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Neil Manthorp highlights the problems facing South Africa’s selectors as they search for the next generation of fast bowlersOne of South African cricket’s proudest traditions goes on trial at Edgbaston and there are more than a few doubters who believe Graeme Smith’s team lack the ability to maintain it.Whatever the results over the years, South Africa have always had fast bowlers who made life uncomfortable for opposition batsmen and made them work hard, mentally and physically, for their runs. Is that now the case? Many ask the question and, increasingly since the team arrived in England, many say not.South African cricket was never always strong, despite the last seven or eight years when it has presented the best – and perhaps only – viable challenge to Australia’s dominance. But the one constant in the last 40 years has been the depth of fast bowling talent in the country. Now that appears to have diminished.As far back as 1997 Makhaya Ntini was heralded as the ‘new Allan Donald’, and he may still be getting there. But Donald enjoyed the best back-up support in the world in those days, and now the new captain, Smith, looks in vain for a man to add his own fire to the pace and hostility of Ntini.During isolation from the world game the country’s domestic game was scattered with world-class pacemen good enough to have graced any international line-up, a possibility that some considered during the 21-year isolation from international competition between 1970 and 1991.Even before the ‘rebel’ years in which quicks like Garth Le Roux, Vintcent van der Bijl, Mike Procter and Clive Rice graced the English county scene with unqualified success, the SA tradition of match-winning fast bowlers had been carried into the 1950s by Peter Heine and the 1960s by Peter Pollock.By the time of readmission to the international stage, South Africa had a wealth of fast bowling talent at their disposal and, led by a rampant Allan Donald, bowled rather than batted their way to the World Cup semi finals in 1992. Meyrick Pringle, Richard Snell, Brian McMillan and the late Tertius Bosch were Donald’s lieutenants in those days and they were quickly followed by Craig Matthews, Fanie de Villiers and Brett Schultz. Heck, fast bowlers were so thick on the ground as the 1990s came to an end that even the side’s best batsman, Jacques Kallis, could bowl at 145 kilometres an hour.But now Kallis is at home in Cape Town and that is just the beginning of the problems. Whisper it, Englishmen, because he may yet haunt you, but Shaun Pollock’s lack of pace means batsmen can play him on the front foot and his wicket taking deliveries can be largely left alone. It may still be devilishly difficult to score off him, but survival is far less of a challenge than it was.Ntini is now Smith’s banker – loyal, fast, aggressive, fit and willing to bowl 30 overs a day, even more. It isn’t even worth thinking about what might happen to South Africa’s attack should he break down or have a bad day, or two. Pollock and Ntini cannot, of course, bowl all day. So what happens then?Two out of three pacemen, with a collection of two Test caps between them, will provide the back-up. Charl Willoughby is a left-armer who can swing the ball, at no great pace, but bagfuls of wickets for Basingstoke in the English leagues ought not leave Marcus Trescothik and Michael Vaughan quaking in their boots. He has one cap, against Bangladesh in Chittagong, to his credit. He took one wicket.Dewald Pretorius also has one Test cap, earned against Australia 18 months ago when he was belted all over Newlands in Cape Town. He is a big-hearted trier who also has one Test wicket.And finally there is Monde Zondeki, who has neither a wicket nor even a cap. But he has got pace, and plenty of it. The trouble for South Africa’s selectors is that he has also just recently recovered from a serious shoulder injury, albeit his non-bowling shoulder, sustained in a car accident shortly after SA’s ignominious exit from the World Cup in March this year. He has played just 14 first-class matches and claimed one five-wicket haul, against Somerset last week.Omar Henry, South Africa’s national selection convenor, hasn’t got much to choose from. “Any one of these guys could make a name for himself in England. They might grab their chance with both hands and establish themselves straight away. They all have the potential, that’s why we picked them,” Henry said before joining the squad two weeks ago. But his confidence was countered by his admission that he was, well, ‘on a mission’.”There is a fast bowler out there, somewhere in South Africa, who will make us all proud by winning matches and taking over Allan’s crown," Henry said. "He might even be in the squad at the moment, but if he isn’t then I will find him. I will not rest until I find him. We have a proud tradition of fast bowlers and we will live up to it.”That may be so, but the ‘here and now’ reality of South Africa’s tour is that the word ‘popgun’, never applied to a South African attack since readmission in 1991, may be closer to making its debut than ever before.

A super century by Yasir Hameed and fine bowling by off-spinner Shoaib Malik helped PIA lift the NBP One-day Patron’s Cup with a comfortable 55-run victory over Wapda in the final at Gaddafi Stadium on Monday.Chasing a formidable target of 274, Wapda failed to absorb the pressure of playing their first final and were able to muster only 218 for nine in the allotted 50 overs.Wapda, though, began the chase promisingly as Tariq Aziz (31) and Adil Nisar (25) put on 46 for the opening partnership.Shahid Mansoor batted solidly in the middle-order to contribute 60 off 84 deliveries with three boundaries before falling to slow left-armer Nadeem Khan, neatly stumped by brother Moin, the PIA skipper.Shoaib gained some useful practice before he leaves for Sharjah on Tuesday morning for the four-nation tournament. Bowling to a tidy line and length, the spinner conceded just 24 runs in 10 overs, picking up in the process wickets of Tariq Aziz, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan (21), Farooq Iqbal (29) and Waqas Ahmed (5).Nadeem Khan, in contrast, proved expensive as he gave away 60 runs in his 10 overs.Earlier, PIA overcame the early loss of the in-form Moin to pile up a big total after winning the toss.Moin, the former Pakistan captain, was caught behind for only six when he nibbled at an outswinger from pacemanNaveed-ul-Hasan.The experienced Ghulam Ali hammered five fours and a brace of sixes on his way to a rapid 61 off 79 balls. He dominated the second-wicket stand of 84 with Yasir.Yasir found another reliable partner in former Test batsman Asif Mujtaba. But Asif was unable to stay for long as he was unluckily run out while going for a second run.Yasir, however, made amends by taking on the responsibility of anchoring the innings. Faisal Iqbal helped him add 76 runs in only 47minutes for the fourth wicket. Faisal went after making 32 off 41 balls when he played across the line to a good length delivery from medium-pacer Kashif Raza.Yasir, who made a career-best 207 in the final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy earlier in the season, completed a magnificent century with the aid of five hits to the ropes. He departed shortly after for a fine 102, which were scored off 122 balls.Shoaib played a little cameo by blasting an unbeaten 25 off just seven deliveries. Naveed-ul-Hasan suffered most in the final over of the innings as 21 runs were scored from it. Shoaib lifted the first three balls for huge sixes. Kashif finished with three for 60.PIA, who won their ninth one-day title, were presented with the winners’ cash prize of Rs 100,000 and the crystal trophy by NBP president Syed Ali Raza, who graced the final as the chief guest.Wapda skipper Zahid Umar received runners-up’s cash prize ofRs 50,000.Moin was also declared the best batsman of the tournament with an aggregate of 433 runs in eight matches. Shoaib Malik was adjudged the best bowler with 20 wickets. Habib Bank’s Atiq-uz-Zaman with 12 catches and five stumpings was the declared the best wicket-keeper. Bazid Khan won the prize for being the best fielder with eight catches. All of them received were awarded Rs 10,000 each.Yasir Hameed was a deserving recipient of the Man-of-the-Match award, which was worth Rs 10,000 in the final.ScoreboardPIA:Ghulam Ali c Tariq b Aqeel 61Moin Khan c Zahid b Naveed 6Yasir Hameed b Kashif 102Asif Mujtaba run out 27Faisal Iqbal b Kashif 32Bazid Khan c Shahid b Kashif 10Shoaib Malik not out 25Kamran Sajid c Shahid b Naveed 3EXTRAS (LB-2, W-2, NB-3) 7TOTAL (seven wkts, 50 overs) 273FALL OF WKTS: 1-24, 2-108, 3-145, 4-221, 5-245, 6-246, 7-273.DID NOT BAT: Nadeem Khan, Umar Gul, Fazle Akbar.BOWLING: Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 10-0-60-2; Waqas Ahmed 4.5-0-15-0;Ijaz Mahmood 5.1-0-29-0; Farooq Iqbal 10-0-52-0;Kashif Raza 10-0-60-3; Aqeel Ahmed 10-1-55-1.WAPDA:Tariq Aziz c Bazid b Shoaib 31Adil Nisar lbw b Umar 25Rizwan Malik c Bazid b Fazle 0Shahid Mansoor st Moin b Nadeem 60Zahid Umar run out 9Ijaz Mahmood c Umar b Nadeem 20Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan b Shoaib 21Farooq Iqbal c Ghulam Ali b Shoaib 29Waqas Ahmed c and b Shoaib 5Kashif Raza not out 6Aqeel Ahmed not out 3EXTRAS (LB-4, W-4, NB-1) 9TOTAL (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 218FALL OF WKTS: 1-46, 2-58, 3-66, 4-79, 5-120, 6-164,7-185, 8-209, 9-209.BOWLING: Umar Gul 10-1-41-1; Fazle Akbar 9-0-54-1;Asif Mujtaba 10-1-30-0; Shoaib Malik 10-2-24-4;Nadeem Khan 10-0-60-2; Kamran Sajid 1-0-5-0.RESULT: PIA won by 55 runs.UMPIRES: Aleem Dar and Nadeem Ghauri.MATCH REFEREE: Azhar Khan.MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Yasir Hameed

Somerset County Cricket Club are once again staging their highly popular Coaching Courses at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground during the forthcoming Easter Holidays.The courses that are for both boys and girls between the ages of six and fourteen are devised to improve the all round cricketing skills of each individual and will take place on April 23rd, 24th and 25th.The 6 to 9 year olds sessions will be between 11am and 1pm each day, and the 10-14 year olds will be between 2pm and 4pm.The coaching sessions will be conducted by fully qualified Somerset CCC coaches and equipment will be provided for those who do not have their own. Cricket whites or tracksuit trousers and soft soled non-marking footwear must be worn.The cost of each two hour session will be £8 and numbers for each session will be limited to forty.As numbers for each of the courses is striclty limited anyone wishing to book or who requires further information should contact Guy Wolfenden at the Centre of Excellence on 01823 352266.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has lost its appeal against an International Cricket Council ruling that their World Cup match against Zimbabwe must go ahead in Harare next week.The ECB made an official request to the ICC on Tuesday to move next Thursday’s Pool A fixture out of the troubled country.That was rejected yesterday, and following an ECB appeal the ICC appointed judge Justice Albie Sachs to make a final ruling on whether there was any justification on security grounds for moving the tie to South Africa. He has concluded that the match should go ahead in Zimbabwe.The Judge said: “The ECB makes no complaint about the Zimbabwe Cricket Unionnor against the players in the Zimbabwe team. It is the setting that leavesanxiety in the ECB’s mind.”The players have manifested deep concern not only about the moral question but the safety of players and spectators.”The greater the degree of danger and the more damaging its impact the greater the duty on the organising authorities to intervene.”Having heard the appeal I have not been persuaded that the decision of thetechnical committee [to insist the match takes place in Harare] was wrong.”This appeal does not raise or deal in any way with the consequences of the ECB and the England players not to play in Zimbabwe. These are matters for the ECB and the players.”The ECB and the England team now have to choose between fulfilling the fixture despite their fears, or boycotting it and forfeiting World Cup points, as well as incurring a possible financial penalty for breaking their contract with the ICC.”There will be a players’ meeting,” said the ECB’s chief executive Tim Lamb. “Things will become clear after that.”The president of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, Peter Chingoka, said he still hoped England would play the match.”I have a hope they will come,” he said after the decision was announced. “We are very pleased. We are anxious to have all six games going ahead in Zimbabwe.”Chingoka had threatened a tit-for-tat boycott if the game against England had been switched to South Africa.England are not the only side to face a dilemma. New Zealand have refused point blank to play Kenya in Nairobi on February 21, because of concerns over a bombing in Mombasa in November which killed 16 people.Meanwhile Australia, who are in Group A alongside England, have said that they are ready to play Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on February 24.Pakistan and India, who are also in Group A, have said they are happy to play in Zimbabwe, while Sri Lanka, the other Group B team to play in Nairobi, have also said they will play there.The first game of the World Cup is on Sunday between the hosts, South Africa, and the West Indies. South Africa is staging 46 of the 54 games, with six planned for Zimbabwe and two in Kenya.

Wellington State Firebirds selectors have named the following players for Wellington’s Provincial ‘A’ squad.The squad will train on Monday, December 3 at Cricket Wellington’s Academy at WestpacTrust Stadium starting at 6:30pm.The squad is: Leighton Morgan, Michael Blackmore, Scott Golder, Sam Fairley, Jonathan McNamee, Stuart Mills, Iain O’Brien, Mark Gillespie, Paul Hitchcock, Mayu Pasupati, Ben Jansen, Luke Woodcock, Graham Murray, Robert Kennedy, Lance Dry, Mark Tullock, Josh Stuart, Dewayne Bowden.The Provincial ‘A’ Team Competition for 2001/02 will start on Thursday December 27, with Wellington hosting Central Districts in a three-day match at Kelburn Park.

Nine bowlers could not achieve a breakthrough for Maharashtra on the final day of their Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at Pune on Wednesday. The match drawn, the home side picked up five points from the encounter, while the visitors picked three.Relatively comfortable overnight on 112/2, Saurashtra batsmen Altaf Merchant and Niraj Odedra experienced no hiccups at all in wiping out the first-innings deficit of 176. That done, they settled to patiently play out the day, putting all thoughts of a result out of the minds of spectators and rivals alike.Merchant ended the day on 111 off 282 balls, hitting 14 fours in the process. His partner Odedra also hit 14 fours in his knock of 129 from 299 balls. Merchant thus spent 423 minutes at the crease, while Odedra’s tenure lasted 343 minutes.With only Niranjan Godbole and wicket-keeper S Satbhai not turning their arm over in the day, Maharashtra used nine bowlers to no avail. Saurashtra, at the close of play, were on 339/2, ensuring the three points from the drawn match.

Four Zimbabwe cricket players will be joining the national team for the one-day international series against India, beginning next Thursday (07 March 2002).Three of them, Gary Brent, Charles Coventry and Douglas Marillier will leave Harare for Delhi on Sunday morning. They will be joined in the Indian capital by Douglas Hondo, who is playing in Australia."We want the four in India now because their style of play fits into our strategy for the one-day series", said Convenor of selectors, Ali Shah.As a result, four players who have been taking part in the two Tests: Trevor Gripper, Raymond Price, Gavin Rennie and Brighton Watambwa will be returning home.Of the quartet going to India, Coventry stands out as the newcomer to the senior squad.Described by joint coach Steve Rhodes as "one of the success stories at the 2002 under – 19 cricket World Cup", the Universals and former Christian Brothers College player has been consitent with his bat.In the nineteen (19) one-day internationals he played between the Coca-Cola week in South Africa and the under -19 World Cup, Coventry averaged 28.71, with a strike rate of 91.21% and an aggregate 488.

Zimbabwe’s coach, Geoff Marsh, has admitted that his team need to improve in all areas of their game if they are to salvage some pride in the second npower Test against England, which begins at Chester-le-Street on Thursday.Marsh, who took over from his fellow Australian Carl Rackemann two years ago, has been in charge of Zimbabwe during the most turbulent period of their 11-year Test status. Against a backdrop of political violence, they have won only one of their last 14 Tests – against Bangladesh in November 2001 – and have lost the last eight.Zimbabwe travelled to England with a largely inexperienced squad, following the retirement of key players such as Andy Flower, and were thrashed by an innings and 92 runs in the first Test at Lord’s, after losing 19 wickets on the third day alone. “Our form going into the first Test was really good,” said Marsh, “but we were disappointing at Lord’s and didn’t handle the swing bowling that well. But we’ve sat down as a team and spoken about it.”Zimbabwe had hoped to arrive at Chester-le-Street with a victory against Middlesex under their belts, but their limited bowling attack was exposed once again. “We tried to make a game of it when we declared behind on Sunday and we wanted to play under a bit more pressure, batting fourth when it’s going to turn a little bit,” said Marsh. “We didn’t bowl well here although we had all our bowlers resting for the Test, so we were very inexperienced with our bowling, but the batters all got a good hit in the game and that was pleasing.””At the end of the day, we’re one-down in the series with one Test match to go and we’re really looking forward to going up there and improving our performance in all areas.”

When going gets tough, the tough get going! Australia were far superior to South Africa in every department of the first Test at Adelaide. The tourists competed well on the first day, but from then on the Aussies took complete control of the match. Claude Henderson, who had bowled extremely well on the first day, was inexplicably held back until Shane Warne and Damien Martyn were well into their stride. Shaun Pollock’s captaincy in the whole game failed to impress me. Dare I say that when his team’s morale was flagging, he was not able to inspire them?

One could feel the pressure when the Australian openers walked on to the field. They were tense and tentative. A fully fit Alan Donald would have tested them to the maximum. Unfortunately he is short of match practice, and had to miss this game. Pollock and Hayward started reasonably well. Hayward bowled with pace but had less control so the openers gradually asserted themselves. Pollock has lost a considerable amount of pace in the last twelve months and clearly was not as effective as one expects him to be. He also relies on outswing, and while it is dangerous for a right-handed batsman it is the reverse for left-handers. So both Hayden and Langer found it easier to handle the new ball. Ntini has looked below Test standard and was dispatched for three consecutive fours by Justin Langer when he came on to bowl. He never really recovered.

While Michael Slater is still struggling to find form in domestic cricket, Justin Langer is going from strength to strength. He is a confident young man, and most of the current Pakistan team will vouch for that. Being short, he likes playing square off the pitch and can handle the quick stuff without any problem. He puts a great price on his wicket and you could see he was outraged when finally dismissed just before close of play on the first day.He is an ideal player for a captain and his team, one who likes to go on and on until the job is finished. 2001 has been a most productive period for Matthew Hayden, and his partnership with Justin Langer has produced some brilliant results for their team. They have been the backbone of this Australian side because the middle order has not been firing on all cylinders.Steve Waugh, though unlucky to be given out in the first innings, is struggling to gain form. He is far too good a player to miss out for long and South Africa will do well to remember it. I thought Damien Martyn was a class above the rest. His timing is perfect and his stance is well balanced. He reminds me so much of Greg Chappell. Nothing seems to bother him, like Steve Waugh he thrives under pressure and is equally at home against spin and pace. Like most outstanding Australian players he likes coming down the pitch to spinners, and he knows the art of batting with the late order batsmen and since he bats at number six it is a great advantage to have him in the team. It’s a long time since Australia has won a Test match without a healthy contribution from Adam Gilchrist. Like Steve Waugh he is bound to score runs in the coming games.

It was a typical Adelade pitch, slow and low. South Africa should have batted better, particularly after the openers had given them a decent start. If they want to do well in this series they must promote Jacques Kallis to number three – in both innings he came in lower. He has a sound technique, can be aggressive, and likes to play long innings. The whole team can revolve around him. He is a fit young man so his bowling should not deterhim too much.Shane Warne troubled all the South Africans but was only able to do so when he bowled round the wicket. Admittedly, he spun the ball from that angle but that should have alarmed only the left-handers. Instead, Herschelle Gibbs played a horrendous shot when he charged Warne and was, rather embarrassingly, left stranded in the middle of the pitch. Kallis was out to a peach of a ball, McGrath hit him on the toe with an in-swinging yorker (beware Pakistani batsmen in September!) McKenzie and Boucher staged a rally, and in fact smashed the Australian bowlers when they took the second new ball.

I was really impressed with McKenzie. I watched him bat in a one-day game against India, where he repeatedly failed to pick up the googly from Sachin Tendulkar, but now he handled Shane Warne with aplomb. One cover driven four came straight out of Peter May’s textbook. Once McKenzie was out, Australia quickly wrapped up the proceedings. Given that the ball always turns in Adelaide, it was amazing that Shane Warne hadn’t taken five wickets in aninnings there before.Hayden and the rest of the Australian players were soon busy making life uncomfortable for South Africa. Instead of taking strength from their revival in the first innings, the Proteas looked down and out. Pollock looked increasingly forlorn and was unable to lift his team. He needed Alan Donald on the field rather than sitting in the dressing room. Many a time we played Imran Khan and Wasim Akram when they were half fit, for their mere presence would lift the team, and they were a class above the rest.

Also, you just cannot win Test matches in Australia by playing too many all-rounders. In my opinion, it cost Pakistan the last series down under when we played Razzaq & Azhar in the test match at Brisbane, instead of playing an out-and-out fast bowler Waqar Younis. Lance Klusener has never batted well in Australia and his bowling on true pitches is somewhatpedestrian. In the next game, I would rather play Donald and Elworthy in place of Klusener and Ntini. None of the bowlers had enough penetration, and thus were easy pickings for the Aussies who just piled on further miseries.The game was virtually over when Gary Kirsten was out to the last ball of fourth day’s play. Kirsten is well capable of batting for hours and his dismissal was crucial, but even their hardest critics could not have imagined South Africa giving in so meekly. Kallis battled on courageously while wickets fell all around him. For Australia, more importantly, the old firm was taking wickets once again. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne had struggled against New Zealand but now they were back at their best. I fear they will continue to demonise the South African batsmen for the remainder of their tour.

* ACF’s screening committee meets to finalise officersThe screening committee of the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) met inKolkata on Wednesday to begin the process of finalising the panel ofDevelopment Officers as part of a programme to promote the game in theAsian region.The screening committee, chaired by ACF chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya,went through the credentials of all nominees from three Test playingnations – India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The ACF had taken the decisionto appoint three Development Officers with considerable cricketingbackground at its conclave in Lahore in May to improve the standard ofthe game in non-Test playing nations in the region.Apart from Dalmiya, the screening committee comprises Tauqir Zia andZakir Syed (both Pakistan), Duleep Mendis (Sri Lanka) and Ashraf-ul-Haq (Bangladesh). Tauqir Zia, the president of the Asian CricketCouncil (ACC), however, could not attend the meeting due to some otherengagement in Pakistan.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated fourformer Test players for the post of development officers. Nationalselectors Ashok Malhotra and Madanlal, and former Test players RogerBinny and WV Raman are the four BCCI nominees. While Pakistanhas sent a list comprising former skippers Mushtaq Mohammed and ZaheerAbbas and medium pacer Iqbal Sikander, Sri Lanka has recommendedformer cricketers Roy Dias, Rumesh Ratnayake and Brendon Kuruppu.* Punjab under-19 tournament from August 26The Punjab Cricket Association has decided to organise an under-19Minor District tournament from August 28 in which 14 district teamswill take part. Giving this information, MP Pandove, secretary of thePCA said that the matches up to quarterfinal stage will be played atdifferent district headquarters and the final will be played at Mohalion September 1.The association is taking care to curb the menace of playing over-ageplayers in the tournament and has drawn up a comprehensive plan totackle it. All the district secretaries have been directed to getvarious X-rays of the players participating in the tournament and getthese verified from the authorised radiologist on the prescribedproforma about the age of the player, Pandove added.The secretary further said that the selectors of the Minor districtcommittee have been appointed match wise to note the performance ofthe players so that the combined Minor Districts team may beselected. This team will play in the main tournament for the DhruvPandove Trophy along with five major district teams – Amritsar,Jalandhar, Patiala, Ludhiana and Chandigarh.* Sanjay Manjrekar to lead Indian veteransFormer Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar will lead the India over-30team in the Cricket Club of India (CCI) one-day cricket tournament tobe held at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai from December 29 to January3.According to CCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur, the Marylebone CricketClub (MCC) from England and the Melbourne Cricket Club of Australiawill be the two other contestants.The MCC team is likely to be led by former England captain MikeGatting while Sandeep Patil, K Srikkanth, Madan Lal, Dilip Doshi,Yashpal Sharma and Kiran More are expected to turn out for the Indianteam.