Wisden Asia Cricket“Even if you give your best, you can always do better.”

“When I finally made my official Test debut against Bangladesh I was not nervous at all. Past incidents had taught me that international cricket is harsh and patience is a useful bedfellow. It was a great privilege to represent my country – and then to top that by registering the highest score by a South African batsman on debut, with 222 not out.”Cricket came naturally from age three, owing largely to my father, who played club cricket. Growing up next to a cricket field helped hone my skills. I always dreamed of playing for South Africa, but it was frustrating to have to come as far as Chittagong to do so. I was disappointed when the match against India at Centurion in 2001 was stripped of Test status because of the Mike Denness affair. In my mind I regarded it as a Test, but when I got the double against Bangladesh, I realised I couldn’t have had a better debut.”Centurion was followed by another disappointment, in Sydney a few months later. As a youngster one always thinks of playing against the best and I would have loved to have made my debut at the MCG or the SCG. It was very difficult when things beyond my power took that opportunity away from me [Justin Ontong replaced Rudolph when the United Cricket Board intervened at the last minute to include a coloured person in the team]. It was not a great experience, but you learn from things like this and they build your character.”I have learned that you have got to be more patient, and that shot selection needs to be much better at this level. I am a great believer in the power of the mind. Even if you give your best, you can always do better.”

Javed Miandad, Pakistan’s coach, has demanded a meeting with Lt-Gen. Tauqir Zia, the chairman of the Pakistan board, to discuss “pressing issues”. Miandad has come under fire from Aamer Sohail, the chief selector, and the criticism is reported to have left him seething.The incident blew up on Thursday when Sohail said that it would not be difficult for Pakistan to beat a weaker South Africa team as long as the players were handled properly. “I think that more concentration and professionalism is required to exploit the abilities and skills of the players,” Sohail told reporters.Minadad took the comment as a personal dig, but waited until the end of the first ODI at Lahore – which Pakistan won by eight runs – before reacting publicly. “If anyone thinks he can do a better job than me as coach he is welcome to come and give it a try,” he fumed. “I don’t need any advice from anyone. What I have done with the team is visible to everyone. I am committed and trying hard. I think everyone knows what I have delivered since the World Cup.”I am satisfied with what we have achieved in the last six months,” Miandad said. “We have found two or three good players for the future and they are improving. The team is now playing like a proper team.”

Brad Hodge has accepted a new contract with Leicestershire for next season.Even though the county had a torrid summer, being relegated in the Championship and the National League, Hodge made his mark in emphatic style. He was Leicestershire’s leading scorer with 1,293 runs at an average of 53.87. He also set a new county record with an innings of 302 not out against Nottinghamshire.James Whitaker, Leicestershire’s director of cricket, said: “Brad had many outstanding performances for Leicestershire during 2003. While scoring over 1400 first-class runs at an average of over 50, he scored five first-class centuries including a score of 300.”Playing for Victoria, Brad has made a tremendous start to the new Australian season with scores of 101, 107 not out and 50 not out in the first three one-day league games, and he also scored 111 not out against the powerful New South Wales side in a four-day league game.”I am delighted that he has agreed to play for the club during the 2004 season. I know that Brad’s enthusiasm and desire for continuous improvement can influence the development of all the players at the club.”And Hodge himself was just as pleased: “I am very excited about the opportunity of again playing for Leicestershire," he said. "During the 2004 season I will be very keen to help the club, both on and off the field, to the best of my abilities.”While Hodge remains in the squad, Trevor Ward, Jamie Grove and Matt Whiley have all been released, and Devon Malcolm has retired.

XXXX Queensland Bulls captain Jimmy Maher returns to ING Cup cricket tomorrow with the knowledge that he can become the leading domestic one-day runs scorer in Australian cricket.Maher is potentially one innings away from passing his Australian World Cup teammate Darren Lehmann as the leading runs-scorer in the one-day game in Australia.The Bulls left-hander, playing his first ING Cup game this season for Queensland, needs 84 runs to pass Lehmann’s total of 2791 runs scored for South Australia and Victoria.Lehmann is in Brisbane with the Redbacks team as a team manager while he recovers from a ruptured Achilles tendon.Tomorrow’s day/nighter at the Gabba has a host of potential milestones, with Redbacks batsman Greg Blewett just two runs away from becoming South Australia’s leading one-day runs-scorer.Blewett will eclipse Lehmann’s SA tally of 2599 runs.Queensland wicket-keeper Wade Seccombe is one dismissal away from becoming only the second glovesman to record 100 domestic limited overs dismissals.Seccombe, who will play for Australia ‘A’ in the three-day tour match against India in Hobart starting on Friday, will join Victoria’s Darren Berry who has 132 dismissals.Tomorrow’s match starts at 2.30pm with gates opening at 1.30pm.The Bulls are in second last spot with four points from three games while the Redbacks are one spot ahead on nine points from four games.Queensland welcome back Maher, Andrew Symonds and Michael Kasprowicz for their first limited games for the Bulls this season.Meanwhile Queensland’s Pura Cup team for the match against SA starting on Friday will be released tomorrow.XXXX Queensland Bulls: Jimmy Maher (c), Stuart Law, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, James Hopes, Nathan Hauritz, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, Damien MacKenzie (12th man to be named).Southern Redbacks: Greg Blewett (captain), Mark Cleary, Mark Cosgrove, John Davison, Shane Deitz, Andy Flower, Mark Higgs, Ben Johnson, Graham Manou, Mick Miller, Paul Rofe, Shaun Tait. (12th man to be named).

It has been six long years since England last embarked on a tour of the Caribbean. In that time West Indies have hit rock-bottom, bounced a couple of times, and now – typically – are beginning to show signs of that long-awaited renaissance, just in time for England’s arrival. True, they haven’t exactly set the world alight on their current tour of South Africa, but with Brian Lara in his best form for a decade, and a host of young and free-spirited batsmen following in his wake, the next couple of months promise to be a torrid time for England’s bowlers.John Etheridge was sounding particularly sceptical in . “England have unveiled the men they believe can tame the genius of Brian Lara,” he declared, before adding: “They are a mixed bag of confidence-challenged, injury-prone bowlers with just 326 Test wickets between them.” But, in keeping faith with the 15 men who were originally selected for the tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Etheridge was at least satisfied that the selectors were being consistent.”The Master Blaster’s current form is as sobering as a New Year detox,” announced Mike Walters, who feared that Lara’s “ramrod-straight bat” could cause England as much heartache as Muttiah Muralitharan’s “corkscrew arm” did before Christmas. “So reinvigorated is his appetite for harvesting runs,” added Walters, “that bookies William Hill are offering only 33-1 against Lara to break Matthew Hayden’s world-record 380 this year.””[England’s bowlers] will need to show as much nerve as verve to come out on top,” suggested Derek Pringle in . “Grounds in the Caribbean are small with demanding, urgent crowds and games can quickly slide away when batsmen throw the bat. Bowlers will need character and control, something in short supply since Andrew Flintoff’s workload was cut to save his groaning body.”Much of the comment surrounds the probable selection of Simon Jones – assuming he comes through England A’s trip to India and Malaysia without any further problems from the knee he injured so horrifically in the first Ashes Test last winter. “Jones could easily find himself playing in the opening Test at Sabina Park, Kingston, the quickest track in the West Indies,” said Pringle. “If he does, it would rank as one of the greatest returns from injury in any sport, given the grotesque angle that his leg bent at the Gabba.” Pringle, however, was less convinced about Jones’s fellow speedster, Steve Harmison: “He has the height and pace to be as effective as Curtly Ambrose, but will have to win over the sceptics within his team, who feel he does not always savour the ‘hard yards’.”England’s answer to Ambrose on that 1997-98 tour, Angus Fraser, was understandably tub-thumping about the need for accuracy as well as out-and-out speed. Writing in , he extolled the time-honoured virtues of line and length. “Pace has to be combined with accuracy if it is to be effective against batsmen who love playing shots against anything short and wide,” he preached. “And this is the challenge for Jones. In Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Smith – who scored a magnificent century on his Test debut against South Africa on Tuesday – the West Indies possess five batsmen who can take apart a wayward attack.”Christopher Martin-Jenkins of agreed. “The lesson of Fraser’s success in the West Indies six years ago, and indeed of all cricket played on flat pitches down the years, is that against the best batsmen it is accuracy, extra bounce and an ability to move the ball through the air or off the seam that gets results.” But, with the experience of Martin Bicknell once again overlooked, CMJ feared for the success of England’s greenhorn attack. “Rapid improvement will be necessary,” he intoned, “both if England are to win in the West Indies for the first time since Harold Wilson was Prime Minister, and if a credible attack for the next Ashes series is to be developed.”The last word, however, must go to The Guardian, who were so unenthused by the squad announcement that they hardly saw fit to mention it at all. Instead, they offered a full-page feature on how tough life has been for Test bowlers in the last 12 months. “If you meet a Test bowler in the street, do not ask him how he is,” warned Tanya Aldred. “Do not seek to look at his figures or invite him home to watch a 2003 highlights package. This is a bad time for bowlers.”The worry for England, is that the good times remain some way away yet.

Those fine Australians are still the best Test side and are world-beaters in limited-overs cricket. But there is one important aspect of modern cricketing life they have yet to master: writing books.It is possible for the contemporary cricketer to write well. Mike Atherton’s is a good example. It fulfilled most of the criteria readers want when they hand over a few pounds for such a book: dressing-room gossip, forthright opinion and insight into the way the game is played at its best. But with these two books Australian Captain Past and Australian Captain Future show they are not there yet.

There is, of course, an argument that we should expect little from sportsmen who write and, if we buy their books, we get what we deserve. After all, they are cricketers not authors and it would be surprising if Vikram Seth or Terry Pratchett was a master of the slash drive for six over point. But, professionally, they do at least stick to what they are good at.Steve Waugh’s slim effort is the better. Most of it recalls his hundred against England at the SCG last winter, when he believed he was batting to save his career. Remember the Richard Dawson off-break he belted through extra cover to bring up his ton from the last ball of the day? He was already breathing the rarefied air of a man who had scored 10,000 Test runs and on 98, as the shadows from the stand touched the square, he hit the boundary that meant he had equalled Don Bradman’s total of 29 Test centuries.Apart from Waugh’s own thoughts analysis of the innings comes from his team-mates Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist. Nasser Hussain was also asked to comment. He reveals that, as he congratulated Waugh, he wanted to tell him how much he was admired and respected by the England side. But all that came out was “well batted”.

Gilchrist and Langer provide the “mateship” that seems inescapable in books written about Australia’s cricket team. In Ricky Ponting’s World Cup Diary the “mateship” is served up in bucketfuls. Everyone in the squad has a nickname, so the air is thick with mention of Bing, Brute and Buck, Boof, Mabo and Marto, TJ and Tugga. But, despite the hours spent together and even though much of Ponting’s book is set in the dressing room and team bus and on the practice ground, his portraits of the Australian squad are rarely more than superficial.The momentum in his diary comes from Australia getting to the final and winning the World Cup. He was fortunate that the competition gave him two other outstanding talking points: whether to boycott the game in Zimbabwe (“not a place I’d like to go on my holidays”) and the implications of Shane Warne’s failed drugs test.Like Kim Hughes and the former Prime Minister Bob Hawke before him Warney kept up a fine Australian tradition when he wept in public while confessing to his team-mates that he had been popping his mum’s slimming pills. An embarrassed silence followed and Ponting, perhaps inappropriately in the circumstances, suggested they should break for something to eat before discussing the consequences.Between matches Ponting likes life low-key. He relaxes by playing golf or browsing the equipment in golfing stores. If the shops are closed, he will go out for a quiet meal with his law student wife, Rianna. Sadly her nickname remains a secret.Waugh has now written 11 books and the publishers are wrong to say this is his most important. That will be the book he inevitably writes now that he has retired. To do his career justice it needs to be as shrewd and spicy as the recollections of his one-time rival, Atherton.As for Waugh’s successor, the idea of another 10 books is sobering. With luck the seven iron will prove a mightier distraction than the pen.

England 242 for 5 (Taylor 82) beat South Africa 142 for 9 (Birch 3-28) by 100 runs
ScorecardEngland’s women sealed the five-match ODI series with a thumping 100-run win over South Africa at Johannesburg. Claire Taylor’s rollicking 82 from 76 balls formed the backbone of an impressive total of 242 for 5 – one that proved far too much for a South African team that has failed to live up to expectations after their thrilling victory in the opening match.England won the toss and were given an excellent start by Charlotte Edwards and Laura Newton, who added 78 for the first wicket. Both fell in quick succession, and Clare Connor didn’t last long either – the first of three wickets for Cri-Zelda Brits – but Lydia Greenway scampered her way to an unbeaten 41 from 52 balls, which included a solitary boundary.South Africa made a stodgy start to their reply, and had managed just 38 runs in the first 14 overs when Connor gained revenge over Brits and bowled her for 20. She was followed swiftly by Johmari Logtenberg (39 for 2), but the innings truly fell apart in a crazy over from Rosalie Birch. Alison Hodgkinson and Cindy Eksteen were both dismissed within three balls of each other, and then before another run had been added, South Africa’s mainstay, Daleen Terblanche, was run out by Greenway for 25 (58 for 5).Edwards made it a brace of Terblanche run-outs when Claire followed suit for 10, and at 89 for 6 the game was well and truly up. Alicia Smith rallied the tail with a defiant 38, but she soon became Birch’s third victim, as England took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with one match to come.

Jimmy Maher has been ruled out of Queensland’s forthcoming Pura Cup game against New South Wales. According to ABC Sport, Maher has aggravated a hamstring injury, and will be replaced in the team by Aaron Nye, who will be making his first-class debut.Craig Philipson has also been ruled out of the game, having not recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered during the recent one-day final against Western Australia. Brendon Nash is his replacement. Andy Bichel and James Hopes had suffered severe cramps in that game, but both have been named in the team.Victoria is already guaranteed a place in the Pura Cup final, and Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales are all in contention for the other spot.

Shane Bond’s return to international cricket continued with his inclusion in the New Zealand A team to play Sri Lanka A in three one-day matches starting next week.Bond hasn’t played for New Zealand since he broke down with a back stress fracture nearly a year ago. He played club cricket in Christchurch over the last two weekends and Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) selection manager, said it was time to assess his fitness at a higher level.”As part of his managed return to international cricket Shane will available for selection for the first game,” Hadlee said. “He will then be rested for the second game and, assuming he gets through the first game without any problems, he will then be reconsidered for selection for the third game.”Hadlee added that the side would be led by Chris Harris. “Chris is New Zealand’s highest capped ODI player and has been playing very good cricket this summer. His experience at the highest level will be of enormous benefit to those less experienced players around him.”New Zealand A Chris Harris (capt), Shane Bond, James Franklin, Jamie How, Gareth Hopkins, Hamish Marshall, Bruce Martin, Michael Mason, Kyle Mills, Mathew Sinclair, Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent

Scorecard

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Smith marched West Indies to a dramatic and, at one stage, unlikely five-wicket victory against England in the fifth one-dayer in St Lucia. After Marcus Trescothick lifted England to 281 for 8 with an impressive130, Sarwan and Smith produced a late onslaught of powerful hitting to blast West Indies home with two overs to spare.After all the rain about in the Caribbean, and speculation that these two back to back games were going to be wiped out as well, play started on time. A packed Beausejour Stadium were then treated to an exhilarating array of strokeplay by Smith, in particular, as West Indies levelled the series 1-1, and got their revenge for Chris Read’s late flourish in Guyana.After Brian Lara’s departed for 37, and at the end of the 41st over, West Indies looked out of it, pure and simple. They still needed 83 runs to win at above nine an over. However, as England proved in the first game, you can’t take anything for granted. Indeed, in the following over, Stephen Harmison leaked 12 runs, and Sarwan and Smith then didn’t look back.Needing another 71 runs from 48 balls, the pair decided to do it in stylish sixes. They added 80 in triple-quick time and blasted the game away from England. Sarwan hoiked Ian Blackwell for two maximums in the 44th over, Smith then smashed James Anderson for two more in the next one, and Harmison disappeared for two handsome hits over the midwicket fence. What it all meant was that West Indies had snatched a heart-racing victory.Andrew Flintoff, who was struggling with an injury towards the end, did bowl Smith, but by that stage it was too late. His cameo 44 from 28 balls ambushed England’s bowlers and their best laid plans. By the end, they were at sixes and sevens, and cut resigned figures when Dwayne Bravo smacked Darren Gough for yet another six for the winning runs.It was a cruel blow for Michael Vaughan and his men, who had the game under control after Lara’s departure, and especially for Trescothick, who once again was on the losing side after scoring a century. However, he at least put a miserable tour with the bat behind him with a sparkling innings. He flew out of the blocks, belting boundaries all over the place, 13 fours and two sixes in all, before adding a handy partnership of 110 with Flintoff to give England a competitive score.Everybody knows he hasn’t had the best of tours, but, today he was in superb form from the off, taking advantage of the slow track and fast outfield.Preferring the aerial route, he hammered all the bowlers to all parts of the ground with a mixture of shots for the purists, and for the punters.He had good company in Flintoff, who initially played carefully, putting away the big hits in favour of ones and twos, and helped see Trescothick to his seventh one-day ton from 96 balls. The pair built the platform of the innings with quick running and quick thinking. Flintoff signalled his half-century from 62 balls by hitting Ricardo Powell back over his head, but just when he was about to launch the onslaught, he was caught at the second attempt by Merv Dillon on the long-on boundary (234 for 4).It was an important wicket for West Indies as the England tail failed to take full advantage of Trescothick’s and Flintoff’s partnership, adding only 33 more runs from the final five overs. In any case, it promised to be an exciting run chase, and that’s exactly what happened.

After a slow start, Chris Gayle showed glimpses of getting back to somewhere near his best. He spanked the expensive Harmison for three emphatic boundaries, and then gave Gough the treatment, hitting him for two fours before launching him way into the stands. However, Paul Collingwood lifted England’s spirits with a breathtaking catch at backward point. Gayle cut Anderson and Collingwood leapt fully to his left to take the ball with both hands, and with both feet in the air (62 for 1). His team-mates recognised what a marvellous moment it was, mobbing him in celebration, but careful not to touch his nose.Powell made a positive start before Anderson sneaked one through his flat-footed defence for 30 (102 for 2). Shivnarine Chanderpaul was his usual sensible self, mixing watchful defence with two boundaries from Harmison, who went for 35 from his first five overs. However, Chanderpaul then cut Blackwell into Read’s gloves, and the ball popped up in the air before Read dived fully infront of him to scoop the catch (115 for 3).Those two quick wickets then slowed the game right down. Sarwan and Lara were content to bide their time and ease the singles. It was a key partnership for West Indies, and Lara just started to show some ominous signs with some delicate late and square cuts. But, in the end, that shot proved to be his downfall when he nicked Harmison through to Read for 37 (191 for 4). That was supposed to be England’s big moment. It closed a promising stand of 71 with Sarwan, and they were well on top. But Smith had other ideas.