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Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, says his team will not crumble when they face the defending champions Australia in the opening match of the World Cup Super Eights in Antigua on Tuesday.Both teams have had confident starts to the tournament, winning all three opening games, and they set up a mouth-watering opening to the second stage. Lara intends to fight fire with fire when the two sides meet at the new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.”I know it is a different class of opponents in the game on Tuesday, but we’ve played well against Australia in the recent past and we expect to do well if we play to our strengths,” Lara said. West Indies beat Australia in the group phase of the Champions Trophy and also upstaged them in one match in the DLF Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Australia, though, did not stumble in the finals of both those tournaments.However, Lara felt West Indies, buoyed by home support, were a better side now. “We are very consistent,” he said. “We’re building to the point where we want to get on to the bigger games, the Australians, the South Africans, the biggest teams in the tournament. So far we’ve performed really well. I’m proud of the guys.”The Australia captain Ricky Ponting was equally upbeat ahead of the clash. “The West Indies are a very dangerous team, they are on home soil, they should know these conditions very well and they have great crowd support from all over the Caribbean,” Ponting said. “But it starts now. Every step you take in this tournament becomes more and more exciting.”

Barry Jarman, the former ICC match referee, has made a startling revelation that he once confiscated a ball from the South African team, which was being coached by Bob Woolmer, because he suspected that it had been tampered with. The incident happened during a one-day international against India in 1997.Woolmer, the current Pakistan coach, was a part of the controversy at The Oval Test against England recently, when Pakistan forfeited the match after umpire Darrell Hair accused them of ball tampering.Jarman said he noticed that the ball was being scratched by two fielders who would rub sweat into one side of it, and as a result generate plenty of swing with a ball which was just 16 overs old. His suspicions grew when he noticed the ball being thrown to the same fielders regularly, though he preferred not to reveal their names.”The ball is only 16 overs old yet one side has been tampered with and you can see where they have run their thumbails down the seam which opens up,” Jarman told . “The open seam (which caught the sweat) meant one side was heavier than the other.”I saw Allan Donald (who he insisted was not one of the players tampering with the ball) all of a sudden start swinging the baIl everywhere on the television and I thought ‘hullo, what’s going on here?'”Jarman took action immediately and instructed the umpires to replace the ball, much to the displeasure of Woolmer, who stormed into Jarman’s room to demand an explanation. “I said ‘your guys are stuffing around with the ball, mate’. I told him who it was and he went out with his tail between his legs. I said to him ‘if you really want to make something of it I can give it to the press and we’ll see what happens then but I will just give you a warning to cut it out’. The two players later came up to my hotel room and apologised.”Jarman confiscated the ball and has kept it with him ever since, producing it yesterday to prove his statements. “I kept the ball by mistake because the game finished and it was just sitting there so I took it back to the hotel.”He also backed Hair’s firm stance at The Oval and admired the honest manner in which he had conducted himself in the past. “I really admire Darrell Hair for what he’s done in England,” Jarman said. “He is a guy who tells the truth and is suffering for it. He is one of the best, an umpire who can lie straight in bed.”

Michael Vaughan has been ruled out of England’s next two CB Series matches as he is still to recover from the hamstring injury which forced him out of yesterday’s match against Australia in Brisbane.Vaughan suffered a grade-one tear in England’s three-wicket win over New Zealand in Hobart on Tuesday and was replaced by debutant Mal Loye, who scored a run-a-ball 36.The team management released a statement today announcing that Vaughan would miss both matches at Adelaide next week but could be available for the game against New Zealand at Perth on January 30.England face New Zealand on January 23 and Australia three days later at the Adelaide Oval. Andrew Flintoff will continue to lead the side in Vaughan’s absence.

As Canada prepare to face Bermuda and Zimbabwe in the ICC’s tri-nation tournament in Trinidad, the president of the Canadian Cricket Association has admitted to being rather jealous of the cash-rich Bermudans. And Ben Sennik has set out his vision for Canada being a Test-playing nation within a decade.Bermuda have been given $11 million by their government to pump into the game, and Sennik admitted that he was more than a little jealous. “We were gasping when we heard that,” he told the Mid-Ocean News. “I wish we could have just a little bit of that.”It’s a lot of money. Our budget is a lot less. We have applied to the Canadian Federal Government for funding and we are eligible. In fact we should have applied years ago. Hopefully some help will be coming but no way close to what you have been given. That is a huge sum of money.”Canada, who will be in the 2007 World Cup, are aiming high, and Sennik said that he was looking at being a Test-playing nation “in eight to ten years”. To do that, he realises that all the players must become professionals. “I don’t see any other way. We have to go up progressively. Our bread earners on the team are neither amateurs or professionals. We are looking at the (pro) possibility as soon as a financial base has been established. We have to get salaried players. To get to the objectives we want we have to have professional players. The first thing we have to do is set up a strong financial base.”Sennik went on to explain that cricket was the fastest growing sport in Canada.”Actually cricket was originally the national sport in Canada in the 1800s. The game has a great history in Canada. It had its low period over the years but in the last five years we have seen a huge upsurge in popularity. It is being played in the schools.” This boom has coincided with the influx of immigrants, especially from the subcontinent and the Caribbean.He then said that appointment of Andy Pick, on a one-year sabbatical from the English board to help Canada prepare for the World Cup, had been a big boost. “I am very impressed with him. He took over about two weeks ago and the changes he is bringing about are amazing. We believe he will be a great mentor to our players, especially the younger ones, he will earn respect very quickly, he has a great technical understanding of the game and he believes in a disciplined approach.”He has a wealth of playing and coaching experience and that will be a critical factor in lifting Canada’s performance as they head towards their second appearance at a World Cup.”

Adam Gilchrist
“No bowling attack was good enough when he was in the zone. He was a loyal friend who was never totally comfortable with the glare of the public. He simply wanted to be an entertainer.”Andrew Symonds
“I’m just stunned at the news. I think his contribution to Australian cricket in the past ten years has been enormous and his record will stand for itself in the years to come. He should be seen as a legend.”Dennis Lillee
“I think everyone knows when the time is right and he obviously feels that. He has made that decision and we respect him for that and everyone else should. In his time he was in the best top four or five batsmen in the world.”Ian Chappell
“I hope he is remembered fondly. At times he’s been a damn good player and I hope that is how Australian cricket remembers him – a damn good player who was easy on the eye.”Ricky Ponting
“He is one of the world’s most unsung players in both forms of the game and I don’t think it is really understood how good a player he actually is.”Michael Slater
“It just seems that this media scrutiny that he was starting to come under, it was the final blow for him. He wasn’t prepared to go through it. It was obviously going to wear him down. It’s now time to celebrate his 67 Test matches and the immaculate one-day career.”Wayne Clark
“It is a surprising decision, but a very courageous decision on his part. He has been under a fair bit of pressure to hold his position, his private life is as good as it has been and he’s satisfied with where he is at.”James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive
“Damien’s decision has come as a surprise to us. He has been a wonderful servant to Australian cricket for many years and has played an integral part in Australia being the number one Test and ODI team in the world.”

The ICC have suggested that forensic tests may be conducted on the ball used in the controversial Oval Test to ensure a fair hearing for the Pakistan captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, which is due to take place at the end of September.The fourth and final Test between England and Pakistan ended in contentious circumstances when Pakistan refused to take the field on the fourth day after being accused of ball tampering. The move led to umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove awarding the match to England – the first forfeit in the history of Test cricket.”The laws of cricket are clear on what constitutes changing the condition of the ball,” Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive said. “Lawyers for Pakistan and the ICC are studying what evidence can be put forth. A forensic test is being suggested.”Inzamam was subsequently charged with ball-tampering and bringing the game into disrepute and faces an ICC hearing at the end of this month.”We want a fair hearing,” Speed said. “No final date has been agreed upon, but it will be announced in a day or two. We don’t want to sit on the side of the umpires. We don’t want to sit on the side of the team. We want to sit in between them and accept whatever decision is made by the adjudicator.”Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has broken his silence about the rumours that he brought the issue of ball-tampering to the attention of Mike Procter, the match referee, before the incident unfolded. “All I want to say is that people thought they wrote the truth: it wasn’t the truth, it was far from the truth,” he told reporters at the England team hotel in Southampton. “I know what the truth was and I’m very, very happy with the truth and I’d just like to move on.”Speed denied the ICC had delayed the hearing, initially to be held soon after the Test, to allow matters to settle down.”We were very keen and would have preferred to have the hearing in the match referees’ room right after the match as it happens in normal circumstances,” he said. “But Ranjan Madugalle [the Sri Lankan adjudicator] had a serious personal problem which needed his urgent attention. In no way we were seeking to defer the hearing.”When asked if the power of awarding a Test would be taken away from on-field umpires, Speed said the ICC could only consider the proposal if it came through its cricket committee.”We must bear in mind that on-field decisions have been made by umpires for a long time,” he said. “It has stood the test of time. We have certain processes in place in ICC to consider changes in the laws.”

The Bangalore Royal Challengers have sunk to the bottom of the points table in the Indian Premier League after their fourth loss out of five matches, against the Delhi Daredevils on Wednesday. However, Rahul Dravid, the Bangalore captain, brushed away suggestions that his team was unsuited to the Twenty20 format.”Twenty20 fates are decided in an over or two. Luck and the rub of the green are factors here,” Dravid told reporters after the loss in Delhi. “And it’s not that our team does not have youngsters. If there is any missing link, I think we lack that x-factor.”That x-factor could be Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq, who has been benched despite his outstanding batting in the World Twenty20 because of the cap on the number of overseas players in the XI. Bangalore’s four overseas players against Delhi were Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn.”It was difficult fielding all the foreigners,” Dravid said. “We needed an allrounder because our bowling was not strong, so Kallis played. Ross Taylor will leave now and Misbah will definitely get his chance.”The 10-run defeat against Delhi was Bangalore’s third loss in a row and the second close one, after the 13-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 28. Dravid said McGrath’s four-wicket haul was the key to Delhi’s victory and also singled out Daniel Vettori’s economical spell of 1 for 19.”I think the difference [between the sides] was McGrath’s wickets, both upfront and in the later stage,” Dravid said. “Vettori gave next to nothing in his four overs, Yomahesh bowled tight too. Twenty20 matches are decided in one-two overs and we needed two big overs, which we just didn’t get. Chasing 10 per over, we were right on track but could not eventually make it.”Bangalore opened with Praveen Kumar, their fifth opener in five games, to try and boost the run-rate while chasing a target of 192 but the ploy did not work. Praveen was dismissed by McGrath in the first over.”Chasing 10 runs per over, we had to send our stroke-players upfront,” said Dravid. “Praveen was sent up with this idea. If he could score 15-20 quick runs, things could have changed. There was nothing wrong with the strategy.”Bangalore’s next match is a home game against the Deccan Chargers on May 3 and Dravid hoped that Anil Kumble, who missed the last two games because of injury, would be able to return. “I hope things would improve when Anil returns,” he said. “Our fifth bowlers are conceding 50-odd runs. If Anil concedes little less, it would help the side.”

Holly Colvin could miss England’s tour of Australia and New Zealand for the sake of her education. Colvin, the slow left-armer, said she would be prepared to miss the trip Down Under in February and March if her chances of getting into Cambridge University would be compromised.”If it came to the crunch I would put my education first and stay at home,” Colvin told newspaper. “Women’s cricket is not yet professional and I have to think of my future career.”The tour runs at the same time as some of her final-year A Level studies, including a one-off Test for the Ashes. She said there could be room for compromise in that she may consider playing the Australian part of the trip.”It would be heart-breaking to miss the tour,” said Colvin, who earned her England call-up on the eve of the last Ashes, in 2005. “I love my cricket and would relish the opportunity to help defend the Ashes. I might try and play in the Australian leg, even though that could mean missing a couple of weeks of school.”

Are you planning to travel to the Caribbean? Tell us what you think about this issue

Mike Agostini, who had been Trinidad and Tobago’s honorary consul in Australia since 1981 until his resignation earlier this month, has told Cricinfo that the shambles surrounding the decision to insist on new visas for many visitors to the World Cup caused him to quit.The implementation of a US$100 visa for many foreigners intending to travel to the Caribbean between January and May has been justified by the local authorities as a measure to ease travel between islands as well as allowing for improved security measures. But it has been attacked by critics as being little more than another move to exploit visitors to a region where travellers already face substantial price hikes ahead of the tournament.The biggest stir has come in Australia, where despite assurances that a system was being established to guarantee a swift and efficient processing of applications, Agostini has explained that the reality is quite different.The decision to introduce the visas, which allow for free transfer between islands, seems to have been rushed through, and Agostini said that it was pushed through in “no more than months and even then [it was] not properly investigated and carefully considered or else reconsidered. Especially when the Australian foreign minister, Alexander Downer, wrote to all the governments involved asking them not to do what they did.”He went on to explain that his resignation was not because of the visas but “on account of the sloppy and still seemingly hap-hazard manner in which the attempted implementation of the arduous and lengthy processes of actually issuing these visas occurred, or more so still have failed even to get started yet.”It is estimated that there will be about 7,000 Australians and up to 3,000 New Zealanders needing these visas, which will take up to three weeks to be issued, after filling out the forms from an internet site, Caricomimpacs.org, of which only a few travel agents are even aware, much less ordinary travellers. Simple logistics suggest that if each visa requires only 30 minutes of handling (but more like one or even two hours if security checks are to be made, as the site states), that would mean some 5,000 total, which obviously translates to 208 days total. And even if they put 50 people on to doing them that would still mean about 41 days or more, if all worked full-time, 24 hours daily! My God! Who did their homework on this?”Agostini, who was Trinidad and Tobago’s first Olympic sprint finalist in 1956 and who won the Commonwealth Games 100 yards gold in 1954, said that while the officials supposed to be running a mission to process applications arrived in Sydney on December 2 and 3, they “suddenly disappeared and stopped communicating or else responding to emails from us (giving no mobile or other numbers for anyone to call, as far as we can tell) and are essentially still missing. The leader, I am reliably informed, has been ill and in hospital for several days … they have not completed the lease for the offices at 88 Pitt Street, which are still empty, the computers sent from Ottawa, Canada were still in storage at Fedex in Sydney awaiting collection, but with no offices yet there is nowhere to install them. Even then it will take up to five days for installation and several more days to training the mission staff in their use and so far no Australian staff have been employed.” In the meantime, Agostini and his son, who had done all the groundwork to set up the mission, remain substantially out of pocket for all they have done.

“Since the visas become mandatory from January 15 onwards things can only get worse, as more and more Aussies and Kiwis discover that they cannot travel to the Caribbean, even if only for a cruise and not the cricket, without having such a stamp inserted into their passports. There is already one instance of someone wanting to go on a Caribbean cruise, with no interest whatsoever in the cricket and not even at the time it’ll be on, being told by their travel agent that they will not be able to board the cruise liner without it.”I am truly sorry to see how this is hampering as well as harming so many people and also my own native country, which I still love dearly,” he continued, “and if given the opportunity and full support, including financial at whatever costs, I would be willing to consider consulting and trying to put what looks like a Humpty Dumpty project together again, even if it’ll be too late for many people, too many.”Cricket Australia has already said it will raise the issue, but it seems that barring some hasty action by the Caribbean authorities, many people heading to the region ahead of the World Cup will risk doing so without visas. There also have to be some serious doubts if the systems will be in place in time for the tournament itself.Whether the whole exercise works in practice come March is another issue altogether, but on the evidence so far, something aimed to ease travel and ensure greater security in the Caribbean is set to do quite the opposite.

Having a news channel back home stir up a storm isn’t the ideal situation at the start of a crucial series but Rahul Dravid simply chose not to respond to it. “I am not going to react to this sting operation and all this stuff,” he said. Dead bat, typical of Dravid.There were two broad themes to the revelations – made, allegedly, by four of the five national selectors – in the sting operation, carried out by and its Hindi sister channel, : factionalism within the team, and Greg Chappell’s performance as coach, but Dravid refused to dignify the affair.Dravid says he hasn’t seen or heard the footage and, even if he has, he can’t be sure about the authenticity of the reports. He insisted, though, that he “had received as much support as I needed and I was very happy with the team that I had in the (World Cup). Beyond that I don’t know much about this.”The Indian team flew to Bangladesh without having solved the contracts issue, but Dravid said that was not a deterrent. “Now that we have come here, the boys have not really had that on their minds. They want to really focus on cricket. Those things will be taken care of in the way they should be taken care of.”This is a new-look side, post the World Cup debacle, but Dravid maintained it was not the start of a new era. “I don’t see it is a fresh beginning. We are going to play a lot of cricket. This is not the end of something and the beginning of something. It’s an ongoing thing.”Asked how difficult it was to focus on cricket in times such as these, Dravid reiterated that once his side were on the field, there was little else to even think about. “Sometimes people from outside make a lot of things happen and think that players are affected by those things constantly,” he said. “A lot of peripheral things happen around cricket, you have to get back and keep a perspective about it and that is the way I have done it all through my career.”Dravid also refused to compare the methods of current manager Ravi Shastri and his predecessor Chappell; specifically, the current arrangement of specialist coaches.”We can’t go on comparing. One or two days we can’t get any tangible difference. I don’t think it is rocket science; it is about preparing players for playing.”