den will benefit from discounted Test match tickets with every boy and girl receiving a free activity bag, a Lions’ Den T-shirt and cap, an educational activity book and a giant ‘Roar for 4′ paw.The Lions’ Den is an extension of the joint ECB and npower ‘Pride Side’initiative, launched last year, in which three lions and one lioness, based on the traditional lions logo of the ECB, have been created to increase the appeal of cricket to all types of children between the ages of 6-12 years old.Life-size mascots of the ‘Pride Side’s’ superhero cartoon characters – Shen,Maxie and Widget and lioness, Little M – will entertain the youngsters in the Lions’ Den during matches, demonstrating cricket’s continuing drive to rejuvenate and promote cricket at all levels and across ethnic, age, social and gender boundaries.Giving his full support to the exciting project, Nasser Hussain said: “Theseare excellent initiatives which will send out the right messages through every level of the sport. It’s vital that the game evolves to compete with other sports, and these ideas are great. We need to encourage our next generation of fans and players to love the game, and it’s very positive that the ECB and npower are getting together to try and achieve this.”Tess Daly said: “I wish they had this sort of thing when I was growing up!Speaking as a cricket outsider, the Lions’ Den is a terrific idea that should attract kids to the sport. Anything that promotes sport in such a fun way must be a winner.”Sarah Collyer said: “Offering youngsters a taste of the action may lead to more of them taking up the game. Cricket is obviously something I love playing and I am in favour of the game being taken to the widest possible audience, so making cricket accessible to kids like this is terrific news.”npower Strategy Director David Andrew said: “As a young brand – we’re only twoyears old – we are always striving to be different and do what’s not been done before. The Lions’ Den, powered by npower, provides a new experience for our younger cricket fans that they will remember, hopefully through to adulthood, which is a great thing for cricket generally. In the meantime, everyone has fun, which is exactly what we want.”ECB Commercial Director Terry Blake said: “A day out in the Lions’ Den will be both educational and fun. We hope to welcome school classes and junior cricket teams, as well as individual families, to the npower Test Match Series.”Ticket booking is available via www.ecb.co.uk or 08705 33 88 33.

“The more I get to bowl, the more excited I get.”That’s New Zealand left-arm fast-medium bowler Shayne O’Connor’s summation of where he is at in his recovery from a debilitating knee injury.The 28-year-old is working out regularly at Dunedin’s Edgar Indoor Centre to get himself back into shape for what he hopes will be a season to make up for the last two injury-plagued years.”It seems to be going well,” he said of his knee.”The last two sessions of bowling have been as encouraging as any that I’ve ever had.”While not off his full run yet, he is building towards it.The injury, which was in his landing leg, was thought to have been a slight tear in his patella tendon which had become inflamed. However, surgery showed no tear.It was more of an over-use injury and because there was so little blood flowing through the tendon it was necessary to cut the tendon and create an injury to stimulate blood flow to help the recovery.”The good thing was that when they operated they found there was no dead tissue in my knee. Apparently that is what they have found when others have had knee problems,” he said.O’Connor’s injury stemmed from damage done while in Africa at the end of 2000. It involved four and a half months of continuous cricket – the perfect recipe for over-use injuries, especially when all the other members of the attack had fallen over beforehand.The time between then and now had proven very frustrating and there were times when he wondered whether he might get back.But then he countered that with how much more he wanted to achieve in cricket.”It did make me spare thoughts for guys like Geoff Allott, Dion Nash and Chris Cairns. You felt so sorry for them at times that you wondered why they didn’t just give up. But now I understand where they came from.”And giving up is not an option. You want to keep on.”Little setbacks also became much bigger than they actually were and O’Connor said the last period of his life had been the toughest he had experienced mentally.Seeing the New Zealand side doing so well also got him revved up.”I know what it was like having the feeling of winning a series away, especially after you have been grafting towards it.”If you have been dropped by the selectors you can feel disappointed in yourself that you are not there but if it is due to injury it does make it more frustrating.”The fact that more players had taken the chance and come into consideration did not worry O’Connor as he contemplates his comeback.A player like fast bowler Shane Bond was in the freakish category, like Daniel Vettori, and would have emerged no matter who was playing, although he admitted it was his injury that gave Bond his chance.”But there is competition around for places and that is good. Now I’ll just have to believe in myself and use my experience,” he said.In analysing his injury O’Connor didn’t think it was in anyway attributable to the slight change in action that resulted in him gaining more speed.At the time of the change he said it was more like the way he used to bowl at school anyway.It is all down to his timing and that is what he is working towards regaining.”I have some huge desires still. I want to work towards the Indian series here. So far in my career my best form has been away from home and I would love to have the chance to show people here who have supported me what I can achieve,” he said.Making the World Cup side is another goal and while it was a cliche, he said, it was a huge desire for all players to play in the World Cup.”I’ve got work to do. But if I keep believing and use my head then who knows?”In his career to date, O’Connor has played 19 Tests and taken 53 wickets at 32.52 while in his 38 One-Day Internationals he has 46 wickets at 30.34. In first-class play he has taken 234 wickets at 24.22.

The son of the man regarded by many as the finest batsman the WestIndies has ever produced is lamenting the way Caribbean players arebeing coached these days.Ron Headley, off-spring of the late great George Headley, is adamantthat modern West Indian coaching methods follow too much text-bookfashion.I can see that the players have the ability, but they are notexpressing themselves because of the stereo-type coaching that my dadwould always have been against, Headley said after the unveiling of astatue of George Headley at Sabina Park on Friday.He never coached me. He guided me. I held the bat wrong, but it wassuccessful for me, said Headley, who played two Test matches for theWest Indies on the 1973 tour of England.My dad was always a great believer in allowing natural ability toflow.The younger Headley pointed out that his father also did a few thingsthat were not considered orthodox. Yet, as a feared No. 3 batsman, hesmashed ten hundreds in only 22 Tests in which he scored 2 190 runsand averaged 60.83, the highest by any West Indian with more than 2000Test runs.My old man had a two-eyed stance and he shuffled, said the youngerHeadley, who has been resident in England for several years.When the bowler was running up to bowl, he could see all the stumps.By the time he let the ball go, you couldn’t see anything. He was onthe move. That was his way. That was his natural way and you must dothings naturally, within the context of your ability.Ron Headley, a qualified coach for several years, scored more than 21695 first-class runs and 32 hundreds, most of which were made in theEnglish county championships for either Worcestershire or Derbyshire.Much of what he is saying was written in a five-page letter to theWest Indies Cricket Board almost five years ago.The 61-year-old Headley, whose son Dean represented England in Testcricket up until recently, also believes that regional authorities arenot utilising the best available resources as they seek to improve theWest Indies’ recent fortunes.We need to have coaches who are able to impart the game, to bring thebest out of each player’s natural ability. That is obviously nothappening, he said.Rohan Kanhai’s knowledge of the game is immense. We’ve got theabilities and people with those abilities aren’t being used.Headley, too, would relish the opportunity to work with current WestIndian players.I would love to have a session with some of these guys. It’s all aboutgiving the guys the confidence and looking and seeing whateverweaknesses they are, he said.I say to people that as a coach I can’t do anything for the players. Ican’t go out and bat for them and field for them. They are the onesthat have got to go out and do it.Headley also referred to the success Australia gained in recent yearsand pointed to differences in style.I love West Indies’ cricket it is not a loose statement but it needsto recognise there is a problem, he said.Until we recognise it and accept it, we are not going to solveanything. Look at all the Australians, they all bat differently. Lookat our players, they all bat the same, apart from (Brian) Lara.Somebody is doing something to them which is not natural to them.Headley added that he hoped the Headley legacy could be expanded.One day, I hope, maybe stemming from this we may see a George HeadleyAcademy right here in Jamaica and a foundation that can pick upyoungsters and give them the right coaching guidance so we can startto begin to produce, he said.

Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan coach, is pleased with his team’s performance in the Twenty20 series against Australia so far, after they won the first two matches to make the third and final T20 on Monday a dead rubber. Pakistan routed Australia in the first game, bowling them out for 89, but the second game was a much closer affair, with Pakistan prevailing off the final ball of the Super Over.”I am very much delighted,” Whatmore said. “Can’t do any more than to win two out of two, it was an exciting finish (in the second T20), different from that I thought it would be, but it’s good to have the experience of the Super Over leading up to the World Twenty20. We haven’t played too many Super Overs, so that was good.”The current series was a chance for Pakistan to prepare for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this month and Whatmore said his side were where they wanted to be going into the tournament. “You want to have some confidence going into it, no point entering a big competition without having some wins under your belt. Where we are in the world standard, there is a world ranking but it is still difficult to gauge. I think it boils down to who can play their best cricket over a small period of time.”Whatmore wanted Pakistan to win Monday’s final T20 and sweep the series. “You cannot say it is as big a game as if the series was 1-1, but it still important for us,” he said. “The pressure is off, we will be a bit more relaxed. There will be a change or two in the team, it is an opportunity to look at one or two other players but to remain as competitive as possible as winning is important.”Whatmore also said allrounder Shahid Afridi is unlikely to play on Monday as a precautionary measure, and that offspinner Saeed Ajmal had recovered from his shoulder problem. “Afridi has an impact injury (on his left hand), I reckon he might be close to playing, but I don’t think we will risk that. Another knock on that left hand might put him back another couple of weeks, which will be very bad for us. Saeed has a recurring problem with that left shoulder, but I am confident that he will play.”