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The ICC hearing into allegations that the former Kenya captain Maurice Odumbe had inappropriate contact with a known bookmaker will be held on July 27.Odumbe and his lawyer met with Justice Ahmed Ebrahim, who has been appointed to investigate the charges by the ICC, at a Nairobi hotel this morning for a preliminary hearing.Odumbe’s lawyer stressed that his client had not been charged with match-fixing, receiving bribes or giving information on pitch conditions. He explained that while Odumbe admitted that he had dealings with an Indian, he was unaware that the man concerned was a bookmaker.Odumbe, 34, is alleged to have received payments from at least one Mumbai bookmaker in 2002, so that he could coerce his team-mates into underperforming in matches. If found guilty, Odumbe – who has been the face of Kenyan cricket, along with Steve Tikolo, since that astonishing win over West Indies in the 1996 World Cup – faces a life ban.Justice Ebrahim said after the hearing that he recognised the seriousness of the allegations, and had therefore considered the matter very carefully before making his ruling. “In light of the documentary evidence supplied and the arguments raised at the preliminary hearing, I reached my determination that it is right and proper that this matter is progressed and set down for a full hearing in July,” he said. “The charge put is that Odumbe allegedly received money, benefit or other reward which could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute.”The formal hearing will start in Nairobi on July 27, and is expected to last five days. Both parties will have the opportunity to put forward their case, and call witnesses.The hearings follow an investigation by the ICC’s Anti Corruption & Security Unit and a recommendation by Michael Beloff, the chairman of the ICC’s Code of Conduct commission. Under the code, the penalties a player found guilty can face range from a two-year suspension to a life ban, depending on the nature of the charge.

The Pakistan board has reiterated its faith in Shoaib Malik as captain and insist he will remain in the post as originally planned till December 2008.Malik’s position has come under intense scrutiny following Test and ODI series defeat to India, a second successive reverse in both formats following the loss to South Africa at home. His cause wasn’t helped by an ankle injury which kept him out of the final two Tests against India, both of which were drawn. A number of ex-players, including Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, have questioned the wisdom of Malik as Test captain when he has yet to establish himself fully as a Test batsman.”We will stick to our decision to name him as captain for the year (2008),” said Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman. “We will give him our full backing and we feel he can mature into a good captain in time. He is young and he will learn from his mistakes.”The backing for Malik came in the wake of a board meeting constituted specifically to review Pakistan’s poor performances in India. The board also decided to prevent players from writing articles during series and concentrate solely on the cricket while on tour. There was criticism of the surge in Pakistani players’ extra-curricular media activities: many were writing for newspapers and a number had separate TV commitments as well. One column by Younis Khan, in particular, seems to have caught the board’s attention. As stand-in captain for the second Test in Kolkata, Younis distanced himself from the team selection, hinting that he might not have been happy with the composition, in a column for .The role of Geoff Lawson, Pakistan’s coach, in his side’s performances will also come under the scanner. The board has asked Lawson to explain Pakistan’s generally unimpressive and insipid performances, which led to their first series loss in India for 27 years.Ashraf told that Lawson has been asked for a detailed report on how he plans to lift the team for future assignments including the home series against Australia in March.”We believe that our team didn’t show much mental toughness and professionalism during the tour of India,” Ashraf said. “It is the responsibility of the coach to lift his team and we are certainly going to talk to Lawson about it,” he added.Ashraf was quick, however, to add that the board still has complete faith in Lawson. “He will remain our coach and we are hopeful Pakistan will become a force under his wings.”Though the board has yet to read fully the tour reports handed in by the team management, immediate changes are not expected. The participation of national players in domestic tournaments was again stressed, and three camps, for bowlers, wicketkeepers and openers, have also been arranged for after the domestic Twenty20 tournament.

Meher Baba, the former Andhra and South Zone allrounder, died in Hyderabad on Wednesday after a prolonged battle against cancer. He was 58.Baba, a left-hand batsman and left-arm spinner, had a 16-year first-class career spanning from 1972 to 1987, mainly with Andhra. He made 2649 runs, with a highest of 134 not out against Goa, and took 173 wickets, including five five-wicket hauls.”It is a personal loss to me,” Shivlal Yadav, the former India offspinner and secretary of Hyderabad Cricket Association, told the . “He was such a lovely person – always willing to be there for anything related to the sport. It is a pity that someone who was one of the towering personalities in South Zone cricket had to meet this fate, battling the dreaded cancer.”Baba captained Andhra in two Ranji Trophy matches in the 1982-83 season and represented South Zone in the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy on eleven occasions. He was also part of the South Zone team which took on the visiting England side in 1981-82.

John Howard, Australia’s Prime Minister, says that authorities are investigating claims that terrorists planned to attack the Australian and England teams during last year’s Ashes.He was responding to a report in , a London newspaper, which said that the London bombers were initially ordered by Al-Qaeda to target the teams during the series, by spraying sarin gas inside the changing rooms. According to the source, who goes by the pseudonymn Ahmed Hafiz, the bombers were instructed to get jobs as stewards at Edgbaston and then carry out the attack.Howard says the source, Hafiz, has to be thoroughly checked. In an interview with , he added that vigilance was necessary at all times. “Whether this particular report is true or not, we have to again remind ourselves of the reality that there are people around who want to do us in, who do want to do damage.”

A party of young cricketers from Somerset are busy preparing themselves for the trip of a lifetime.Somerset Under 13’s are gearing themselves up for their tour to South Africa in the spring of 2003 that will culminate with them watching the final match of the Cricket World Cup.Whilst they are out in South Africa the Somerset team will be playing in a specially organised tournament that is being organised in Johannesburg that will involve other Under 13 teams from England including Cornwall and Worcestershire.However in addition to honing their cricketing skills to the highest possible level before they leave in just a few months time, each of the fourteen youngsters is having to raise £900 towards the cost of the trip.Last season the Somerset team enjoyed considerable success, winning six of their twelve matches and only being beaten on two occasions, so the team will be going out to South Africa with the intention of winning their tournament as well as enjoying the World Cup final.Team manager John Davey, who will be accompanied on the trip by Somerset Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson and coach Ben Wellington told me: "This is a wonderful opportunity for the young players, and it will be a trip that they will never forget. There are some very talented cricketers in the team and they are all looking forward to it immensely."Whilst the young players are busy raising their own funds to pay for the tour John Davey is still anxiously looking for a sponsor for the Somerset Under 13’s team shirts.If anybody feels able to help Mr Davey with shirt sponsorship he can be contacted at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground in Taunton, telephone 01823 352266

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.

Scorecard

Hyderabad Heroes were powered to a seven-wicket victory over the Chennai Superstars by their South African recruits Nicky Boje (61*) and Justin Kemp (66*).In the first match of the ICL to be held in Hyderabad, the Heroes went against the trend in this edition of the tournament at the toss and instead chose to field. Their decision seemed to have backfired as Ian Harvey and G Vignesh gave the Superstars a breezy start with 41 coming off the first six overs.Boje was then introduced into the attack and he struck immediately, dismissing Vignesh for 19, and sent down a miserly three-over spell, giving away only seven runs. Harvey, though, continued to plunder runs off the other bowlers before being trapped lbw by left-arm spinner IS Reddy for a 36-ball 49. Hemang Badani then carted three sixes and two boundaries in an express 33 to lift the Superstars to a respectable 152.The Heroes’ reply got off to a dreadful start as Jimmy Maher and Anirudh Singh were both dismissed in the first over. The runs didn’t flow until Thiru Kumaran’s first over; 17 runs came off it. Boje then picked off three consecutive boundaries off Harvey as he and Ambati Rayudu put on 50 runs in quick time.Rayudu’s dismissal left the Heroes at a shaky 53 for 3 and brought Kemp to the crease. By the end of the 12th over, the asking-rate had climbed to 9 before Kemp showcased his ability to muscle the ball out of the park. Four sixes and six fours flowed off his bat as he clobbered his way to the tournament’s highest score. Boje also completed a superb half-century as the two put on 103 to take the Heroes to victory.The result leaves the Superstars at the bottom of the table having lost both their matches while the Heroes now have one win and one loss so far.

Rohan Gavaskar’s inclusion ahead of Mohammad Kaif – poor county stint notwithstanding – and Sridharan Sriram seemed a bizarre choice, given that his name has never been part of discussions regarding Test match probables.Sriram has more reason than most to rue his wretched luck after a couple of seasons when he has piled on the runs in domestic cricket. There was a touch of class about his batting in the Challenger Trophy, though to be fair, Gavaskar also acquitted himself admirably.For Shiv Sunder Das, Gautam Gambhir and Kaif, being left out is a terrible blow, and it calls into question their chances of playing against New Zealand. For Kaif, who was the toast of India just over a year ago after his heroics in NatWest Series final, it’s back to the practice pitches if he fancies himself as anything more than a one-trick pony.The two Bs, Laxmipathy Balaji and Amit Bhandari, appear to have nudged ahead in the pace tussle. With Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra still far from certain to get on the plane to Australia, they’ll never have a better chance to impress. But first they have to pass the Sachin Tendulkar test in Chennai, and that’s never easy, even when the first swallow of summer’s flying overhead.

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.

India 705 for 7 dec and 211 for 2 dec drew with Australia 474 and 357 for 6 (Waugh 80, Katich 77*; Kumble 4-138)
Scorecard

What a way to go. The leitmotif of Steve Waugh’s career has been his appetite for a fight, and it was only at the fag end of the series, with everything at stake, that he stood up and scrapped the way we’ll always remember him. Australia went in to tea four wickets down, 238 behind, and with 35 overs left. Anil Kumble was in his element, and an Indian victory seemed the most likely result. But Waugh added 142 with Simon Katich, in the process making 80, as Australia salvaged a draw. Waugh was out in sight of a century, caught by Sachin Tendulkar, bowled by Kumble, the two men who have been around for the longest time after him. The Sydney Cricket Ground resounded with emotion as he walked off the field one last time, after his last rescue act.India’s chances of victory slipped away rapidly after tea, as a desperate Sourav Ganguly tried a succession of bowlers, but none of them could get the breakthrough. Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag gave Kumble and Murali Kartik a break, but Waugh and Katich motored on. Waugh was his usual pugnacious self, playing the spinners carefully on the front foot, except when there was the slightest hint of length outside off, when he rocked on his back foot and cut or punched through the area between cover and third man. He swept powerfully against the spinners, reaching his last Test fifty with one such off Sehwag.Katich batted much as he had in the first innings, assured and elegant, using his feet superbly against the spinners, driving magnificently through the off side. At one point, with 15 overs left and a required run-rate of about 10-an-over, it seemed likely that Australia would go for a win. But while they remained aggressive, they did nothing reckless, and the opportunity slipped away.Then, towards the end, the crowd sat on the edge of their seats as Waugh made a dash for what would have been his 33rd Test century. Katich even refused a single off the last ball off the sixth-last over, so that Waugh would have the strike in the next. But off the first ball of that over, Waugh slog-swept Kumble uppishly to Tendulkar at backward square leg. Tendulkar, smiling sheepishly, ran up to Waugh to shake his hand, as red rags fluttered in the breeze all around.Adam Gilchrist hit a lofted straight four off his second ball, and was out off the next, when Parthiv Patel failed to gather a ball which rolled off his body onto the stumps to leave Gilchrist stumped. India crowded the bat for the 27 balls that were left, but Australia had come too far to let their captain down at the end, and they hung in there.It could all have been so different, India would be justified in thinking, if a few umpiring decisions in the morning had not gone against them, most of them from Steve Bucknor. Justin Langer was caught plumb in front, twice, to balls from Ajit Agarkar that pitched on leg stump, straightened, and would have hit middle; each time Bucknor gave him not out. Kartik trapped Damien Martyn plumb in front after lunch, but Bucknor again negated the appeal. Kumble also had Martyn in a similar predicament, and this time, Billy Bowden shook his head. To their credit, though, India kept at it instead of letting these decisions upset them, and the gentlemen in question were eventually out. But the extra time Australia gained was critical.Langer and Matthew Hayden had begun briskly in the morning, scoring at over four an over against the new ball. But Hayden’s dismissal for 30, suckered into a drive to a beautifully flighted googly from Kumble, edging to Rahul Dravid at slip (75 for 1), brought the tempo of scoring down.

Langer decided to carry on with his first-innings policy of tonking Kartik out of the attack early on, and perished in the effort. Kartik held one back, Langer tried to drive over mid-off, but just knocked it tamely to the fielder there, Virender Sehwag (92 for 2). Langer had made 47, and was lucky to get that far.Ricky Ponting and Martyn took Australia through safely to lunch, and batted circumspectly after the break, as the Indian spinners got into a groove. Kartik managed to settle into a rhythm, which he hadn’t been allowed to do in the first innings, and found his length. Kumble bowled with guile, varying his pace, producing a few googlies, but the wickets remained elusive, partly because of the umpiring.Then Martyn decided to step up the pace, and swept Kumble for four. He tried a repeat off the next ball, and could only top-edge a legbreak that pitched well outside leg. Yuvraj Singh, on the field as a substitute, took the catch at square leg (170 for 3). Martyn had made a poised 40, and his dismissal was uncharacteristic.Waugh came in to a huge ovation, the decibel level of which rose as he opened his account with a flick off Kartik for four. Two balls later, a hush descended as an uppish hoick looped up in the air, but fell just short of Pathan at square leg. Waugh was unconcerned, and played as if this was just another Pura Cup game, unflappable and strokeful. His cutting against the spinners, especially, had the crowd in raptures.Shortly before tea Australia suffered another setback as Ponting was early on a drive against Pathan and hit it straight back to the bowler for a return catch (196 for 4). He was out, like Langer, Sehwag and Jason Gillespie before him, for 47. Katich joined Waugh, and the two home boys held guard as India chased that elusive away-series win.Waugh’s innings, so characteristic of the man, was a fine end for a series that saw so much top-quality cricket, and which was contested so hard. Dravid, Ponting, Kumble, Laxman, Tendulkar – there were many who achieved remarkable things in these four Tests. But none of them would grudge Waugh his moment.