The packed international calendar has again been blamed for a team’s Test series loss with Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, criticising a “ridiculous” schedule. Injuries finally caught up with Pakistan as they lost the series-deciding third Test against South Africa by five wickets at Newlands.Pakistan’s problem on the third day was that the other bowlers couldn’t maintain the standard set by Mohammad Asif and Danish Kaneria, especially with Mohammad Sami having split the webbing of his bowling hand while fielding Saturday. Woolmer pointed out that three of his leading bowlers were back in Pakistan.”The current schedules are ridiculous,” he said. “You are already seeing players like Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini who are exhausted and today Asif was an example. Fatigue leads to injuries. It’s a proven equation. If you have too much fatigue, your back goes or you twinge a hamstring or get a stress fracture.”Cricket has to look at it. As a coach I have to manage these things. We’ve got Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir Ahmed sitting at home. Somewhere along the line the commercial aspects and the physical aspects of looking after players have to be revisited.”Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was off the field for much of the final day with a back injury and Woolmer added: “We don’t know the severity of it yet but he couldn’t bend down so he came off the field. He’s had the same injury before.”He said it was too early to make a call on the likelihood of Inzamam being fit for a five-match one-day series which starts next Sunday following a Twenty20 international at Johannesburg on Friday.Woolmer said that while the series loss was disappointing sections of it had showed Pakistan’s overseas form was improving since losing all three Tests of a series in Australia two seasons ago on similar, bouncy pitches. However his counterpart Mickey Arthur will argue the surfaces were a little too much like home.However, Woolmer saved special praise for Asif, who bowled more than 125 overs in the series. “Asif has been incredible,” he said. “He’s a top quality bowler. He’s still young in Test cricket and has got a long way to mature but he’s very close to the top of his trade already. With fine tuning and greater fitness levels he’ll be a real force in the future of Pakistan cricket.”Inzamam rued Pakistan’s missed opportunity to make history in South Africa, having come so far. “We have lost a golden opportunity to win a series overseas against a top side,” he said in a televised interview. “It is one of the biggest disappointments of my career.”

Ireland coach Adrian Birrell has admitted his side is “desperate” to beat United Arab Emirates in the final group match of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, the first-class tournament for the top Associate sides, which starts at Abu Dhabi on Saturday.Reflecting on Ireland’s performance in winning just one match in five in the recent World Cricket League tournament in Kenya, Birrell said: “This match is a good opportunity for us to get back on track after a difficult couple of weeks. We lost some very close matches in the World Cricket League and I don’t think we deserved to finish fifth overall.”We played better than that but sometimes your performance is not always reflected in the results. We are desperate to get something from this tour and if we beat the UAE it will be a big boost for us. Not only will it put us in the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup but it will help us psychologically as we make our final preparations for the West Indies.”Ireland are the defending champions after beating Kenya in a thrilling final in Namibia in late 2005 and they must win at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in order to pip European rivals Scotland to a place in the final against Canada.But that will be easier said than done. Trent Johnston’s side are understandably low after their losses in Kenya, especially as the failure to reach the final of the tournament for the top six Associates has cost them the chance to play in the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa later this year.Qualification would have earned the Irish Cricket Union US$250,000, boosted the side’s profile at home and abroad, and left everyone on a high ahead of the side’s first ever appearance in the World Cup in the West Indies next month. But now the players need to pick themselves up and perform against a UAE side that has already shown they can be a tough side to beat on their own turf.Last month, they came close to beating the Scots in Sharjah, and although their failure to do just that means they are playing for pride rather than a spot in the final after a previous defeat to Namibia, Emirates Cricket Board Administrator Mazhar Khan said the players would try to make full use of the Ireland game.”I know we are out of the final race but we want to carry over our good performance against Scotland into this game, although it will be difficult against a side that has recently played some tough cricket,” he said. “We would not only try to win the game (against Ireland) but would like to take it as our preparations for the next season which will be a long and tough one.”The next ICC Intercontinental Cup is likely to start for us in June and after two matches in the tournament we will head to Pakistan to take part in the Asia Cup.Ireland is the better team and we are keen to learn from anyone who is better than us. The Ireland game certainly provides us an excellent chance to develop into a more competitive team.”There are plenty of positives for Ireland to take into this must-win game, despite the recent setbacks. The batting was the main plus in Kenya as the side notched up five of the ten hundreds that were compiled in the tournament. William Porterfield led the way with two of those three-figure scores and his tally of 332 runs was bettered by just one man, player of the tournament Ashish Bagai of Canada, who made 345 runs.Ireland could boast two other players with more than 250 runs in Nairobi, Kevin O’Brien (264) and Eoin Morgan (261), and both of those also notched up hundreds, as did Jeremy Bray. So runs should not be a problem, even allowing for the absence of wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O’Brien, who is missing through suspension after an ICC Code of Conduct violation during Ireland’s match against Scotland last year.But the real issue is whether Ireland can take the 20 wickets they will almost certainly need if they are to give themselves the best chance of victory. The Ireland bowlers struggled to achieve control and penetration at vital times in Kenya and those failings may prompt some shuffling of the pack in Abu Dhabi.Tall seam bowler Boyd Rankin, also on the books of English county Derbyshire, may get the chance to show his worth while Kevin O’Brien’s left-arm wrist-spin, something he worked on during the recent ICC Winter Training Camp in South Africa, may also get an airing.One advantage some of the Ireland players have is that the venue for this match will be familiar. Five of the squad – Kenny Carroll, Porterfield, Kevin O’Brien, John Mooney and Rankin – played there last year in a tournament that also included sides from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, the Netherlands and the UAE.The home side has made two changes to the squad that played Scotland with right-arm medium-pacer Ali Asad, one of their leading bowlers, replaced by Wasim Bari, while offspinning allrounder Rameez Shahzad makes way for Fahad Usman. Asad is absent with a groin injury while Shahzad has been dropped after scores of 0, 10, 6 and 2 in the previous two games against Namibia and Scotland.One certainty is that under Johnston’s positive leadership, Ireland will be at full throttle to make amends for the disappointments of Kenya as the players look to put the smile back on the face of coach Birrell, who is quitting his post at the end of the World Cup. However, whether the players’ efforts will be enough against a determined UAE outfit only time will tell.Apart from Ireland and UAE, the other sides in Group A are Namibia and 2004 champions Scotland. Group B is made up of Bermuda, Canada, Kenya and the Netherlands with all matches now having been played. Canada won the group having beaten Bermuda and Kenya and although it lost to the Netherlands, it had done enough to qualify for the final.The new format of the ICC Intercontinental Cup means sides will play a minimum of three four-day matches in this tournament, increasing to seven four-day matches in 2007 and 2008 when it is hoped the event will be a full round-robin format. That compares to a minimum of just two three-day matches per year under the previous structure which, until the semi-finals, was regionally based rather than global.The ICC Intercontinental Cup began in 2004 to give the leading players from Associate sides the chance to improve by exposing them to a longer form of the game.UAE (from): Mohammad Iqbal, Arshad Ali (captain), Gayan Silva, Saqib Ali, Khurram Khan, Kashif Khan, Fahad Usman, Ahmed Nadeem, Wasim Bari, Qasim Zubair, Ahmed Raza, Naeemuddin Aslam, Ausaf Ali, Shadeep Silva.Ireland (from): Trent Johnston (captain), Kyle McCallan, Andre Botha, Peter Gillespie, Kenny Carroll, Jeremy Bray, William Porterfield, Kevin O’Brien, John Mooney, Paul Mooney, David Langford-Smith, Eoin Morgan, Andrew White, Boyd Rankin.

Following his match-winning knock of 87 against England at St Lucia, Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, has said that the pressure to retain his place in the squad motivated him to raise his performance and guide his side home.Styris, who came in as a replacement for the injured Peter Fulton, bailed New Zealand of deep trouble with an unbeaten stand of 138 with Jacob Oram, who made 63. He also chipped in with two wickets, including that of the in-form Paul Collingwood, which helped restrict England to 209. His allround performance earned him the Man of the Match award.”I knew the heat was on me to go out there and deliver put on a performance worthy of keeping my position in the side,” Styris was quoted in AFP. “I’m pleased that that was able to happen.”Styris said that he felt glad to get his groove back, especially since his return to international cricket after being sidelined with a back injury. He made a comeback midway through the CB Series in Australia which preceded the World Cup.”I hadn’t played very well since I came back from my back injury so it was great to contribute today,” he said. “I set myself to have a good World Cup and I wanted to do well here and it’s been a good start.”Reflecting on the partnership with Oram, Styris said that the pair were intent on preserving wickets, given that the target was always well within reach. England struck early, removing the top three with just 19 on board before Styris and Craig McMillan led the recovery with a stand of 53.”We thought we could only lose the game if we got bowled out, so we really just had to go out and play and just take it as deep as we could,” he added. “We have a naturally aggressive side and runs still came, probably for the last 30 overs, we didn’t really need to take a risk.”Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, said that it was a relief to get the two points from the win. “It was a tense day,” said Fleming. “The first game could have a massive bearing on the next stage and to win it was a great relief.”Yet he was not willing to get carried away by the fact that New Zealand would be going into the Super 8’s with two points from their win against England. “We have to do the right work in these next two games,” Fleming said. “But the four teams carrying a win could easily lose the first game [in the Super 8’s] and then you are back to scratch.”Fleming also praised his fast bowler Shane Bond who dismissed the dangerour batsmen – Kevin Pietersen (60) and Andrew Flintoff (0). “That really cut down a 250 par score to 210,” he said. “Flintoff and Pietersen, coming to the end of an innings, can be incredibly dangerous.”

An Irish bookmaker has announced that an old barrel of Guinness will be burnt and the ashes collected in an urn that can be used as a trophy for all future matches between Ireland and England. That particular version of the ashes may never enjoy the prestige of the fragile urn that was once in the possession of the Bligh family, but the very fact that such an idea has come up should give you some idea of the pride that’s at stake when two entities separated only by the breadth of the Irish Sea go head-to-head at the new stadium in Providence on Friday.Having turned over Pakistan a fortnight ago, Ireland won’t fear anyone and they will undoubtedly be boosted by the return of Trent Johnston, who missed the encounter against West Indies with a rotator-cuff injury. Johnston’s tidy medium-pace and lower-order hitting are integral to Irishhopes, and he showed with a stunning catch against Pakistan that he’s noslouch on the field either.By this time, Johnston and his team were supposed to be back in Ireland,reflecting on their first taste of the World Cup. The West Indies gameshould have been Adrian Birrell’s last in charge, and Phil Simmons, theformer West Indies opener, would have been engaged in planning for thefuture.The future right now is a golden one, with six Super Eights matchesagainst the best that world cricket has to offer. Johnston called it ahugely exciting time, before thanking the employers who have given most ofthe players extra time off. “We’ve had lots of phone calls to make to ourbosses back home and they’ve all been outstanding and we can’t thank themenough,” he said, a feeling no doubt echoed by Kyle McCallan, who stood inas captain for the West Indies game.McCallan is a teacher, and has had to ask his headmistress for an extramonth off after the dramatic tie against Zimbabwe and the stunning upsetof Pakistan sealed Ireland’s place amongst the game’e elite. Johnstonrefused to put any pressure on his side, saying that they’d just go outand enjoy the Super Eights, as they had the three group D games, when thevociferous support from the travelling Irish inspired them to theirgreatest feats.They’ll probably have a full squad to pick from against England. Rest hasallowed the torn fibre in Johnston’s shoulder tendon to heal, and DaveLangford-Smith, his fellow Australian, is also putting the pain of backspasms behind him.

Johnston reiterated his mantra of performing well in all three disciplinesbefore saying that “the fielding has been outstanding”. In Jeremy Bray,Eoin Morgan and Niall O’Brien – the latter two have represented Middlesexand Kent – Ireland have the batsmen with the potential to score big runs,and they’ll no doubt take encouragement from the meeting last June whenIreland managed 263 in response to England’s 301.Being the joker in the Super-Eights pack doesn’t faze Johnston one bit. Onthe contrary, it’s a tag that he appears to relish. “They would think theyhave two easy points and we are happy about that,” said Johnston, lookingat how the other teams might view his. “Maybe they’ll be relaxed in theirapproach, and that’s the incentive we need to spring an upset like we didagainst Pakistan.”On a pitch where the bounce could be variable, the biggest danger forEngland might be Boyd Rankin, soon to be under Mike Hendrick’s tutelage atDerbyshire. A cattle-and-sheep farmer from near Londonderry, Rankin hascorrected journalists who have put his height down at 6’7″. Apparently,he’s an inch taller, with size-15 feet to boot, and his ability togenerate good bounce at lively pace will pose questions for the Englandtop order.”It would be one hell of a party,” admitted McCallan when asked about thepossibility of victory in a match that also brings with it centuries ofpolitical baggage. “We are going ball by ball, we need to be realistic andat the end of the day, we’re concerned only about what we can control.”If he and his mates need any omens, it was just over 15 years ago thatrank outsiders Zimbabwe knocked over England in a thrilling game in theAustralian country town of Albury. The decisive factor in that game wasthe bowling of Eddo Brandes, a chicken farmer who blasted out five wicketsas England fell nine short of a meagre total of 134. Anything a chickenfarmer can do, a sheep farmer can do better? And what better incentivethan an urn that might give off the flavour of Guinness?

South Africa have ended the ICC year, which runs from April to March, as the leading one-day country in world cricket, edging Australia into second place by the narrowest of margins.The South Africans will receive $175,000 from the ICC for pipping the Australians. However, Australia get $75,000 for finishing second, and they have also retained their place as the top Test nation.South Africa overtook Australia thanks to an outstanding late surge, winning 15 out of 21 ODIs ahead of the World Cup as well as three out four in the Caribbean. Australia, by contrast, lost five on the bounce in their lead-in to the tournament.It was the first time any side has overtaken Australia in the ICC’s ODI Championship table since the listings began in October 2002.”I’m delighted that we are top of the ODI Championship and I think it is a just reward for all the hard work and dedication the guys have shown over the past 18 months or so,” said South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith. “That said, although this is very pleasing for us it will not detract us from the immediate job at hand. We are completely focused on the World Cup and we want to do the very best that we can while we are here in the Caribbean.”But with the table so tight at the top, Australia can get back on top if they continue to perform as they have done so far. If both Australia and South Africa win their remaining Super Eights games, then South Africa will progress to the semi-finals as the No. 1 ranked ODI team. But if they falter along the way, even once, and Australia remain unbeaten, then Australia will make a rapid return to top spot by the semi-finals.Australia retain their top spot in the Test ratings thanks to seven wins in seven matches over the last year.

Official Team Rankings

LG ICC Test and ODI Championships

March 31, 2007

LG ICC ODI Championship

March 31, 2007

Paul Collingwood is determined that England put their Ashes nightmare behind them as they prepare for another packed summer of internationals against India and, in a week-and-a-half, West Indies.”Our Test form in the last four or five years has been good,” Collingwood told BBC Five Live’s Sportsweek on Sunday. “Obviously the 5-0 defeat to the Aussies was a huge disappointment but in general the form has been good and we want to get back to those winning ways.”England haven’t won a Test since last summer when they beat Pakistan 3-0. Then, as now, Michael Vaughan was injured with Andrew Strauss replacing him at the helm.”It’s bad timing again,” Collingwood said. “I feel so sorry for Michael after so much hard work getting fit with his knee, then he gets a bit of bad luck.”It would have been ideal for Peter Moores to start with Vaughany but that sort of thing happens in sport. Straussy is the favourite [to deputise]; he’s done it before last year against Pakistan in place of Andrew Flintoff.”And for the first time in eight years, England has a new coach in Peter Moores. “I haven’t come across him too much.” Collingwood said, “but we met up at Loughborough last Monday. I thought he spoke very well, is well prepared, very confident and very ambitious which is important.”England face the West Indies for the first Test of the summer at Lord’s on May 17.

Percy Sonn, the president of the ICC, has died in Cape Town at the age of 57. He suffered complications following a routine operation on his colon last Monday..Sonn’s predecessor as ICC president, Ehsan Mani, led his tributes: “As a cricket administrator and a man, Percy Sonn was a giant. In all the circles in which he moved, he commanded a huge amount of respect and that was never more obvious than when he was in an ICC board meeting. Percy never spoke for the sake of it but when he did speak people listened. He was one of the most intelligent men I have ever met and cricket will be much the poorer for his passing.”Sonn, the former president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB), succeeded Mani at the helm of the ICC in June 2006, and immediately announced his intentions to be a “hands-off” president. This declaration was borne out by his low profile during the World Cup; after delivering his speech at the opening ceremony in Jamaica, he returned to South Africa for several weeks of the 47-day tournament, although that decision may have been attributable to his ill-health.The last time Sonn was seen in public was at the final of the World Cup in Barbados last month, when he was one of several dignitaries to be booed as they walked onto the podium following the farcical finish to the match. However Ricky Ponting, who received the trophy from Sonn as captain of the victorious Australian team, said: “I will always associate Percy with one of the happiest moments of my career.”Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, said: “Percy was never afraid to speak his mind but his great skill, especially in meetings where discord was possible, was to do so in such a way that he got everyone together and pulling in the same direction. Percy was utterly committed to the game at all levels and his mantras were that the game had to be inclusive rather than exclusive and that it had to be played the right way, to be true to the Spirit of Cricket.”Sonn’s career in the game’s administration began while he was still a teenager in South Africa, in the midst of the Apartheid regime. He emerged as a leading administrator when he served as vice-president to Hassan Howa at the Western Province Cricket Board, for nine years from 1974, taking over the role of President of the Board from 1990 to 1992. He served as a vice-president of the South African Cricket Board before the UCBSA was formed, played a crucial role in the unity process in 1991.Ray Mali, president of the South African board, said Sonn’s legacy in South Africa would be a strong sport with role models from all sections of society. “This is a terrible shock and a devastating piece of news as I have lost a close personal friend,” added Mali. “I know Percy was so proud to represent South Africa and the whole continent of Africa as the ICC’s first president from this part of the world and he filled the role with great dignity and strength.”Percy was a great administrator who played a key role in the integration process the game underwent in South Africa either side of the end of Apartheid,” added Mali. “Percy never saw problems, just challenges, and usually he rose to those challenges, never more so than when he helped resolve the problems that existed within the administration of Kenyan cricket in the early years of this decade.”Sonn’s career in cricket administration was often tinged with controversy. In January 2002, as president of the UCBSA, he caused a public rumpus by overruling the selection of Jacques Rudolph for the New Year Test against Australia, opting instead for Rudolph’s black room-mate, Justin Ontong. And at Paarl during the 2003 World Cup, he caused a major embarrassment due to his well-documented fondness for a drink.Away from cricket, Sonn experienced a hugely varied career. Educated at Belgravia Senior Secondary school and the University of the Western Cape, he obtained a Law degree in 1972 and acted as a senior counsel during the match-fixing controversies in 2000. He also worked as an Attorney and an Advocate, served as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and a legal advisor to the South African Police Service (SAPS).Sonn also formed and then headed the Directorate of Special Operations in South Africa, the organisation known as the Scorpions, which went after the perpetrators of serious economic offences, organized crime and drug trafficking. Latterly he was the CEO of a forensic investigation company.He is survived by his wife Sandra, and three children.

Officials from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will meet on June 18 in the Pakistani summer resort of Bhurban to discuss matters relating to the 2011 World Cup, according to Saleem Altaf, the chief executive officer of the World Cup organising committee.Altaf, speaking to , said that the officials from all four countries jointly hosting the World Cup would work out a method to meet initial expenses in the setting up as well as the running of the various organising committees.Altaf said that the issue of generating seed money for the organising committee is expected to be settled during the meet. “We need around US$500,000 for the initial expenses. This amount will be shared equally by the four boards,” said Altaf. He stated that the organisers of the World Cup would also take steps towards opening a joint account during the meeting.In addition, officials from India would speak on their experience of hosting the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy and on the expenses involved. The frequency of future meetings of the central organising committee and the setting up of local organising committees would also be discussed at the meet. “We have to see whether all the boards are ready to put the local organising committees in place by February 2008, three years before the World Cup,” he said.On the issue of a shorter World Cup, Altaf said that the final decision would come from the International Cricket Council (ICC). “A shorter World Cup would mean less money and we are not happy with that. But the final decision would come from the ICC executive board,” he explained.

Watching the Indians bat today reminded one of the wretched times they endured while touring abroad during the ’90s. The storylines were mostly the same: top-order crumbles to swing and seam, Tendulkar stands alone, lower-order support arrives before India stage some sort of recovery. Through the previous decade Tendulkar was India’s Atlas Abroad, constructing masterpieces amid the surrounding wreckage.There was an eerie familiarity when the scoreboard read: 2 for 1, 2 for 2, 14 for 3 and 65 for 4. It’s when you usually asked yourself “Is Tendulkar still batting?” (In the last five years you’d probably first ask about Dravid but he was rested for this encounter and that wasn’t an option). Luckily for the large crowd of Indians who’d landed up at Chelmsford the answer was a reassuring one, until he fell twenty minutes before stumps.Tendulkar’s wasn’t a flawless century, as two dropped chances indicate, but the beauty lay in its construction. The early salvos were emphatic – a feather-touch down the ground here, a delicate flick through midwicket there, a crackling square cut here, a dab to fine-leg there. It was a most assured counter-attack against a pumped up bowling attack making the most of the new ball. Tendulkar possessed the mastery that the rest lacked but he also displayed tremendous application under pressure, something the other batsmen fell short on. He was to later term the pitch as a “good” one and said it was mainly the wind factor that one needed to be wary of.It was his first first-class match in nearly two months but he paced his innings superbly. “Having been around for reasonable time,” he said with a particular emphasis on the word reasonable, “I know when to accelerate and when to hold back and be patient. I read the situation and it’s a lot to do with the way my body is moving, the way I’m thinking as well. You can’t go out everyday and try bang, bang, bang and say it’s my natural game.”Some good scores in the recent one-dayers have no doubt helped but a break of two weeks seemed to have produced not a jot of rust. “Till yesterday I was a little apprehensive, I wanted to go out and spend some time in the middle. I had reasonable net practise but in the match situation I wanted to be out there. Conditions are going to be different. I’m relieved I managed to play more than 200 balls.””It was important especially because after Ireland we didn’t play cricket at all, it’s almost a couple of weeks now. It puts you in a different frame of mind and it was important that I get back to reality with the Test matches just 4-5 days away. Scoring runs in Ireland really helped. The conditions were adverse and wickets were helpful. That South African attack is quite good and I managed to score runs there. I had a couple of big sessions at Hove, practising indoors and that helped.”A nudge to point, shortly after tea, took him to hundred and his reaction was instructive. On completing the run he began a big swing of the bat but stopped half-way through the motion. It’s just the start of a long tour, he seemed to be saying, and there will be plenty more bat-swings to come.

Rory Hamilton-Brown has been stripped of the England Under-19 captaincy after what is described as a disciplinary breach on the eve of the first Test against Pakistan at Scarborough.The ECB suspended him for the game which started on Saturday, and although he will be allowed back into the frame for the second and final Test at Derby, it will be as a player only.The ECB told Cricinfo: “Rory Hamilton-Brown has served a match ban and will be considered for selection for the match starting this Friday, 10 August. He will not be considered for the captaincy.”This is the second time Hamilton-Brown, Surrey’s batting allrounder, has been unable to lead the side – albeit for a different reason. He was supposed to captain them in Malaysia during the winter, but shoulder surgery prevented him from doing so.Now it’s possible he won’t fulfill his dream after he watched his replacement Ben Wright make a century as England racked up 530 in their first innings. The side has a five-match ODI series following the Tests, which could be his last chance to captain, if at all.The news comes in a week when speculation over his Surrey career was raised. But while he has been unhappy with dwindling appearances for the second team, he will see out his contract, which runs till the end of 2008.A Surrey spokesperson told Cricinfo: “He’s contracted to the club and as far as we are concerned he will be playing next year. He’s annoyed he’s not getting opportunities but his one-day stats aren’t very good. He’s a good youth prospect and we want to play him. He’s a part of our future plans.”Whatever happens, this will be Hamilton-Brown’s last summer for England Under-19s – he will be too old to represent them in the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia in February.