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The debut of the Three Ws-Sir Frank Worrell, Clyde Walcott and Sir Everton Weekes – some 60 years ago changed the face of West Indies cricket forever. That history was celebrated on Tuesday night at the Queen’s Park Oval Banquet Hall in the presence of the last surviving member, Sir Everton Weekes.Worrell made his Test debut in 1948, at the Oval, against England. The match marked the start of the Three Ws era, and was also Andy Ganteaume’s lone Test appearance. Though the Trinidad and Tobago batsman made 112, he was never again selected on the regional team.Three perspectives on the life of Worrell and the 1948 Test match were presented at Tuesday’s function. Deryck Murray gave a player’s take on Worrell, Tony Cozier delivered a journalist’s point of view and Professor Courtney Bartholomew presented a personal perspective.All three speakers agreed that his contribution to West Indies cricket went “well beyond the boundary”.Murray described the 1948 Test as unique since it was Ganteaume’s first and last appearance. He said Ganteaume’s unfortunate situation will remain one of the defining moments of the era. Murray praised Ganteaume for the way he carried himself after being dropped after becoming the first West Indies batsman to make a century on debut, in the first innings of the Oval Test. The T&T board president said Ganteaume was “still able to contribute, and further the cause of West Indies cricket.”Murray recalled the first time he played under the captaincy of Worrell. “In Sir Frank Worrell we had a man who became accepted as the elder statesman of West Indies cricket…a unifying force. He was all things to all men. I understood how little the significance of insularity could be if you wanted to be part of a team. He insisted that room-mates could not be from the same territory, he insisted that there was an older and younger roommate so that at all times the team administration was about learning, mentorship and becoming a representative of a truly West Indian team in the true sense of the word. I have no hesitation in saying that Sir Frank Worrell was the greatest leader that world cricket has ever seen and probably even beyond that.”Cozier looked back at Worrell’s career. “Here is a man who, through cricket and from quite humble beginnings in Barbados, was knighted in 1964, the second West Indian cricketer to be knighted, was a senator in Jamaica, and when he died he was honoured by a Memorial Service in Westminster Abbey, the only cricketer to be so honoured.”It was here at the Queen’s Park Oval,” Cozier continued, “a 17-year-old school boy, batting No. 11 and considered a left-arm spin bowler, came onto the scene playing for Barbados. He moved up the order, and in 1946 he and Walcott put on an unbeaten partnership of 574 of which Worrell had 255 not out and Walcott 314 not out. “Sir Everton Weekes,” Cozier noted, “was out for a duck, but he more than made up for it in subsequent innings at the Oval.”

In the feature address, Bartholomew was high in praise for the Three Ws. “It was all for one and one for all,” he declared, noting that when Weekes was out for a duck at the Oval, Worrell and Walcott made up for it. It is a good thing that God made night or else Worrell and Walcott would still be at the crease.”Bartholomew also spoke about Worrell’s captaincy on the tour of Australia in 1960-61. At the end of the tour there was a ticker-tape farewell for the team, with 200,000 people lining the streets of Melbourne chanting “We want Frank”. West Indies lost the series 2-1 but featured in the first-ever tied Test. “We won the hearts of everyone in Australia and indeed the world.”In 1963, West Indies toured England and were again very popular. On that occasion, West Indies won the series 3-1. Worrell retired after the series, and died in 1967.The day before he died, Bartholomew recalled, Worrell told the nurses, “‘Please remove the drips … I am tired, very tired’. And so, the captain declared his innings retired hurt, before he reached his half-century, at the age of 42. The king is dead, long live the king. It was the worst of times.” Bartholomew thanked the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Committee for keeping the “memory of the King alive … it was the best of times.” Weekes and Ganteaume were presented with memorial plaques.

Sussex have signed Ryan Harris, the South Australia allrounder, who holds a British passport after beating off interest from other counties. Harris is South Australia’s highest wicket-taker in the Pura Cup with 33 scalps and is the fourth highest in the domestic season.According to , Nottinghamshire, Somerset and Essex were also chasing Harris’s signature but he eventually opted for the defending county champions.”We are delighted to have finally got our man. Ryan is a bowler we have been tracking most of the winter and we’ve used our contact to find out as much about him as we can,” cricket manager Mark Robinson said. “He’s an exciting prospect who has the potential to bowl quickly. Moreover, Ryan is an outstanding fielder and a more than handy lower order batsman. He completes our squad and gives us the extra fire power we need for the defence of our title.”The signing still needs to be confirmed by the ECB but Sussex don’t foresee any problems. Harris will add valuable depth to Sussex’s squad – one of the smallest on the circuit – as they aim to defend their Championship title. Alongside his 33 Pura Cup wickets Harris has also scored 286 runs at 23.During the winter Sussex have lost the retired Richard Montgomerie, Saqlain Mushtaq who has gone to Surrey and Rana Naved to Yorkshire.Sussex begin their season against MCC, at Lord’s, on April 10 before their opening Championship fixture against Hampshire, at The Rose Bowl, on April 16.

The ICC used the launch of the 2006 Champions Trophy to try to quell suggestions that the event is not a priority for some teams after comments earlier this week that Australia might send a weakened side ahead of the Ashes which follows almost immediately.”Don’t kid yourself,” Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, told the media announcing the schedule for the month-long tournament in New Delhi. “Australia have never won this tournament before and are determined to win this one. They will send their best team.”India will take on England in the opening match on October 15 at Jaipur. Both have been drawn in Group A, a section which also features the three-time world champions Australia and one qualifier. Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and another qualifying team from Group B.Despite being the holders, West Indies are one of four teams who will take part in a preliminary round-robin which starts on October 7 and will be played at all four of the venues. West Indies must take part in this stage because they were outside the top six teams in the ICC one-day rankings at the cut-off date of April 1. Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are the other three sides, and the two best teams from the preliminary rounds will go through to the second stage.All matches will be day-nighters, with the two semi-finals to be played at Mohali on November 1 and Jaipur on November 2. The final will then be played at Mumbai on November 5.The ICC expects to raise around $65 million from the tournament which will help fund non-Test nations.SchedulePreliminaries:
Oct 7: Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, Mohali
Oct 8: West Indies v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
Oct 10: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
Oct 11: West Indies v Bangladesh, Jaipur
Oct 13: Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, Jaipur
Oct 14: Sri Lanka v West Indies, Mumbai
Group stage:
Oct 15: India v England, Jaipur
Oct 16: New Zealand v South Africa, Mumbai
Oct 17: Pakistan v Qualifier 1, Jaipur
Oct 18: Australia v Qualifier 2, Mumbai
Oct 20: New Zealand v Q1, Mumbai
Oct 21: Australia v England, Jaipur
Oct 24: South Africa v Q1, Ahmedabad
Oct 25: New Zealand v Pakistan, Mohali
Oct 26: India v Q2, Ahmedabad
Oct 27: Pakistan v South Africa, Mohali
Oct 28: England v Q2, Ahmedabad
Oct 29: India v Australia, Mohali
Nov 1: 1st Semifinal – A1 v B2, Mohali
Nov 2: 2nd Semifinal – B1 v A2, Jaipur
Nov 5: Final, Mumbai

Thirush Kamini is a commerce student at the Church Park school near Thousand Lights mosque in Chennai. She is a good student, a very good one, she avers, and has no problem coping with the pressure of balancing studies with, get this, playing international cricket.Part of India’s squad for the quadrangular tournament, Kamini, 16, is a legbreak bowler who debuted for India at the Asia Cup last December and won the player-of-the-tournament award for her eight wickets at 10.87 apiece. She has certainly got the support of her captain, Mithali Raj, who was sure that in Kamini India had a star-in-the-making.At nets, on the eve of India’s opening match against England, she bowled with a round-arm action and tried to the flight the ball pitching it right up to the crease. She had tripped over a practice ball the day before but, typically, dismissed it as nothing serious. Kamini began playing cricket with her father when she was nine years old but soon moved to the Sports and Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for some professional coaching. Playing with boys, for a while, she kept wickets. But by 2002, Kamini had decided that leg spin was the way to go. Though Shane Warne does not feature among her cricketing heroes – she likes Sachin Tendulkar and Karen Rolton – she will hope to get some of his magic when she comes in to bowl at Charlotte Edwards, Claire Taylor, Ebony-Rainford Brent and the other England batsmen.India’s net session went on for three hours with all members of the squad going through the batting and fielding drills before heading off to the swimming pool. England, on the other hand, had a light session late afternoon resting five players from the squad. Edwards, the England captain, said that the side had had two rigorous matches against India A and India B in the last two days so the nets session had been optional. A dilemma that the captain is facing is who should keep wickets in the game against India. Along with Jane Smit, the regular keeper, England have brought Sarah Taylor, a 17-year old wicketkeeper, who has averaged 50.50 in the five matches she has played for England.Asked which team will be the toughest opposition, Edwards said that India, being at home, and Australia, in their current form, are the favourites. “Women’s cricket is really looking good today. All the top four teams are very strong and on a day each can beat the other.”Australia play New Zealand on February 21 at the ITT Chemplast stadium while India take on England at Chepauk.

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Nilesh Kulkarni’s match haul of ten wickets enabled Mumbai to storm to their first win of the season, steamrolling Gujarat by an innings and 163 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. Kulkarni snared 10 of the Gujarat 15 wickets to fall today, and along with offspinner Ramesh Powar who snapped up five in the second innings, gave Gujarat no chance. Gujarat, who were felled for 147 in the first innings, didn’t do much better in the second, rolling over for 193. Azharuddin Bilakhia stood out with a steady 88, including 11 fours, but Kulkarni and Powar shared nine wickets between them to seal the contest.
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Suresh Raina rediscovered his form with an excellent 124 at Chennai, enabling Uttar Pradesh to gain the first-innings lead against Tamil Nadu. Raina struck 20 fours in his 230-ball knock, one that spanned two minutes less than five-and-a-half hours, and received good support from Ali Murtaza in a 165-run stand. Ravichandran Ashwin was he lone bowling star for Tamil Nadu, toiling hard for 44.3 overs for his six wickets. Tamil Nadu replied with 63 for no loss at the end of the day with Anirudha Srikkanth finishing on a 67-ball 48.
A couple of half-centuries from ASK Varma and Prasad Reddy steered Andhra towards a big win on the third day at Anantpur. Varma followed up his first-innings century with a gritty 81, including nine fours and two sixes, while Reddy continued the good form he’s shown all season with a crucial 52. Syed Sahabuddin’s breezy 46 added to Karnataka’s misery, stretching the lead to beyond 400. Karnataka began their reply in sloppy fashion, losing two wickets for 35 before stumps.
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The Vadodara clash was poised on a knife edge at the end of the third day, with Baroda needing 84 more runs with five wickets in hand. Chasing 213, Baroda got off to a confident start with Connor Williams and Satyajit Parab adding 74 for the opening partnership but a glut of wickets changed the complexion of the contest. Amit Mishra, the legspinner, led Haryana’s fightback with 4 for 45 in 20 overs and set up an exciting finish. Earlier, Joginder Sharma, with a stroke-filled 65-ball 54, boosted Haryana to 210 in their second innings.
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Sourashish Lahiri led a solid middle-order performance as Bengal gained the upper hand against Maharashtra at Kolkata. Resuming on 199 for 5, Bengal extended their total to 325 thanks to Lahiri’s 54, including seven fours. Deep Dasgupta and Rohan Gavaskar chipped in with 49 and 38 respectively as Bengal gained a handy 110-run lead. Maharashtra replied in confident fashion, ending on 78 for 1 before the day was out.
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Pankaj Dharmani’s fantastic 151, along with Uday Kaul’s painstaking 71, rescued Punjab from dire straits at Jaipur. Punjab were reeling at 61 for 4, chasing Rajasthan’s healthy 332, but Dharmani stitched together a vital 51-run stand with Vipul Sharma before seizing the initiative with Kaul. Dharmani, a master of batting with the tail, cracked 16 fours in his unbeaten knock, while Kaul was the more patient partner, consuming 240 deliveries for his 70. Both were undefeated at the end of the day with the Rajasthan’s lead whittled down to just 21.
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Delhi were facing the humiliating prospect of an innings defeat, after being forced to follow-on, on the third day against Saurashtra at Rajkot. Resuming on 84 for 4 in their first innings, Delhi rode on half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Rajat Bhatia apart from a 74-ball 43 from Ashish Nehra. But no-one went on to a big score, with four batsmen falling to the left-arm spin of Rakesh Dhruv, as Delhi failed to avoid the follow-on. They were in further trouble in the second innings, ending on a precarious 84 for 4 at stumps.

If England’s injury-jinxed cricketers are feeling a touch gloomy as they finalise their preparations for tomorrow’s second Test at Old Trafford, then perhaps they should cast their minds back by precisely a year. On July 26, 2005, the country was engaged in another prolonged bout of navel-gazing. After a feverish build-up to the Ashes, the first Test at Lord’s had been surrendered with barely a whimper, and the same old story seemed set to be unfurled.Of course, we all know what happened next, which just goes to show that when it seems your fortunes have hit rock-bottom, the only way is up. Even so, it will be hard for England to dredge any optimism from their current slough of despond. Only last week, it seemed the stage was set for Andrew Flintoff to make an emotional comeback on his home ground. Instead, he has joined Michael Vaughan, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones on the operating table, not to mention the Ashes critical list. The fact that Pakistan are equally debilitated by injury will come as little consolation.Predictably, Flintoff’s absence has dominated England’s build-up, with a range of options still being weighed up. At Lord’s, England’s four-man attack failed to make any headway against batsmen of the class of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf, and if that in itself was not enough to convince Duncan Fletcher of the need for a rejig, then the subsequent side strain incurred by Liam Plunkett has forced his hand.Into the breach, therefore, comes Sajid Mahmood – a man who was last seen disappearing to all corners of England during a desperate one-day series against Sri Lanka, but who showed on his Test debut at Lord’s in May that he can generate the sort of pace, skid and movement that unsettles the best. “My parents are from Pakistan, but I’ve told them they’ve got to support England or they won’t get a ticket!” he told reporters at Old Trafford yesterday, as he prepared to provide Lancashire with something to excite the home fans.And that’s what this match should be all about for England now. The confirmation of their worst fears vis a vis Flintoff represent a chance for a new beginning, for new heroes to emerge from the wreckage of their best-laid plans. That is especially true for the captain, Andrew Strauss, a man who seemed desperately compromised by his role as “the stand-in’s stand-in” during his first six assignments of the summer, but who now has the rest of the season and – who knows – maybe even an Ashes Test or two to stamp some of his own personality on the role.”Now I’m looking a bit more long-term and I’m looking to win the series,” Strauss told reporters at Old Trafford. “I’m just approaching it a little differently and it adds a little more stability to the situation. But we’re talking about three games so it’s not a massive change in set-up. I’m settling into the job and I’ll receive a lot of support from Duncan Fletcher and the rest of the management team.”

But will it just be support or something more over-bearing? The impression given at Lord’s was that Strauss’s strings were being pulled by his inscrutable puppet-master on the pavilion balcony. Fletcher’s influence was felt at every critical juncture of that match, not least when England delayed their declaration on the final day. Conservatism has always been Fletcher’s watchword, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing – take the winter of 1999-2000 for instance, when his first role upon joining the England set-up was to teach a shambolic side how not to lose.However, it was confirmed this afternoon that Jamie Dalrymple – an Ashley-Giles-like spinner-cum-batsman – has been released from the squad which suggests Strauss will indeed receive the support he so needs from Fletcher. Had Dalrymple made his debut tomorrow, it would have been safe to assume that another drawn series was Fletcher’s, and England’s, limited ambition.Quite the contrary, though. Panesar, who will now certainly play, has obvious fallibilities with the bat, and in especially the field, which no doubt irk Fletcher considerably; his favoured players are, in general, all multi-faceted. So in releasing Dalrymple, perhaps Fletcher sees Panesar as the main threat to Pakistan’s dominance with the bat. That is, though, rather unlikely that the coach should be so suddenly swayed into believing Monty is a matchwinner; more probable is that he is backing Strauss to the hilt and giving him the players wants.Given Old Trafford’s inclination to turn from day one, Pakistan have been seriously considering a recall for Sussex’s evergreen leggie Mushtaq Ahmed.”We are keeping all our options open since we don’t have a master blaster in our ranks,” said Pakistan’s coach, Bob Woolmer. He was referring to the continued absence of Shoaib Akhtar, but it might as well have been Fletcher talking about Flintoff.Woolmer himself has been on about Flintoff too, warning his team not to take England too lightly as a result of his absence. “It would have given our team a psychological boost to play against a player of his quality,” he claimed. “It is not a positive for us that he is missing.”Pakistan’s openers, Salman Butt and Imran Farhat, might beg to differ, after enduring a torrid enough time against Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison at Lord’s. But for the celebrated middle-order, to which the vice-captain, Younis Khan, is set to return after recovering from a knee injury, that might well be true. Inzamam has nine half-centuries in consecutive innings against English Test attacks; Yousuf has two double-hundreds and a 48 in three innings. It’s all been ridiculously easy pickings for them.Even without Flintoff to put the wind up them, Pakistan still have plenty respect for the remaining England fast bowlers, as demonstrated by Woolmer’s unconventional use of a slab of marble to simulate the steepling bounce that Harmison can extract from a good length. It just goes to show that, for all the suggestions to the contrary in recent weeks, one man doesn’t make a team. In the coming weeks, England have a golden three-Test opportunity to discover the true quality of their reserves, because one day, they really will have to do without Flintoff, full stop.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Alastair Cook, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Matthew Hoggard, 9 Sajid Mahmood, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Monty Panesar.Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Mohammad Sami, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Danish Kaneria.

Boeta Dippenaar has urged Cricket South Africa (CSA) to revamp its racial quota system and focus on cricket rather than politics. Dippenaar, the new president of the South African Cricketers’ Association, wants administrators to choose players on cricket ability rather than race.His comments come in the wake of Charl Langeveldt’s decision in March to withdraw from the tour squad for India in protest at Andre Nel’s omission because of CSA’s racial transformation policy. Dippenaar worries keen youngsters may be deterred from aiming for international honours because of the policy.”If people had an aspiration to play for South Africa they will now think twice about doing so,” Dippenaar told Reuters. “I have always said the game should be surrounded by people with cricketing interests at heart and not people with political interests at heart. There’s a distinct difference.”We are on dangerous ground as soon as we start saying ‘x’ amount of players have to be white and ‘x’ amount of players have to be of colour,” Dippenaar said. “We don’t mind if the whole team is black if that’s the best team. Throughout the whole transformation process a lot of patriotism has been lost.”Dippenaar pointed to the example of England’s Kevin Pietersen, who left South Africa partly because of his disagreement with their policy on quotas. “No country can afford to lose a player of Pietersen’s calibre,” said Dippenaar. “That puts a question mark about whether we are doing the right things. We should never have allowed a player of his calibre to fall through our net.”

Chris Rogers’ hopes of replacing Justin Langer in the first Test have ended after he had his appendix removed in Perth on Thursday night. The unfortunate timing of the illness leaves Phil Jaques in an almost untouchable position to join Matthew Hayden when Australia face Sri Lanka at the Gabba from November 8.Jaques (13 and 167) and Rogers (9 and 17) went head-to-head in the first Pura Cup match of the season but now only Jaques, Brad Hodge and maybe Michael Hussey are contenders. Rogers was admitted to the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and had his appendix taken out using a laparoscopic technique.A WACA spokesman said Rogers would stay in hospital for another night and would look to resume playing in two weeks. The recovery will prevent Rogers from appearing in the Pura Cup match against Victoria in Melbourne from next Friday, which is the last chance to impress ahead of the Sri Lanka series.The Willetton allrounder Matt Johnston has been included in the 13-man squad for Western Australia’s FR Cup match against Tasmania in Perth on Sunday. He has started well in the Perth grade competition, scoring 179 runs at 89.50 and taking 4 for 44 in his only bowl.”Matt has received a reward for displaying outstanding form,” the coach Tom Moody said, “and he now has an opportunity to show his wares once again on the interstate arena.” Ben Edmondson, who injured his hamstring in the Pura Cup contest, was replaced by Daniel McLauchlan while Darren Wates also came into the squad.Western Australia FR Cup squad Justin Langer, Luke Ronchi (wk), Adam Voges (capt), Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Matt Johnston, Darren Wates, Sean Ervine, Shawn Gillies, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Daniel McLauchlan.

Trevor Penney, the assistant coach of Sri Lanka during Tom Moody’s tenure, will take over as coach until they find a replacement for Moody.”Trevor’s contract runs until the end of August so he will be in charge alongside Rumesh Ratnayake [a former Sri Lankan fast bowler],” a Sri Lanka Cricket source told AFP. “We are not in a hurry to appoint a new coach and will let the process run its course.” Penney and Ratnayake will be in charge for the home series against Bangladesh, which begins in June.Sri Lanka Cricket had shortlisted several contenders to replace Moody, who was leaving to coach Western Australia after completing his two-year contract with Sri Lanka. Penney will join him after his contract expires in August.The early frontrunner for the Sri Lanka job, John Wright, had apparently ruled himself out. Other interested candidates included Jamie Siddons, Dave Houghton, Greg Shipperd, Terry Oliver, Trevor Bayliss and Graham Ford.Siddons is assistant coach of the Australian team and a senior coach at the Center for Excellence in Brisbane. Houghton, the former Zimbabwe captain, is presently coaching Derbyshire. Shipperd is the coach of Victoria while Oliver had success coaching Queensland. Baylisss made his mark as head coach of New South Wales and Ford who coaches Kent was a former coach of South Africa.

Despite being booed by supporters after England’s wretched nine-wicket defeat by South Africa, Michael Vaughan was adamant that he was not about to stand down as captain.Clearly affected by the hostile reception and the manner of the loss, Vaughan admitted that both he and Duncan Fletcher were under pressure. “I’m an honest guy who says my position is hugely in doubt due to my batting,” he said. “But I still believe I’m a very good captain. I’m not retiring.”It’s a horrible feeling to have walked off the field and get booed by a lot of England supporters, but rightfully so from the performance we put in,” he said. “I’ve been a supporter in a stadium, watched football teams that haven’t produced, and done exactly the same. I fully understand why they have given us that kind of reception.”With 130 runs from nine World Cup innings – and without a hundred in 85 ODIs either -Vaughan could hardly say he was anything other than disappointed by the outcome. “It’s a massive tournament, in which I expected us to turn up and produce something. I firmly believe that we have players with the talent and the attitude to do that on the big stage. We haven’t done that so we have to accept all the criticism that comes our way. It’s a very sad day for English cricket.”And as for his own position? “There will be many conversations in the days ahead,” he said. “There needs to be a lot of honesty after a very, very disappointing six months. As players we have to look at why we have performed to a standard that is unacceptable through the winter. The most important thing is to get a strategy to get English cricket back on track.”