MELBOURNE, Feb 5 AAP – Steve Waugh may as well have ridden a white charger into the middle of the MCG today.The man who has forged a 20-year cricket career on rescuing innings in distress did it again on the opening day of NSW’s critical Pura Cup match against Victoria.With NSW reeling at 2-0 after four overs and its hopes of a Pura Cup final berth looking as sick as the scorecard, the Blues skipper strode to the crease with his team’s season on the line.And as he has done so often, Waugh was still there at the close of play 334 minutes later – unbeaten on 125, a 72nd first-class century in his keep and his side in control at 4-279 in their first innings.”It’s a good challenge,” Waugh said of coming in with his side in desperate trouble.”Obviously those are the times I play my best cricket.”It was tough out there for the first couple of hours and after that, the wicket seemed to flatten out.”I feel pretty good. I’ve been hitting the ball really well for a long time now.”Now I’m looking forward to making a big one tomorrow.”In a match in which the winner will have the inside running for a Pura Cup final spot, the second-placed Bushrangers will rue allowing the third-placed Blues off the rack.Paceman Shane Harwood had rocked the Blues early on a lively pitch, despatching Michael Slater and Simon Katich for ducks to leave NSW at 2-0.Enter Waugh – though he did have an early life when Victorian debutant David Hussey failed to hold a hot overhead chance at first slip when the Australian skipper had only made three.That allowed Waugh and Greg Mail to put on a 110-run salvage operation before Mail became Harwood’s third victim for 57.Australian cricket’s brightest young hope Michael Clarke then joined Waugh, terrorising the Victorian bowlers with a dashing 78 off 119 balls as part of a 138-run stand.As the speculation continues about when Waugh will retire from Test cricket, his innings today proved again that if you were to choose an Australian to bat for your life, 37-year-old Waugh would still be the man for the job.But he was still refusing to give anything away about how long he will continue to play international cricket.”I think I’m playing good cricket,” Waugh said.”I felt really relaxed today and I’m hitting the ball the best I have in a long time.”Waugh will resume tomorrow alongside brother Mark, who is unbeaten on 14.Play will start 22 minutes early tomorrow to make up for five overs lost today when stumps was called early after a heavy downpour of rain.

The West Indies have turned to former South African coach Bob Woolmer as a possible replacement for Roger Harper.Harper had been reasonably successful in arresting a woeful decline in the West Indies’ results but was denied the chance to take his team into the Super Six stage of the World Cup by the rained-off match against Bangladesh. However, the defeat of South Africa in the opening match in the tournament and a general upturn in results in Test and one-day cricket has confirmed that the West Indies have become competitive once again in world cricket.Despite this, Harper decided against re-applying for his own job when such a move became necessary according to West Indies Cricket Board policy.Attention has now focused on Woolmer who has already met the chief executive, Wes Hall and Sir Viv Richards who heads the selection panel. Other candidates have been interviewed, but the suggestion is that Woolmer is the preferred choice if contracts and terms can be agreed.Woolmer has an outstanding track record as coach to both South Africa and Warwickshire. He has also been working with the ICC as high performance director helping to prepare Canada, Kenya, Namibia and the Netherlands for the World Cup. There was every chance that he would continue in that role but might now be tempted to add his experience to the West Indian revival.

Take guard again!The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) yesterday opened the way for resumption in negotiations with the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) after regional cricketers dramatically boycotted the opening day of the Carib Beer International Challenge semifinals.A full agreement is yet to be reached, but after the embarrassment of yesterday’s unprecedented strike in matches between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago at Kensington Oval and Guyana and Jamaica in Berbice, the parties agreed the matches would start today and negotiations recommence next Wednesday, with both sides being represented by industrial relations advisors.Veteran trade unionist Evelyn Greaves was instrumental in outlining a way forward that was accepted by both parties.Greaves, a former Barbados Workers’ Union assistant general secretary, was part of a 45-minute meeting that included WICB president Reverend Wes Hall, acting chief executive officer Roger Brathwaite, WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine, vice-president Phil Simmons and treasurer Wavell Hinds."I think we all should be embarrassed. Everyone who has been involved in this should have found a way of not letting it reach this stage," Brathwaite said."Sometimes, with all the best efforts in the world, some things just happen and you have to pick up the pieces. We have to trust that we’ll all come out of this stronger."WIPA, whose grouses stem from player fees for the Carib Beer Series, compensation for injury and loss of earnings for West Indies players from 1999 onwards and payment for Barbadian all-rounder Ryan Hinds for five matches of the Carib Beer series, expressed satisfaction the WICB had agreed to resume negations."Our goal is to improve our relationship with the board. We are in the process of putting these things in place," Ramnarine said. "Obviously, you don’t like to do things like this, but at some time we need to take a stand. This has been a step backward. With the steps we have put in place here now, it is going help us move forward."Both Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago turned up at Kensington about an hour-and-a-half before the scheduled 10 a.m. start yesterday.It was evident that the planned strike action promised on Thursday night by Ramnarine would materalise when neither team emerged from the pavilion for warm-up sessions.Ramnarine and Hinds held discussions with both teams before Hall, Brathwaite and Greaves arrived at the ground just after 1 p.m.Both Brathwaite and Ramnarine apologised to the sponsors for the turn of events and Carib Beer public relations manager Colin Murray expressed relief that the semifinals would start today. They remain as four-day matches and the final is still scheduled to start next Thursday."At one stage I was worried there would be no cricket," Murray said. "I’m relieved and happy that the board and WIPA are about to come to an agreement and good sense has prevailed."What has transpired has not been good for West Indies cricket. As sponsors, we are bitterly disappointed with what transpired."

Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has warned Shoaib Akhtar that his international career could be over unless he improves his behaviour.

Zia, who rarely minces his words, left no-one in any doubt about his opinion of Shoaib, the world’s quickest bowler. “Let me make this clear,” he said. “If Shoaib does not improve his behaviour and general discipline, he has no place in the team … his cricket is finished.”Shoaib, 27, was one of eight players dropped after the World Cup, although he has since earned a reprieve, after being drafted into a preliminary squad of 21 for Pakistan’s one-day triangular series in Sri Lanka. During the World Cup match against England at Cape Town, he bowled one ball at Nick Knight that was clocked at more than 100mph, but the majority of his recent headlines have centred on irresponsible behaviour and indiscipline.Zia stressed there was no place in the Pakistan team for players not willing to give 100% commitment. “Regardless of whatever the selectors might think or plan, in my book, if Shoaib can’t improve his attitude and become more focused on cricket, his career is over. The Board and myself have supported him all along and spent a lot of money on his welfare, even when match officials reported his action.Shoaib, who was reported three times for throwing before it was discovered he has an abnormally flexible elbow, has a long history of clashes with team managers. “He was allowed a lot of latitude because we thought he was a genuine match-winner,” said Zia. “But he let the country down badly in the World Cup.”

Rodney Marsh, considered by many to be Australia’s greatest wicketkeeper, has said that he is “100% English now in terms of cricket” after being made an England selector.Speaking to the , Marsh said: “If I’m still a selector when England next play Australia [in 2005] then I’ll be rooting for England to win.”Marsh, who had once unflatteringly branded England bowlers as a bunch of “pie-chuckers”, has run England’s academy for promising players since its inception. He had previously held a similar post in Australia where he was responsible for nurturing the careers of several members of current Australian side.Marsh said that, contrary to popular belief, there were several talented young cricketers in England. He said that Chris Read, Nottinghamshire’s wicketkeeper, was a “helluva lot better wicketkeeper-batsman than I was at the same age of 24”.Read made his England debut in 1999 but, following a shaky start, was dropped after three Tests. He subsequently became a member of England’s Academy squad in Australia last year, coached by Marsh, and is now seen as the leading contender to succeed Alec Stewart in the England side.Ironically, Marsh was, at the start of his Test career, dubbed ‘Iron Gloves’, after some poor displays during the 1970-71 series against England in Australia. He said about Read: “If he can continue to work on his game, then by the age of 36, the time I retired, he might well be as good as anyone.”Marsh wasn’t making any selectorial predictions, though. “As in all new positions, if you’re half-smart, you keep your ears open and your mouth shut for a little while.”He said he was not blind to the claims of older England candidates but insisted: “If you have a young fella and an old fella and they’re equal – then you’ll always go for the young fella. This is not rocket science. It’s common sense. The trouble is that cricket is a game that is confused by people all over the world.”Marsh added that the key to improving England’s international fortunes was creating an environment which produced mentally tougher cricketers.”We need a culture that isn’t soft. When you have people prepared to be hard, prepared to lay down everything for the team, then England will have not just 11 players ready for Test cricket but 30 guys to choose from.”

As Australia get Bangladesh in their sights it is no surprise to see their players taking a tradesmanlike approach to the prospective biggest mismatch of Test history.Under the structure of the International Cricket Council’s Test Championship every country is obliged to play all the others within a five-year time frame. Bangladesh’s time has arrived to be exposed to the might of the undisputed world champions.Former players, no doubt fearful of the prospective bumper crop of statistics adding to their own diminution of status, have been vocal in their contempt of the series. But the players are bound to go through with it, and Andy Bichel, for one, has taken the view that the only way Bangladesh can improve is by playing against the best sides.Just to make certain there is no overconfidence in the home camp before the two-Test series which is breaking new ground by introducing Darwin and Cairns as the latest Test venues, Bichel was hopeful everyone in the team was on their mark so Australia could win. Heaven help them if they lose.He expected captain Steve Waugh to “show no mercy” going into the series, but Bichel was mindful that it was also important for the Australians to make a good impression to their countrymen who attend the matches.The Australians meet in Sydney this weekend to begin their preparation before flying to Darwin for the first Test which starts next Friday.

The Glamorgan team for the National League match against Surrey at Whitgift School on Sunday, 17th August will be drawn from the following squad:

JP MaherRDB Croft *MJ PowellMP MaynardDL HempA DaleMA Wallace +MS KasprowiczAG WharfAP DaviesDS HarrisonDA Cosker

16 wickets fell in a frenetic first day at the Rose Bowl, where the two bottom clubs Hampshire and Derbyshire met in the Division Two clash of the Frizzell County Championship.The warm weather spell continued as John Crawley chose to bat first, it was a decision he had to rue later as he saw his side capitulate to the bowling of Dominic Cork. The cloud cover and humidity helped him and the other Derbyshire seamers to make the ball swing, and it was Crawley himself who held up the progress with a spirited 49.Troubled with a back injury after completing a third run, he had to have treatment on the field, then latterly used a runner (James Adams).Iain Brunnschweiler and Chris Tremlett hit 39 late runs but the total of 143 was woefully short.Chaminda Vaas playing his first Championship match for Hampshire took the first three wickets to fall. Batting was not easy and slow progress was made by the visitors in building a short lead. Dimitri Mascarenhas bowled 9 overs after tea conceding just two runs for one wicket.Shaun Udal making the odd ball turn then finished the day with 2 wickets including in the last over the vital wicket of the Derbyshire skipper Dominic Cork.

Close Bangladesh 361 and 52 for 4 lead Pakistan 295 all out (Taufeeq 75, Youhana 64*, Rafique 5-118, Kapali 3-3) by 118 runs
Scorecard Day 2 Bulletin

Twelve wickets tumbled in a pulsating day of Test cricket as Bangladesh grabbed the initiative, and then saw it slip away in the final 75 minutes of play. There was a hat-trick for Alok Kapali, a first-innings lead for Bangladesh – both being firsts for them in Tests – and a heroic bowling performance by Mohammad Rafique, but Pakistan fought back with four wickets in Bangladesh’s second innings. The end result of all the frenetic action was that Bangladesh – 66 runs in the lead after the first innings – ended the third day at Peshawar on 52 for 4, an overall lead of 118.Kapali will probably hog the headlines in the morning papers for taking the last three wickets in Pakistan’s innings off successive balls, but the hero for Bangladesh was Rafique, who toiled relentlessly through the first two sessions. He bowled 29 overs out of the 60 bowled by his team in the first two sessions, and thoroughly deserved figures of 5 for 118 – only his second five-for in Tests.Bangladesh’s only win in an ODI against a Test-playing nation had come against Pakistan; now, faced with the prospect of being their first victim in Tests, Pakistan, lead by Shoaib Akhtar, hit back in the field. Javed Omar, centurion in the first innings, was snaffled by Rashid Latif for a duck in the first over (7 for 1). Hannan Sarkar followed soon after, edging a drive to slip (20 for 2).Habibul Bashar counter-attacked in typical fashion with a breezy 28, before Pakistan struck again with two wickets in consecutive balls: Mohammad Ashraful nicked to first slip off Danish Kaneria (43 for 3), while Umar Gul trapped Bashar in front with the first ball off the next over. Kapali and Rajin Saleh hung on grimly before bad light intervened.

Earlier, Rafique and Kapali combined to hand a definite advantage to Bangladesh at the half-way stage of the match. Resuming at 134 for 2, Taufeeq Umar and Inzamam-ul-Haq were restricted to a mere 25 runs from 13 overs in the first hour, before Umar nicked the first ball after the drinks break to Khaled Mashud (159 for 3). Rafique then nailed Inzamam, getting through his defences after Inzamam had battled 137 balls for 43 (178 for 4).Latif and Youhana wrested back the initiative with a 64-run stand, but Bangladesh never eased the pressure in the field. Rafique struck twice in quick succession, having Latif stumped for 40 (242 for 5) and Shoaib Malik lbw. Khaled Mahmud then dismissed Shoaib Akhtar, before conjuring up a masterstroke: he tossed the ball to Kapali.Kapali didn’t take long to vindicate the faith reposed by his captain. The fifth ball of his first over had Shabbir Ahmed spooning a catch to Mashrafe Mortaza at mid-off (289 for 8). Next ball, Kaneria was adudged lbw when he shouldered arms to a straight ball which was clearly missing off stump. The first ball of Kapali’s next over was another straight one, this time spearing in towards off stump. Gul played no stroke, umpire Russel Tiffin upheld the appeal, and all the Bangladesh players gathered around in a huddle to celebrate a special moment, even as Youhana cut a forlorn figure, unbeaten on 64.At the change of innings, Bangladesh clearly had Pakistan on the mat, before the Shoaib Akhtar-led late strikes levelled things for Pakistan. If Bangladesh manage to add about 130 more, they could yet be sniffing their first Test win.

Getting the little things right in order to maximise the opportunity for victory is already shaping as a significant ploy in John Bracewell’s time at the coaching helm of the New Zealand side.He took up his position on November 1, and while the side is overseas in the hands of stand-in coach Ashley Ross, Bracewell has been left to monitor progress through a “22-inch screen” and it presents a vision too narrow for someone who sees cricket as a more holistic game.The month in the job while the team is overseas has been useful for him. While it is possible to keep in touch with the international players, he has been able to use the annual Academy programme to familiarise himself with players at the next level below the internationals.That has demonstrated that there is talent available in those lower resources, an excitement in itself, and an indication of developing depth which should be ready to explode onto the scene in the next few years. But ability and selection hunches will be backed by other demandsTeam selection would not be just about being able to hit, or bowl, a ball. Ability to deal with the team’s culture would be just as much a part of it.Bracewell said: “I remember when they started a Tennis Academy in Auckland, the first thing they did was send the kids to South America to see how they handled it. It was a test of how they adapted to foreign conditions, how they handled the travel, and how they reacted to a different culture. It was a very good way of finding out. Some kids are just homeboys, some don’t like flying while others just thrive.”And there’s some new idiom about to enter the sporting lexicon in New Zealand. For starters more will be heard about the ‘one percenters’. That’s the little things in the game that can make all the difference to the final outcome. In this instance while we were speaking it was a batsman standing at the bowler’s end holding his bat in his wrong hand and his batting gloves in the other. The coach’s observation was that the batsman wouldn’t be able to turn properly, he would be blind so he wouldn’t give himself the optimum chance of successfully completing his runs.That, and other things about the game needed to be tidied up because, while they were little things, they were the 1% that gave you the slight edge. That could be the difference between winning and losing.Bracewell is well versed in the requirements to change New Zealand’s one-day fortunes. It was the basis of his success with Gloucestershire.”It is about taking complete ownership of your role, or roles, the burying of personal egos toward your own advancement and being someone who perfects winning a game. It is about set pieces and doing them well, protecting your area and about working for your team-mates off the ball. It is the same as rugby. There are a series of set pieces and it is a case of recognising the phase the team is in. Then it is about having the ability to control that phase and then breaking out from that position.”It is about being adaptable, once you have nailed your case. And adaptability is probably the most important thing. It is mechanical, it is almost Americanised.”At Gloucestershire it was something he had to sell to the team. It had never won the championship and with Courtney Walsh taking more than 100 wickets they had finished fourth, in Bracewell’s first season. They had more outright victories than before in a season, but they were happy with fourth place. Walsh had given the side a façade to hide behind and they hadn’t maximised their chances.Bracewell realised he would have to create a winning mentality, something the club hadn’t had in 130 years, this despite being home to some of the game’s greatest players – W G Grace, Gilbert Jessop, Walter Hammond, Tom Graveney. An analysis of how best to approach this resulted in settling for a great team without great individuals. With four competitions, three of them one-day competitions, it made sense to give themselves three chances out of four to win something.”Ownership gives incentive. The players were spending time individually and as a group and achieving which they took pride in. They lifted heavier weights and changed their body shapes and that got them in better condition while also lifting their self-esteem. A bonus system was introduced which was based on the team rather than the individual.”It was satisfying and frustrating. Satisfying because the players were buying into it and dedicating themselves really well, and that was led by the senior players. The average age of the side when we started was 23, now it is 28, and they are in their most productive years. Jack Russell, the former England wicketkeeper, brought into it and Mark Alleyne, the captain, had incredible on-field intelligence. The frustration was in controlling egos.”Unfortunately, the team’s success did not have the spin-off of more players being selected for internationals, and that left Bracewell feeling almost as if he had been dishonest with the players. As for the four-day competition it was a case of having one chance in 18 of winning, which is the hardest cricket competition in the world to win. And it was a situation where resources were not evenly shared so that his budget at Gloucestershire was nothing like that at Surrey.But with New Zealand, on the international stage, the prize is greater, and the incentive higher. The Bracewell era will soon be underway.