ScorecardGrenada have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Stanford 20/20 tournament after their comprehensive six-wicket win against Dominica. Andre Fletcher, the Grenada opener, scored an unbeaten 47 as his side reached the target of 84 with ease. Earlier, Dominica failed to bat out their allotted 20 overs and were bowled out for a paltry 83, largely due to an impressive performance in the field by Grenada. Dominica got off to a disastrous start, losing three wickets before the fifth over, and their reckless running between the wickets didn’t help matters, with three run-outs in the innings. Fletcher got his team off to a good start, and held the innings together after his side lost four wickets relatively quickly.
ScorecardNevis recorded a thumping win over St. Kitts by seven wickets with nine overs to spare in their Stanford 20/20 match under lights. Chasing 101, opener Sherwin Woodley led the charge with an unbeaten 56, and his second-wicket stand of 67 with Kieran Powell (26) sealed the deal. Earlier, St. Kitts never recovered after paceman John Maynard ran through the top order with four wickets for only nine runs off his four overs. Opening bowlers Tonito Willet and Maynard left the opposition in tatters at 29 for 6, and the only resistance came from Jacques Taylor (41) and Colin Cannonier (16) taking the score to 90.The more established teams will play in the upcoming round of matches in order to secure the remaining quarter final spots. Barbados face Anguilla on July 18 while in a much anticipated double header on July 21, Guyana will take on Montserrat while Jamaica will play Bermuda. A depleted Trinidad and Tobago squad will play a confident Cayman Islands unit on July 25.

Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, and his team-mate Daren Ganga were the toasts at the 50th Annual Prize Giving and Awards Ceremony of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board.Lara, who in November 2005 broke the world record for the most runs in Test cricket, walked away with the International Cricketer of the Year Award, while Ganga, the Trinidad captain, won the Senior National Cricketer of the year title.Ganga, who led Trinidad to their first ever double title in the regional competition, was joined by Rayad Emrit, Richard Kelly, Denesh Ramdin and Dave Mohammed as the five outstanding cricketers of the year. PowerGen Sports, winners of the Carib National League Division One competition, was adjudged Club of the Year.Gerard Ferreira, chairman of the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago, delivered the feature address and showered accolades on the administration of the TTCB for the efficient manner in which they were handling their affairs and for the several initiatives taken this year with respect to their youth development programmes.In his welcome address Deryck Murray, president of the TTCB, claimed that his organisation did exceedingly well this year and praised Trinidad for their outstanding success in this year’s regional series. Murray said that with the help of corporate sponsors and the Sports Company, the TTCB were able to wipe out the financial deficit which his executive met when they came into office.He said that apart from Trinidad’s success, he was very pleased with the several new youth development programmes which the board had embarked upon. These include the Star Programme, the High Performnace Centres for under-15 cricketers and three youth development tours.

“Ent Brian does be late half the time? So what you expect from a stadium with he name on it?”The words of an avowed Lara fan yesterday rang true, and I should hasten to add that said worshipper of the “Prince” pointed out forcefully that it didn’t really matter how, when and in what condition his hero turned up, the records reveal that, more often than not, he has delivered at a level that most of the timely, disciplined and very organised around him have failed to even approach.If only the latest issue of World Cup preparation was about the player and not the construction site in Tarouba. Before going any further, let’s put this in its proper perspective. No matches of the actual 2007 World Cup were ever scheduled for Tarouba. All six fixtures of the preliminary group based in Trinidad are to be played at the refurbished Queen’s Park Oval, involving India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda.The new stadium was supposed to come into the picture for warm-up matches in January and February involving Pakistan, South Africa, Canada and Scotland. So it may not seem to be that big of a deal, especially as the local organisers maintain that the ICC inspectors – who were expected to administer the kiss of death to “Lara” yesterday-have expressed “satisfaction” with alternative venues at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain and the UWI ground in St Augustine.It seems a huge step down from a spanking new stadium to considerably more modest facilities for official one-day internationals, particularly involving such high-profile teams as Pakistan and South Africa, but the LOC people say the big boys are reasonably happy, so let’s go with that.What doesn’t change, however, is that one of the fundamental reasons given for the haste to construct the cricketing aspect of a staggeringly-expensive multi-sport facility is that it was going to be part of the “Brown” World Cup package hosted by Trinidad and Tobago.At first sight, the impression was that actual World Cup matches would be played there, then it was downgraded to essential warm-up matches. Now it seems the only matches to be played at the Tarouba venue early next year will be impromptu “pass-out” games between Chinese, Malaysian and Caribbean construction workers (now that’s an idea, a first-ever “pass-out” World Cup).I know that every issue in the public domain around here is saturated with politics, so let me clarify my political affiliation. I have none. I didn’t vote at the last three general elections, and if I am still around for the next one, I won’t be voting either.People can go on and on about how millions all over the world would die for the right that I so irresponsibly fritter away. Let me tell you something. Democracy, as it is practised (forget about the intention, I’m talking reality) in these parts, is a joke and I’m not going to waste my time pretending that doing my so-called civic duty is in any way going to make any difference to the inequities, injustices and flat-out squandermania that passes for governance here.With that out of the way, let’s move on. This entirely ill-conceived and unnecessary (you telling me that none of the relatively-new, under-utilised stadiums around the country could not be expanded for the same purpose?) venture has therefore failed at the first hurdle of justifying its very existence.

But even if it won’t be ready until the 2011 World Cup on the Indian sub-continent, too much money and too much effort have already been invested in this project for it to stop now, unless, of course, we want another monument to shameless waste like the Caroni Racing Complex. We already have an airport with a final bill that could never be justified by the quality and scale of the workmanship, so why not a high-performance centre too?Forget about the regional and international embarrassment of falling flat on a World Cup promise. So long as the oil and gas money is flowing, people everywhere will see this as the land of opportunity. Even as some have a good laugh and roll their eyes knowingly about Third World banana republics, they will still want a piece of the action, at least until the whole overheated economy boils over and recession hits us very, very hard somewhere down the road.But with everyone’s snout buried in the trough, who bothers to watch the pot anyway? No, this is not about what others have to say about us but what it says about ourselves. Issues such as planning, preparation, viability and relevance are all in focus here with the Tarouba site a contemporary metaphor for the many ills that plague a land blessed with so much.But, as we say, the game must go on. Those who stand to benefit-financially, politically or otherwise-will continue to champion “Lara”, just as those who have much to gain by condemning it will intensify their efforts in the wake of the visit by Don Lockerbie and company. Just as well that the West Indies captain himself is 35,000 feet up, probably asleep, on the way to Kuala Lumpur.The man half-a-world away, not doing anything good, bad or indifferent-on or off the field-and his name is still in the headlines here. When you big, you big.

Tom Moody, the Sri Lankan coach, has said his focus lay was firmly on Sri Lankan cricket, and clarified that he had not given much thought to the news that he is one of the main candidates to take over as the next coach of the Australian team.”I haven’t been paying too much notice to it. It’s one of those things where there is always going to be speculation when vacancies in particular positions become available,” said Moody. “My name along with a number of other names has been thrown up. As far as I am concerned my main focus and concentration lies here with Sri Lanka. The Champions Trophy is the most important thing on my mind. I have had very little distraction with regards to that.”Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, echoed Moody’s views: “As far as we know Tom has told us that he is not going anywhere. It has not become a point of discussion and it has hardly affected the team’s preparations.”Ever since Australian coach John Buchanan announced that he was quitting from his post at the end of the 2007 World Cup, the names of Moody, Greg Chappell and Tim Nielsen, the coach of the Australian Centre of Excellence, have been thrown up as the likely candidates.Looking ahead to the Champions Trophy, Moody expressed confidence that Sri Lanka would be around during the latter stages of the tournament. “At the beginning of any competition I go into, I feel confident,” he said. “What gives me the confidence is our thorough preparation, the improvement of the individuals in the team and improvement of the side in general. The team carries a lot more confidence away from home than they have done in the past. There confidence and self belief is quite evident away from home now.”Moody also stated that Sri Lanka were a completely different team to the one that lost in India 6-1 last year. “The team is different in mental, technical and physical state of mind than what they were 12 months ago. It’s not a huge issue if it is India or any other team we have to beat. We need to worry about our game and execute it as best as possible. The results will take care of themselves,” Moody said.”The conditions over there are a little bit different to what we face here in Sri Lanka. The wickets can be a little bit slower than here. From a bowling point of view it can be hard work. There is a smaller margin for error. Unless your line and length are absolutely right you can disappear over there. All our bowlers have discussed this and worked hard on it.”

John Buchanan’s son Michael is on the verge of a Queensland one-day debut after being named in the Ford Ranger Cup squad for the season-starting game against Tasmania at the Gabba on Wednesday. Buchanan, a batting allrounder who played in the Twenty20 competition last season, was the only new face in a squad missing Michael Kasprowicz with a worrying back injury and the Australian trio of Symonds, Watson and Johnson.Buchanan, 23, last night delivered the news to his father, who is with the Champions Trophy squad in India, and the Australian coach was “thrilled”. “He’s very happy at the moment,” Michael, who scored a century in a 2nd XI match against South Australia last week, said. “He’s been a very big influence, not just for cricket, but rugby as well.”While batting is Buchanan’s preferred discipline, he has been opening the bowling for his new club University while Kasprowicz has been injured and his versatility appealed to the Queensland selectors. Buchanan is not assured of a place in the final XI on Wednesday and will probably battle for a spot alongside Chris Simpson and Nathan Rimmington. Rimmington has also been named in the Pura Cup side for the game on Friday as a replacement for Kasprowicz.The squad announcement coincided with Terry Oliver signing a new two-year deal that will take him past Buchanan as Queensland’s longest-serving coach. Oliver has been in charge for the past four seasons and was behind the Pura Cup victory at the Gabba in March.”I’m not a big one for milestones so I wasn’t aware that I would go past Buck,” Oliver said. “It’s very pleasing in a way because Buck set the platform up for the coaches who have followed in Bennett King and myself.” Buchanan was coach between 1994 and 1999 while Oliver took over from King in 2002.Tasmania’s Michael Di Venuto and Adam Griffith have been passed fit for Wednesday’s game and the Pura Cup fixture after returning from county stints with minor injuries that forced them out of the squad’s pre-season tour. However, Tim Coyle, the coach, said both players will be “100 percent ready” to face the Bulls.Queensland FR Cup squad Jimmy Maher (capt), Matthew Hayden, James Hopes, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, Brendan Nash, Michael Buchanan, Chris Hartley (wk), Andy Bichel, Chris Simpson, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Rimmington.Tasmania FR Cup squad Daniel Marsh (capt), George Bailey, Michael Bevan, Travis Birt, Luke Butterworth, Michael Di Venuto, Xavier Doherty, Brendan Drew, Brett Geeves, Adam Griffith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Tim Paine (wk).Queensland Pura Cup squad Jimmy Maher (capt), Matthew Hayden, Martin Love, Clinton Perren, Lachlan Stevens, James Hopes, Chris Hartley (wk), Andy Bichel, Ashley Noffke, Daniel Doran, Nathan Rimmington, Brendan Nash.Tasmania Pura Cup squad Daniel Marsh (capt), George Bailey, Michael Bevan, Travis Birt, Luke Butterworth, Sean Clingeleffer (wk), Michael Di Venuto, Brendan Drew, Brett Geeves, Adam Griffith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Tim Paine.

Injury worries plagued both North Zone and Sri Lanka A ahead of their clash in the Duleep Trophy final at Kolkata tomorrow. VRV Singh, the Punjab fast bowler, has been ruled out with a viral fever while Malinda Warnapura, Sri Lanka A’s star batsman, and Upul Chandana, their legspinner, are unlikely starters.Warnapura, the only Sri Lankan batsman to score a hundred in the tournament, injured his shoulder during a fielding drill, while Chandana pulled a hamstring. Neither Warnapura or Chandana have been ruled out of the match and a decision will be taken tomorrow, according to the medical staff. The back-up options for both players are Jeewan Mendis, a left-handed batsman, and Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner with international experience. Ishara Amerasinghe and Kosela Kulasekara, both right-arm medium pace bowlers, are the other bowling options.The two captains, Mithun Manhas and Thilan Samaraweera, reckoned it was a good pitch to bat on after inspecting it during practice. “Its firm and should not break in five days,” said Manhas. “Gautam [Gambhir] and [Ashish] Nehra didn’t practice because they were yet to arrive, but we have no worries.”Sri Lanka A, in their Duleep Trophy debut, brushed aside West Zone by 195 runs before staging an improbable comeback, thanks to a battling lower order, against South Zone at this same venue. Samaraweera felt his side had the advantage. “We’ve been here [in Kolkata] longer than North Zone have, and we’ve played here before,” he said. “We’ve got contributions from everybody yet not many big scores from the top order. On such a pitch like the one here, it’s a case of getting runs on the board.”Sri Lanka A are the first foreign team to compete with the Indian zonal sides – after England A, Bangladesh Academy XI and Zimbabwe A had been completely outclassed. But they will need something special if they’re to upstage North Zone, a team with a record 16 Duleep Trophy titles.

Scorecard
Queensland’s bowlers have made the most of a wearing MCG pitch to claim victory in their Pura Cup match against Victoria, despite some valiant resistance by the Bushrangers’ lower order led by Adam Crosthwaite. Chasing a very difficult target of 313 Victoria were bowled out for 222 mid-way through the final session.The Bulls shared the wickets between them, with Daniel Doran (3 for 51) finishing with the best figures after he had Gerard Denton trapped lbw for 3 to give Queensland the win. Andy Bichel, Mitchell Johnson and Ashley Noffke picked up two scalps each. The Bushrangers were already staring down the barrel going to lunch at 4 for 95 and when Cameron White (16) and Andrew McDonald (14) both nicked regulation catches to Chris Hartley the situation was desperate at 6 for 134.But Crosthwaite and Jon Moss put up a good fight for 20 overs, adding 58 for the seventh wicket before Crosthwaite was out for 43, lbw to a terrific inswinger from Noffke. Moss (24) gave Noffke his second wicket when he was lbw to a short-pitched ball that failed to bounce above his knee-roll, the best example of the variable bounce that troubled batsmen throughout the match. Shane Harwood batted defiantly for over an hour for his 11 not out but ran out of partners when Clinton McKay (10) was spectacularly caught and bowled by Bichel and the injured Denton was trapped in front.The day started atrociously for Victoria when both openers were out in the first six overs of play. Lloyd Mash played on to a short ball from Bichel for 6 and when Nick Jewell also fell for 6 the Bushrangers were in trouble at 2 for 21. Jewell, who edged a simple catch to Hartley, gave Johnson his first wicket of the game.Victoria got back on track through Brad Hodge and David Hussey before a Clinton Perren run-out once again turned the match in Queensland’s favour. Hodge and Hussey had put on 41 and pushed the Bushrangers to 2 for 62 when a direct hit from Perren at deep midwicket, barely ten metres from the boundary, had Hussey (12) caught short at the bowler’s end attempting a second run.It was an even more incredible throw than in the first innings when Perren ran from the slips cordon to third-man, turned and threw down the stumps at the wicketkeeper’s end to run out McKay. Hodge made 54 and was the best of the Victoria batsmen but his day ended in the last over before lunch when he tried to drive a conventional legbreak from Doran and guided a thin edge into the waiting hands of Martin Love at first slip.Victoria’s day did not improve with the news that Denton, who left the field on Sunday with a leg injury, was likely to miss up to six weeks with shin splints in his left leg. With Mick Lewis and a host of second-string fast bowlers already out injured, the Bushrangers face an uphill battle to get themselves back in the race for the Pura Cup with just one win from four games. Queensland now have two wins from their opening four matches.

Stuart MacGill guessed he would retire before Shane Warne, but now his long-term rival plans to leave the Test scene he is confident of being an international performer for another three years. MacGill, who might have played 100 Tests if he wasn’t an understudy for the past decade, said Warne’s decision had not changed his outlook.”I’m going to be playing every game with the intention of preparing myself so if the opportunity arises to play for Australia, I’m the guy,” he said in . In the MacGill said initially he did not believe the news about Warne departing at the SCG.”I was always under the impression that I would be out before Shane,” MacGill told the paper. “He’s still very able to compete at whatever level he chooses, but professional sport is about achieving goals and setting goals. I guess the first thing I thought this morning when I woke up was that how lucky I am that I still think that I’ve got things I want to do.”It would be a real shame to have heard the news and then think: ‘I’ve had enough too.’ I still really think I’ve got some significant contributions to make to Australian cricket and if I play well for NSW and continue to prepare well, then I will be in good shape if Australia needs me.”MacGill, who has appeared only for New South Wales this season and retired from the one-day game, said there was “definitely” a role for him at state and international level for the next two to three years. “It’s really important to have experienced bowlers to form part of your attack because we’ve encountered difficult situations before and had to deal with them,” he said in .In 40 Tests MacGill has 198 wickets at 27.20 and he wants to finish when the “time’s appropriate”. “That’s definitely not now,” he said. “Shane retiring hasn’t changed my outlook at all.”However, MacGill was not sure whether he would get a chance to partner Warne for the final time in the SCG Test. “I’m not really sure if I will play in Sydney, to be honest,” he said in the . “It’s not supposed to be easy to play Test cricket, and in a really kind of strange way, I’m kind of happy … I’m comfortable with the way things are going and know that I still have things that I want to get done in a blue cap and that might lead to a little more.”

To pull or not to pull? It is one of the more intriguing questions batsmen face. By choosing to take on the short ball, the intent is admirably purposeful. Never the shy, retiring type, Viv Richards said of the hook, a first cousin of the pull, “The fast bowler is testing your courage and your speed of reaction and you are trying to hit him either to, or over the boundary. You are telling the bully with the ball that you are not scared of anything he can send down at you.”It’s a fair point, for batsmen would much rather be accused of being compulsive hookers or pullers than being known for shuffling away to square leg when confronted by a short ball. Richards also likened hooking to riding a “roller coaster of risk,” and it is that risk which was rammed home to Pakistan today.Pakistan weren’t blown away by a short-ball barrage, as many had feared they might be. But they were hustled out by a judicious use of it. Three batsmen fell playing poor pulls, two of whom had been at the crease long enough to know better.Yasir Hameed and Younis Khan are not the two Y’s who normally put on big third-wicket partnerships for Pakistan but they had batted serenely enough to disentangle their side from a tricky position. As always, Younis let everyone know he was there; he clapped his own partner, nodded at bowlers who beat him, cheerily acknowledged fielders who athletically cut off his strokes and acknowledged his own shots, too.Hameed it was who appeared changed. It’s been 18 months since he last played a Test for Pakistan and longer since he was a regular. Not all of it was his own fault, for he was once dropped the match after scoring two fifties as opener in a Sydney Test. He had faults sure, chasing outside off with a relentlessness not seen since Smokey followed the Bandit. Gone was the urgency, the of his early years, replaced instead by an unsmiling grimness. If his shots weren’t so pretty, you’d be tempted to call him a grinder. But the timing remains, evidenced in a drive or two and a ridiculously good flicked six over square leg.Both knocks ended badly, as did Faisal Iqbal’s short stay immediately after, the three taking Richards advice gleefully, though not perhaps balancing it with that element of risk the great man pointed out as an afterthought.Mind you, the wickets weren’t pure freebies; they were just reward for the hosts. South Africa lacked a little fizz, perhaps understandably hungover from the monumental effort required to beat India. Nobody could blame them for that Test ended less than a week ago and by the time this one ends, it will be their fourth in a month.Bob Woolmer rightly complained about ‘nonsensical’ schedules which allow sides little time to acclimatize but South Africa might also back up the grievance in a different context: there just isn’t enough time for fast bowlers to rest. Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini bowled over a hundred overs each in the series against India and Andre Nel would have done comfortably had he played the last Test. Allan Donald advocating resting one or two key bowlers at some stage is increasingly sounding like sound, sagely advice.Yet, as you would expect of bowlers as wholehearted as this trio, they collectively muscled through the day, bowling 56 overs between them. Ntini hustled, Nel bristled and Pollock plotted, to lesser degrees than you might expect admittedly, but they eventually turned what could have been a long, flat day into a surprisingly profitable one. Run-rates never got out of hand, even during the afternoon session when no wickets fell, the fielding rarely lagged and the day ended just about in even balance.Pakistan, though, might rue not finding a balance between the bravado Viv Richards trumpeted and what another decent bat once suggested. Swaying out of the way, David Gower once wrote, avoiding the short ball can often “be more disconcerting to the bowler than attacking him…you commit the bowler to a growing sense of frustration, a loss of temper or control, or a change of tactics, which must work to your advantage.”

Canada’s wicketkeeper-batsman Ashish Bagai has won the inaugural World Cricket League player of the tournament award after dominating with the bat for his country in Kenya.Bagai, 25, has been hugely impressive during the tournament, scoring two centuries and one fifty at an average of 86.25, including a top score of 137 not out in his side’s thrilling seven-run defeat to finalists Scotland.Bagai compiled eight player of the tournament points in five matches, as decided by the two on-field umpires in each game, putting him two clear points ahead of his next rival, Ireland’s opening batsman William Porterfield.At the end of each game, the on-field umpires elected their top three players in order. Three points went to the player of the match, two to the second best player and one to the third. The player of the tournament was decided by adding together all the points.Bagai picked up his award at the closing ceremony in Nairobi on Monday night. It was presented to him by tournament referee Roshan Mahanama.”It is a great thrill for me to win this award,” said Bagai. “I am really psyched and it is great for my confidence ahead of the World Cup. I had no idea I had won the man of the tournament. David [Obuya of Kenya] and Porterfield did very well. I knew I was close but those guys had great tournaments too.”With attentions now turning towards the World Cup, Bagai said he could not be happier with his preparations. “It has been perfect. I was at the winter training camp in Pretoria [late last year]. That was perfect for me – I really felt I improved. And then we had a hard-fought ODI series in Mombasa and then the World Cricket League. It has been ideal preparation.”