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Zimbabwe’s World Cup squad are to receive less than half the pay they were originally promised in their contracts, according to a report in today’s edition of . The report claims that Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president and the patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU), has decreed that some players will lose as much as US$20,000 (about £12,400) from their original payout. And to make matters worse for players such as Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, who now both live in England, the majority of the money owed to them will be impossible to transfer abroad.First a little-noticed clause in the players’ contracts, stating that their fees would be cut by 19% if the ZCU’s income fell below a certain level, was invoked. This, combined with the horrendous state of inflation in Zimbabwe, and the conversion of their fees from American dollars to Zimbabwean ones at an unfavourable rate, all means that the players will eventually receive a meagre meagre sum. Add tax on top of that, and it’s no surprise that the players apparently feel as if they have been robbed.But where Flower and Olonga lose out even further is that they are no longer allowed to transfer their money out of the country. In order to access their foreign-currency accounts, they would have to fill out a form explaining how they are going to use it.One of the four Zimbabwe players who spoke to said: “We’ve been screwed. It’s daylight robbery.” The players in question asked not to be revealed as a legal battle is now likely, but another said: “It’s like they’re stealing our foreign currency and it’s only worth living in Zimbabwe if you can earn foreign currency.””We signed a contract and they agreed to pay us a certain amount,” said the third player. “Now we’re not going to get what they agreed. We have always been pay-as-you-earn individual employees. We’ve never been companies or corporate entities.”The other added: “This was the big payday for us, that only comes every four years. If your income is in Zimbabwe dollars, you just can’t make out. It’s scary. That’s why so many people are leaving the country.”Retraction: Zimbabwe players’ payments

Saturday, April 5, 2003:::
“There was a lot of euphoria for the way we played during the tournament and a lot of people (in the Government) are proud the way we played. We received a rousing welcome when we got back to Nairobi.” Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo
Source: The Gulf News, United Arab Emirates”I would be interested in having a chat. Whether I am interested [in the job] would depend on that chat. Coaching New Zealand would be my main ambition but any team that plays one-day internationals and Test matches would appeal to me.” John Bracewell, on being approached by Sri Lanka for the position of coach
Source: The Guardian, UK”I would rather look at someone like Sandeep Patil, who has done a wonderful job with Kenya. I don’t want to discuss the merits of a foreign coach but I know we too have the people to do the job.” Former Indian star Kapil Dev, on the issue of a foreign coach for India
Source: The Hindu, India”[It is] more daunting than trying to hit a first-ball six.” Indian captain Sourav Ganguly to West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, on the prospect of making a speech in Bengali
Source: The Times of India, IndiaTuesday, April 1, 2003:::
“We are a very forgiving people. We feel that if the selectors recommend any player once, twice or three times, we should look at it,” West Indies Cricket Board president Rev. Wes Hall, on the appointment of Brian Lara as the new captain
Source: Ananova, UK
“We are the benchmark for other teams to aspire to, due largely to a thing called professionalism, which is what we all pride ourselves on,” Australia Test captain Steve Waugh
Source: BBC, UK
“Lara is a great player and he will no doubt fire up against Australia. He particularly likes facing Glenn McGrath. He likes to perform on the big stage, and playing Australia is as big as it gets for him,” Steve Waugh
Source: The Age, Australia
“I always thought that a batsman’s best years are between 28 and 36. At 30 I was looking forwards to the best years of my international career. But the selectors forced my hand and that was obviously not ideal for me,” Alistair Campbell, announcing his retirement
Source: Rediff.com

To England supporters, there is a peculiarly ghastly symmetry about the fact that the coup de grace to their World Cup aspirations has been delivered in Zimbabwe. Just as rain deprived South Africa of a critical two points at Kingsmead last night, so it intervened in Zimbabwe’s favour at Bulawayo today.Far from being in the Super Six, England have joined South Africa and the West Indies in the group that might be termed the “What If” Three. Three captains have known the misery of watching the weather intervene to their disadvantage – Carl Hooper at Benoni, where rain deprived West Indies of a certain win over Bangladesh, Nasser Hussain, who could probably hardly bear to think about, let alone watch, today’s watery scenes at Queens Sports Club, and of course Shaun Pollock last night.No true cricket lover who saw Pollock’s agonised expression as his team’s hopes drained away in the Durban drizzle will have drawn any pleasure from it. But the cold light of another day must remind him that in losing to both the West Indies and New Zealand – even though the latter match was also rain-affected – South Africa left themselves an awful lot to do.As has so often been said during this World Cup, you cannot expect to progress unless you beat the top teams. On that basis Sri Lanka and New Zealand deserved to go through, despite the solitary aberration of the former against Kenya, who have taken maximum advantage. The only significance of New Zealand’s decision not to go to Nairobi rests in the number of points the two sides take through.

In Group A, the same applies to Australia, who beat everyone, and India, who beat everyone else. Pakistan, who lost to Australia, England and India, can hardly bewail their fate. England, to their credit, came closest to upsetting the favourites. If last Sunday’s result had fallen on the other edge of the knife, they would be through.Which brings us to the other “might have been” scenario for England, which is so glaring that it seems almost superfluous to highlight it. Well before the politicians got stuck in to the Zimbabwe match, it was plain that victory in Harare was England’s need as well as their expectation. Australia, India and Pakistan were their three toughest matches. Suffice to say that but for the forfeiture, England could have gone through despite being beaten in two of those three. Their exit is no disgrace.So we have a scenario that few would have put money on before the tournament. The primary hosts are out, while the two lesser hosts are both hanging in there against the odds. Not quite what the organisers had in mind – indeed rather the reverse – but there is nothing completely new about that. Remember what happened to the host nation in 1999?

Kenya, keen to attain full Test status, have an opportunity to put forwardtheir case for full membership status of the ICC when they start a series ofthree four-day unofficial Test matches against Sri Lanka A on Thursday atP.Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo.”The boys are aware of what is expected of them. We’ll try and take it session by session,” said Kenyan manager Harilal Shah, captain of East Africa in the inaugural World Cup in England in 1975.In their solitary two-day warm up game against a Development Squad, Kenya’sopeners Kennedy Otieno and Ravindu Shah compiled a worthy partnership of 106, but the rest of the batting managed only 128 runs, which according to their Indian coach Sandeep Patil, was not the type of batting Kenya were capable of.Kenya’s transformation, from a good one-day team to one that can hold its own in a four-day game, won’t be easy unless they have a strong domestic cricket structure.After nearly two decades, Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket structure is not whatit should be. They can count themselves lucky that despite the poor standardof cricket that is dished out in the Premier competition they are still ableto produce players of quality.But the gap is widening, with many players finding it difficult to bridge the gap between Premier competition and Test cricket. Those who will represent Sri Lanka A in the upcoming series belong to that category.Sri Lanka A coach Roshan Mahanama has a tough task of helping these players make the grade. Many of them have played for their country at the highest level, but have been unable to retain their places due to lack of consistency.A clear example is middle-order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan who made a great start to his Test career when only in his second Test he scored a scintillating 163 not out to pave the way for a series clinching win over Zimbabwe at Harare two years ago. Today he is no nearer to a permanent place in the Test squad.To be fair, his role in the side has not always been clearly defined. He has played as both a middle order batsman and as a wicket-keeper/batsman. In the present series he will play purely as a batsman.Another player who has got a raw deal from the selectors has been wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene who after just one rain-affected Test against Pakistan at Kandy last year, where he neither batted nor fielded, has continued to be overlooked.Avishka Gunawardana, Michael Vandort, Chamara Silva, skipper Upul Chandana,Ruchira Perera and Rangana Herath are all players who have been tested, tried and discarded over the years.There is also the young crop waiting to earn recognition like Ian Daniel,Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Kaushalya Weeraratne and Prabath Nissanka.”I’ve told the players to make use of this opportunity and to play with apurpose. If they perform well they stand a chance of being picked for the tours ahead to England, South Africa and Australia,” said Mahanama.”This series is very important to the players because tours of this nature are not regular. So whatever comes along they must grab it with both hands and perform,” he said.”Although the players must perform they must also play to win. There is no way they can play as individuals which can lead to negative cricket,” Mahanama said.Mahanama said this series gave a good scope for fast bowlers because of thetours that are ahead.”Sri Lanka may take as many as 17 players on the tour to England and extrabatsmen and bowlers are needed for a lengthy tour,” said Mahanama.He hoped that decent pitches would be provided for all the matches, givingequal opportunities to both batsmen and bowlers.SRI LANKA A (from):Upul Chandana (captain), Ian Daniel, Avishka Gunawardane, Michael Vandort, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ruchira Perera, Rangana Herath, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Prabath Nissanka.KENYA:Maurice Odumbe (captain), Kennedy Otieno, Ravindu Shah, Steve Tikolo, Hitesh Modi, Thomas Odoyo, Tony Suji, Collins Obuya, Martin Suji, Mohamed Sheikh, Lameck Onyango.UMPIRES: Tyronne Wijewardene and Ranmore Martinesz, Match Referee: RanjithMadurasinghe.

Namibia surprised friend and foe on Wednesday in the fifth and final match in the Alexander Forbes one-day series, chasing hard after a target of 275 and falling short in the last over by a mere nine runs.Man of the Match Al Sahariar scored a magnificent 177 runs for the touringside from only 145 balls. The opening batsman was in aggressive mood, hitting his first 50 off only 29 balls and finishing with 15 fours and seven sixes.If you subtract the ten extras concede by the bowlers, all the other batsmenplayed a very secondary role, with only Habibul Bashar adding significantlyto the 87 runs not scored by Al Sahariar.Fast bowler Björn Kotzé took the wickets of five of the top seven Bangladeshbatsmen to finish with 5/38 off 10 overs.Bangladesh narrowly clinched a decisive 3-1 series on Sunday with a onewicket win over Namibia, and even the most optimistic supporters of the hometeam would not have had much hope after Bangladesh were finally bowled outfor 274 with 16 balls still left of their innings.However, the Namibian batsmen put together their best performance of theseason, showing a fighting spirit which may stand them in good stead in theWorld Cup next month.Riaan Walters (44 off 49) and Louis Burger (48 off 54) put on 98 for thefirst wicket at almost a run a ball. When both fell within the space of tworuns, Jan-Berrie Burger (57 off 55, 5×4, 2×6) and Danie Keulder (61 off 75,2×4, 2×6) built another big partnership of 102.Keulder’s runout started the rot for Namibia as the home team lost their last five wickets for only 12 runs.Needing 12 to win off the last over, last pair Sarel Burger and Björn Kotzé was simply left with too much to do.Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh was named man of the series following his good allround performances, taking ten wickets in four matches and averaging 41 with the bat, with a highest score of 47 not out and best bowling of 4/19.Both teams leave for South Africa on Saturday.

*Hyderabad openers slaughter KarnatakaDaniel Manohar and A Nand Kishore both notched up centuries asKarnataka bowlers toiled in vain on Day One of their Ranji Trophyleague match against Hyderabad at Secunderabad.South Zone kicked off its Ranji campaign with this match, a fittinginauguration. Both Hyderabad openers looked in little trouble,prepared to take their time and ensure that a large first-inningstotal was not frittered away. Manohar, the slower of the two, madeexactly 100 off 295 balls, striking 11 fours in his knock.Nand Kishore, the more adventurous of the duo, hit 23 fours in hisknock of 136 off 266 balls. Karnataka did not help their cause toomuch by conceding as many as 39 extras in the day, with 21 no-ballsbeing bowled.At stumps, Hyderabad were 275 for no loss, with both Manohar and NandKishore looking hungry for more runs on Day Two.*Services hold on for tame drawBeing set a total of 312 for victory, Services played for safetyrather than victory, reaching a total of 244/6 by the close of play onDay Four of their Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana atFaridabad.Haryana’s overnight unbeaten batsmen added valuable runs with theremaining tailenders, and their innings closed at 220 all out.Services started shakily, losing two wickets for the addition of 32runs. PMS Reddy and Yashpal Singh, however, stabilised the innings.Reddy departed with the score on 128, having made 53. His partner wasdismissed less than 30 runs later, caught by Shafiq Khan off AmitMishra for 64. CD Thomson made a fine unbeaten 44 lower down theorder, ensuring, along with skipper Sanjay Verma, that Services didnot lose the match.Haryana, by virtue of their first-innings total, pick up five pointsfrom this match, while Services get three.*Jammu opt for cautionPunjab, looking to bowl out Jammy and Kashmir for less than 293, wereunsuccessful in their bid on Day Four of their Ranji Trophy leaguematch at Jammu.The home side, losing two wickets for 37 runs, shut shop and refusedto be tempted into trying for the target. Kavaljit Singh, playing atone-down, made a painstaking 89 off 263 balls, giving clear indicationof the plans of his team.He was ably supported by Dhruv Mahajan (46), but Punjab must havesniffed some chance of victory when Kavaljit Singh, the fifth wicketto fall, departed with the score on 187. The lower middle-order,however, kept out the bowling long enough to take the home side to211/6 at stumps.Jammu and Kashmir pick up five points by virtue of their first-inningslead, while Punjab pick up three.*Delhi draw with Himachal PradeshDelhi, by virtue of a first-innings lead, gained five points fromtheir drawn Ranji Trophy league match against Himachal Pradesh atBilaspur.Himachal Pradesh, staring the day at a strong 327/4, proceeded to add94 runs before declaring at 421/7. Rajiv Nayyar, who remained unbeatenon 84, was a figure of patience, grinding the Delhi attack for almost6 hours and 225 balls, hitting only four fours in his knock.Set a nigh-impossible total of 361 for victory, Delhi opted forbatting practice. Gautam Gambhir made 42 and Akash Chopra an unbeaten86 off 168 balls. Delhi reached 219/3 at stumps, with none of theHimachal Pradesh bowlers able to dent the batting line-up further.

The England and Wales Cricket Board today announced a 16-man squad to tour New Zealand this winter.With Andrew Caddick returning to the squad and Andrew Flintoff retained after playing in all three Tests before Christmas, Martyn Ball and Richard Johnson are the players omitted from the party which toured India.Ball and Johnson were called up into the squad for India after Andrew Caddick and Robert Croft chose not to tour following heightened fears about security in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York.Croft, who was named in the original 16-man Test squad announced last August, is not included in the squad for New Zealand. James Ormond has been included subject to passing a fitness test on a shoulder injury.Chairman of Selectors, David Graveney, said: “In picking this squad, we werekeen to retain the nucleus of the team which exceeded many people’s expectations in India before Christmas in drawing two Test Matches and losing one.”Andrew Flintoff made a significant impact with the ball on the sub-continent and he thoroughly deserves to retain his place in the squad. Andrew Caddick is a high-class bowler of proven pedigree at Test level and we are delighted to have him back in both the Test and One-Day squad.”It was always our intention to reduce the number of spinners in the party from three to two for the second leg of this winter’s tour as we expect to encounter more seamer-friendly surfaces in New Zealand.”While Robert Croft remains in our thoughts for the future, Richard Dawsonshowed great promise in India and we are keen to give him an opportunity todevelop his international career still further.”England Test Squad to tour New Zealand – 2002

1. Nasser Hussain (Captain) Essex 28.3.682. Usman Afzaal Nottinghamshire 9.6.773. Mark Butcher Surrey 23.8.724. Andrew Caddick Somerset 21.11.685. Richard Dawson Yorkshire 4.8.806. Andrew Flintoff Lancashire 6.12.777. James Foster Essex 15.4.808. Ashley Giles Warwickshire 19.3.739. Warren Hegg Lancashire 23.2.6810. Matthew Hoggard Yorkshire 31.12.7611. James Ormond Leicestershire 20.8.7712. Mark Ramprakash Surrey 5.9.6913. Graham Thorpe Surrey 1.8.6914. Marcus Trescothick Somerset 25.12.7515. Michael Vaughan Yorkshire 29.10.7416. Craig White Yorkshire 16.12.69

Coach – Duncan Fletcher
Assistant Coach – Graham Dilley
Operations Manager – Phil Neale
Physiotherapist – Dean Conway
Physiologist – Nigel Stockill
Media Relations Manager – Andrew Walpole
Scorer – Malcolm Ashton

Roger Treherne (Southampton) – A Hampshire member for 50 years, who joined the committee in 1986 having played cricket for Hampshire Colts and Deanery Cricket Club.Roger was elected Chairman of the Members’ Committee in 2002 and retired from Marsh UK Ltd in the same year. He has had many roles within the committee including chairing the Hampshire 2000 fund raising year. Alongside Mike Taylor he organized the major dinner to mark the leaving of Northlands Road with over 1000 attending. He is committed to representing Members’ interests.Roger is married with 2 children and lists golf as his main other interest being a member of Stoneham Golf club.

As Bengal left-arm spinner took six wickets, his side went on to win their Ranji Trophy league match against Assam at Kolkata on Monday.Overnight on 147/6, Assam collapsed in the face of sustained spin from Chatterjee and off-spinner Saurashish Lahiri (4-65). Barring the 83 from PK Das at the top of the order, none of the batsmen could even cross 50. The visitors were consequently bowled out for 206.Set a target of 157, Bengal reached it easily, losing only the openers along the way. Nikhil Haldipur made an unbeaten 51 and skipper Rohan Gavaskar 40 not out. Bengal collect eight points from this outright win.

West Indies comfortably completed a 3-0 one-day series victory over Kenya with a seven-wicket win in the final game in Nairobi.But the result was harsh on Kenya’s Steve Tikolo who hit 71 and took two West Indies wickets.Tikolo is generally regarded as the finest Kenyan cricketer of all-time and showed just why with a dashing innings.But West Indies openers Leon Garrick and Chris Gayle put on 116 to set up victory. Gayle was eventually caught by David Otieno for a run-a-ball 70, while Garrick, in only his third One-Day International, dug in to make 76.Number three Wavell Hinds compiled a patient 44 not out, with Marlon Samuelsadding 30 before being dismissed only eight runs short of the victory target of 233.West Indies finished on 234 for three, easing to what had looked a testing target with 17 balls left.Tikolo’s 55-ball innings was the highlight of Kwenya’s effort as they made 232 for seven in their 50 overs. Tikolo made his debut 11 years ago and averages more than 30 in One-Day Internationals.Other major contributors in the Kenyan innings were openers David Otieno (34)and Ravindu Shah (29) who put on 74 for the first wicket, while Thomas Odoyuhit 31 and left-hander Hitesh Modi made an unbeaten 29.Spinner Neil McGarrell was the top West Indies bowler with three for44.