A week before the introduction of a new Licensing Act that will allow 24 hour drinking in pubs, clubs, restaurants and bars, cricket stands on the verge of banning spectators from bringing alcohol into all international venues around the world.The new ICC regulations come into force next April and have already been labelled as `Orwellian’ by readers of The Wisden Cricketer. The magazine’s December issue devotes its new Off the long run column to the issue and ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed is firmly in its sights as the man behind the new measures:”Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC, has poured my pint of London Pride down the drain and kicked over your glass of Chardonnay. As of next year he has banned spectators from bringing alcohol to Tests.”The regulation is imposed on April 1, 2006. There are few signs it is just a joke. It’s about safety, you see, but safety from what? Over-rowdy spectators? In England the only recent problem with overexcited fans was in 2001 and mainly involved Pakistan supporters – who don’t get smashed on booze. No, the safety in question appears to be the ICC’s – from lawsuits brought by anyone hurt in a Test ground.”So next summer it’ll be £3-plus rubbish all round except perhaps at Lord’s, where they’ve applied for an exemption. Already proper cricket fans are being priced out of grounds. And, as if exorbitant prices were not enough, the appalling product is worse. A nice nutty bitter from the picnic bag with your lunch or how about a nice insipid, angrily fizzy, lukewarm pint of disco fizz?”Less than a pint usually, as some slops out on the trek from the crowded and distant bar. And that’s before the flimsy plastic pot cracks, leaving a stream of wasp-attracting lager down the wrist. And all for only £4.”This is another example of the ICC’s attempt to `own’ every aspect of world cricket. Remember the Champions Trophy in England last year when you could only drink ICC-endorsed brands? Now these Orwellian rules are being applied across the board. These diktats crush diversity, which they should instead be fostering. Ask anyone who has winced at the death of the English outground.”Martin Luther King had a dream. I have a nightmare. It involves watching the end of the next Ashes sitting in London Cricket Unit No. 2, surrounded by City boys on the jolly, sipping a lukewarm £6 pot of ICC beer-style beverage.”The December issue of The Wisden Cricketer, the world’s best-selling cricket magazine, is published on Friday, November 18 at a cover price of £3.60.

Moises Henriques, the New South Wales allrounder, will captain Australia’s Under-19 team at the World Cup in Sri Lanka in February. A rookie-contract holder with the Blues, Henriques was the only player who was part of the 2004 outfit to be picked in the current side following the national championships in Perth last night.Trevor Hohns, the national chairman of selectors, said the squad wanted to repeat the trophy-winning success of 2002. “The panel has chosen what they believe to be a very flexible and well-balanced squad which will be important given the conditions they will be facing,” he said.”There were some players who are unlucky to have missed selection, but those who have missed out need to remember this is certainly not the end of the road.” The squad was due to receive its caps from Mark Taylor, the former Australia captain, during the tea break of the opening day of the first Test between Australia and South Africa.New South Wales collected their third consecutive national title after beating Victoria in the final round and Usman Khawaja, their opening batsman, was the Player of the Championship for his 396 runs at 66, including 100 against South Australia. Jon Holland, the Victoria left-arm orthodox spinner who picked up 7 for 37 against South Australia, was the leading wicket-taker with 20 at 11.75 and the most productive wicketkeeper was New South Wales’ Marcus Hainsworth, who collected 20 catches and two stumpings.Australia Under-19 World Cup squad
Moises Henriques (capt, NSW), Aaron Finch (vc, Vic), Jackson Bird (NSW), Tom Cooper (NSW), Ben Cutting (Qld), Jon Holland (Vic), Simon Keen (NSW), Usman Khawaja (NSW), Jack McNamara (Vic), Adam Ritchard (ACT), William Sheridan (ACT), Tom Stray (Vic), Matthew Wade (wk, Tas), David Warner (NSW).Reserves Ben Dunk (Qld), Phillip Wells (NSW). Team management Brian McFadyen (coach), Matthew Mott (assistant coach), Geoff Tamblyn (manager), Max Pfitzner (physiotherapist).

Scorecard
Plate Group Points Table
Madhya Pradesh ended the second day of their Ranji Plate semi-final on even terms, closing on 191 for 5 in reply to Saurashtra’s 296. Shitanshu Kotak, overnight on 95, brought up his ninth first-class century before Amay Khurasia’s power-packed 80 charged Madhya Pradesh left the match hanging in the balance.Khurasia, who played only two games this season, chose the right moment to come good. After the openers put up a 55-run stand off 16.3 overs Khurasia took charge and the next fifty rolled off in just eight overs before Sandip Maniar removed Sachin Dholpure and knocked off Devendra Bundela, the leading run-getter for MP, for a duck to push them to 106 for 3.Abbas Ali joined Khurasia and the duo steered MP to 182 for 3 before Saurashtra fought back with two wickets. Earlier, Saurashtra resumed on 226 for 6, were propped up by Kotak’s first hundred of the season and 21 from Sandeep Jobanputra, the No 10 batsman.

Scorecard

Moises Henriques produced an allround display of sheer class as Australiacrushed Sri Lanka at the SSC to progress to the semi-finals. Not contentwith knocking the stuffing out of the Sri Lankan batting, he then smashedan uncompromising 79 off 60 balls against a deflated attack. Tom Cooperwas no slouch either with 84 off 93 as the pair flayed a stand of 146 in21 overs.While the clean striking from Henriques was breathtaking, his massive hits were effortless, sailing miles into the stands. He cleared the ropes on six occasions, one of which landed on the roof of the press box – a monstrous blow – and never came down again. Cooper had begun the chase in emphatic style, piercing the field off front and back foot and displaying another example of the form he produced against South Africa inthe opening match, where he made 104.Australia’s intent to finish this match quickly, and not give the SriLanka spinners a chance to dominate, was evident when Henriques came in atNo. 3. The team management explained they didn’t see any point nudgingaround for the runs, something the top order clearly agreed with.Henriques was delighted with the crushing nature of the win: “Everythingwent our way. It is sometimes difficult chasing a low target and you canstart pushing around a little, but we just went out there and played asthough we were batting first.”He also added that the cut-throat approach was something that had beendiscussed by the team. “Being ruthless is one thing we have really workedon, when a team is down and are we are on top we need to nail them. It showed atthe end, where we could have easily lost a late wicket, but we fought hardto make sure we didn’t lose our intensity and make it all the moreconvincing.”Each Sri Lankan bowler was treated with equal disdain, the slow left-armerMalinga Pushpakumara being creamed for 52 in five overs. They werehampered by Angelo Mathews’ inability to bowl, owing to a groin strainwhich has troubled him throughout the tournament. His injury created amoment of controversy when he was allowed a runner, despite having comeinto the match carrying the injury.However, even if Mathews had been fully fit it would not have made muchdifference. Sri Lanka never looked like being able to replicate thetriumph of their senior side in Adelaide, yesterday, and were underpressure from the moment that Adam Ritchard removed Dimuth Karunaratne inthe second over. By the end of the ninth over Henriques had begun his tourde force with two wickets, and the innings was struggling at 23 for 3.Once again in this tournament, the Australia seamers managed to extractbounce from the pitch that no other team has managed. Twice the Sri Lankanbatsmen were struck on the body or helmet and the quicks were not shy of using the short ball – and to good effect. Ritchard ensured Sri Lanka could never find any momentum, bowling his ten overs off the reel for just 20 runs, and Henriques explained: “The ball was swinging around early so we decided to keep him on as long as we could and he ended up bowling all ten.”Only when Mathews and Dilhan Cooray were together did the innings threatento gain any semblance of control, their stand of 62 the only obstacle to Australia’s march. Henriques broke the stand – no surprise given the day he was having – with a great delivery that squared-up Mathews, shortly after the Sri Lankan captain had asked for the runner.This is not a bad Sri Lankan team but they had nothing to offer againsttheir rampant opponents, despite having home advantage. After a scareagainst West Indies in the qualifying matches, Australia are peaking whenit really matters. They are two wins away from burying the memories of2004 in Bangladesh, and in this form they will take some stopping.

New Zealand Cricket is considering mothballing the No. 6 shirt worn by Chris Cairns following his retirement from international cricket.Lindsay Crocker, the team manager, said the idea had been raised by some senior players and it has also won support among board officials. He added that there was no need to be rushed into a decision. He also dismissed suggestions that qualification levels needed to be set for future candidates “otherwise we’ll start getting into more double numbers and possibly three numbers. Also it’s just not Cairnsy. Obviously you’ll have [Stephen] Fleming and Chris Harris who have played for a long time.”Crocker also pointed out that greats from earlier eras when shirts did not have numbers would not be comparable to modern stars. “Ten years ago you had Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe who played without numbers but were the best in the game, but they never had a shirt retired.”The only other New Zealand player to have had a shirt retired is Gavin Larsen, whose No. 36 top was put to one side on his retirement.

Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, has envisaged a bright future for his side, but in the meantime promises “to push it as far as we can”, as they prepare to take on the mighty Australians in a two-Test and three-one-day series, starting in Fatullah on April 9.The Australians landed at Dhaka Airport on Thursday morning, fresh from the 3-0 clean sweep in South Africa last week, and Whatmore was under no illusions about the task that lies ahead. “Nothing’s really changed in terms of the ICC rankings table,” he told Cricinfo on the eve of the series. “We’re still No. 10 and they’re still No. 1.”Even so, in the three years since Whatmore took charge of the team, Bangladesh cricket has come a long way. His first series as coach was the corresponding tour to Australia in 2003, when two schoolmasterish centuries from Steve Waugh helped put an overawed side firmly in their place.”There’ve been three years since we last played each other, and I feel the team’s improved a little bit,” said Whatmore. “We’re playing in our own conditions, and they are going to have to adjust a bit to their last six months in South Africa and Australia. We’re very keen to go out there and compete against the No.1 ranked team, knowing that we’ve played some good teams in the last three years.Bangladesh’s solitary Test series win came against Zimbabwe last year, but Whatmore was happy with the effort his players had been making in the intervening months. “We’ve put in some encouraging performances in terms of taking the games to the fifth day or late in the fourth day, having leads against the opposition, that sort of stuff,” he said. “We’ll be playing against a good side, but we’re going to try really really hard.”The sense of anticipation surrounding the Australians’ arrival has been heightened by memories of that extraordinary NatWest Series victory at Sophia Gardens last year, and Whatmore himself admitted that it was the one-day leg of this tour that was of greatest importance to him.”After this series against Australia we’ve got no Test matches for 12 months, so I’ve got to say, I’m a bit more excited about the one-day game. We’re getting a nice little group together, and I can only see it improving in next six to 12 months leading up to the World Cup. That’s very important and it keeps me going, knowing that we are heading in the right direction in that form of the game.”

Bangladesh took Sri Lanka to a decider in their recent three-match series, before routing Kenya 4-0, and Whatmore was mindful of the need to manage expectations among a public that has forever been hungry for success. “I’m pretty sure that the people here in Bangladesh will be very appreciative if the boys show a big fight,” he said. “If we really show that the opposition has to work hard to win, then the expectation of the public I think will be satisfied. But within the cricket board, the players and the management, we want to push it, push it, push it, as far as we can.”Off the pitch, Bangladesh’s development is continuing apace, with the inauguration of five new stadia and the establishment of a national academy. “The infrastructure is coming along,” admitted Whatmore. “In broad terms, the domestic competitions are pretty much okay, with a good four-day competition in place, one-day cricket in place, and a Twenty20 tournament in place. We’ll need some time to fertilise them and grow them and make them look nice, but I’m pretty sure there’ll be a bit more money available next year. The necessary ingredients are here. We just need more time.”That much could equally be said of the national squad, which is benefiting from the identification of a talented crop of youngsters who were among the favourites for the recent Under-19 World Cup. “They played a really bad game in the quarter-final against England, who they had beaten eight times in a row not so long ago,” explained Whatmore, “but at the end of the day, they still lost just one match. I’m sure that within six or 12 months, one or two of them will start to filter into the international team.”One of these players, the captain Mushfiqur Rahim, is already flitting around the fringes of the senior side. Having impressed on debut against England at Lord’s last summer, he returned for the second Test against Sri Lanka at Bogra last month, but struggling, making 2 and 0. “The Sri Lanka Test was a tough one for him but we won’t want to just play one or two games and get rid of him,” said Whatmore. “We think he can play the longer game pretty well. He’s only just starting off, but he’s got good potential.”With the aggressive Shahadat Hossain emerging as a pace spearhead, and the spin pairing of Enamul Haque jr and Mohammad Rafique continuing to impress, the future looks bright for Bangladesh, especially now that their most talented batsman, Mohammad Ashraful, is beginning to make runs when they really count. “He has got tremendous potential – anyone can see that,” said Whatmore. “But Ashraful himself will tell you he needs more consistency. He didn’t have the best of Kenya series, but hopefully this next one will be more to his liking than Kenya.”All things told, Bangladesh will enter their next challenge with the confidence of a side on the up, and the lessons of last summer lodged firmly in their memory banks. “That tour [of England] was definitely a huge learning experience,” stressed Whatmore. “To play in England at the early part of the summer is never an easy time, especially when playing against two good sides. But here we are in our own conditions, and all we can do is give it our best.”Of course, everyone cares about winning or losing,” he concluded, “but so long as you’re really putting in your best, nobody can really can get angry. In our case, what is important is that we give our best every time we walk out there, because we can’t afford not to.”

Sajid Mahmood has been withdrawn from England A’s match against the Sri Lankans at Thursday, along with the injured Chris Tremlett, as England prepare to shuffle their fast-bowling pack ahead of the first Test at Lord’s on May 11.Yesterday’s injuries to Simon Jones and James Anderson have thrown England’s Test preparations into a now-familiar disarray. With Steve Harmison already out of the equation, there is a distinct possibility that Mahmood, who featured in England’s recent one-day series in India, will be named in the Test squad on Sunday, alongside Durham’s Liam Plunkett.”You can read what you want into [the decision],” said England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney. “Mahmood will play for Lancashire, because they have a Championship game this week, and the same would have happened with Plunkett, but Durham aren’t playing in this latest round.”Graveney added that it would be “very surprising” if England didn’t play a spinner for the first Test, perhaps mindful of the corresponding fixture four years ago, when Sri Lanka posted a total of 500-plus in conditions that were more akin to St John’s, Antigua, than St John’s Wood.That spinner, however, is unlikely to be Ian Blackwell, who has suffered a back spasm, and is a doubt for Somerset’s championship clash with Northants tomorrow. Graveney added that anyone who is not deemed fit enough to compete in a first-class fixture this week will be ruled out of the Test selection. With that in mind, it comes down to a straight shoot-out between Shaun Udal and Monty Panesar.In the absence of Mahmood and Tremlett, who has suffered an ankle injury to add to the knee problems that beset his pre-season, Gloucestershire’s Jon Lewis and the young Leicestershire prospect, Stuart Broad, have been added to the England A squad for the four-day match at New Road.”Lewis and Broad have both shown fine early season form for their counties,” added Graveney, “and I am sure they will be keen to make the most of this opportunity against Sri Lanka.”Possible squad Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Shaun Udal/Monty Panesar, Matthew Hoggard, Liam Plunkett, Sajid Mahmood.

Wasim Jaffer and MS Dhoni speak to the press
Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAThe fourth day of the Antigua Test was marked out by two innings: Wasim Jaffer’s 212 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s belligerent 69. Both these men spoke to the press after the day’s play.Jaffer spoke about how getting dropped from the Indian team made him a more mature player, and how Rahul Dravid’s advice helped him on his way to this double-century. Dhoni, meanwhile, explained the sequence of events that led to his controversial dismissal, including Brian Lara’s plea to him to walk. Listen in.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA

The Kensington Oval will have a test run before the ground is handed over to the ICC in February.Chris deCaires, the chairman of World Cup Barbados Inc., made it clear there will be practice games on the playing area before the year-end.”Our schedule confirms that we will be ready and the ICC has given the green light that our schedule is satisfactory to being World Cup-ready for next year and that will include practice games on the ground,” he said.Gordon Greenidge, the former West Indies opening batsman, said he was concerned whether there would be any real assessment of the pitch before the World Cup. He did not think that the Oval would be completed in time for practice matches to be played there before Barbados hosts Super Eight matches next April.However, deCaires said that in addition to the test run for the pitch, there would be a rehearsal for the entire stadium.”It is very important to have practice games and that is on the agenda, as well as an event to test the entire stadium. We want to make sure the stadium works well.”deCaires said he was pleased with the progress of construction at the Oval and promised that when it was completed, the facility would be truly world-class.”We still have a lot of work to be done but I am happy with what we have achieved so far and the efforts from all sectors of the society.”I have never been involved with a project that has such an integration from so many levels of society. We will host the best World Cup ever and all of Barbados will be proud and pleased with the final product.”The players’ pavilion will be up there with the best in the world, as well as the Challenor and Kensington Stands and the media centre. We will have a world-class facility, no doubt about it.”

Bruce Makovah, the Zimbabwe cricket national selectors convener, has dismissed critcism leveled at the squad picked for the A-team series against Bangladesh A which starts on Saturday.Several choices have been attacked by critics, and the presence of players with no top-flight experience has also come under the spotlight. Makovah and his co-selectors opted not to pick anyone from the breakaway leagues which contain a number of leading clubs who have ceded from those organised by Zimbabwe Cricket.”ZC is not running separately,” Makovah told Zimbabwe’s Independent. “People cannot just walk in and walk out as they wish. These players were encouraged to play the official league. So those who were prepared to rebel we did not look at them. Besides I did not see any statistics from their league. I only got to know that they were playing through hearsay.””If we look at the squad that was selected, the players came from various provinces. Also if you look at the statistics Mashonaland came last in the league. It automatically shows that the other provinces have a pool of players as well.”One critic pointed out to Cricinfo that Mashonaland had finished last because almost all their leading players had defected to the breakaway organisation.”Basically this is a first major step to give other people an opportunity and widen the player base in the country,” Makovah added. “Our cricket has been based on recycling players, and this affected us the last time when players decided to rebel. We found ourselves in a crisis because we had no broad player base.”But one former Test player said that the standard in the official leagues was dire. “Two years ago none of them were even in a first league side – they were playing third division cricket,” he said. “The cricketers averaging 60+ in the national league this year were not getting to double figures a year ago in the top league. Anyone that understands cricket is not going to believe that there has been improvement or that the game is growing.”