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Though not “100% sure” of his ability to take the field for tomorrow’s crucial one-day international at Chennai, Brian Lara cut a confident figure as he assessed his side’s current form. With one eye very focused on the World Cup at home in 46 days, Lara stressed on the role of youngsters and the constant need to assess and adjust against the odds.”We’re still very buoyant. The guys are looking forward to the remainder of the series,” he told reporters ahead of West Indies’ practice session at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. “I think this has always been called a build-up to the World Cup, so whatever we can get out of it – not necessarily results, but in terms of improving different aspects of our game – is important. We shouldn’t lose confidence from a series such as this. And even if we were winning, not to leave here over-confident.”It’s easy to suggest that West Indies’ morale may be down given the 0-2 score line in the four-match series, but Lara thought otherwise: “We are achieving certain things, maybe not in the form of results, but its very optimistic in the dressing-room. We know what the bigger picture is.”For as far back as one can remember, West Indies’ batting has revolved around the three senior players – Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Chris Gayle – but Lara denied it was over-reliance. “The batting has definitely improved. Marlon Samuels in Pakistan and the likes of Dwayne Bravo, on a couple of occasions here, have shown that we’re trying to improve as far as the matchwinners in the team go – in terms of with bat and ball and the occasional run-out or two.”It’s important to understand that we have a good allround team. We’re just trying to get everyone to improve, but of course there are going to be guys well-positioned to do a large part of the job, like Gayle and Chanderpaul and myself, but we have specific jobs for every individual. It’s important that they execute it.”Lara did not see the need to change the make-up of the team based on the surface and praised Gayle for the leadership he showed at Cuttack. “It’s an exercise for any captain that likes to lead and likes the intricacies of the game. You want to be able to have that kind of situation. I think Chris enjoyed himself a couple days ago, moving around the bowlers, and I think he did a tremendous job. It’s only going to develop any captain if he has conditions of that sort.”

Despite so much focus being directed towards the Caribbean’s first World Cup, Lara refrained from talking strategies. “After this series, we head back to the Caribbean, where we have regional cricket to play, and there’s a camp before the World Cup. This particular series is paramount to us before the World Cup. We needed to get some sort of international cricket under our belt, and this is what we’re doing at present.”Having a little break before that is good, too, and I think we can get back well. The way the World Cup is structured, it allows you a couple of practice games, and some against the minnows to get you moving ahead of the main stage. We’re well on course as far as our preparation goes. It’s just a matter of staying fit, everyone staying together, and having the right group around.”Lara was also eager to point out the aggressive streak in India. “I’m not going to compare what I saw back then [in the ICC Champions Trophy and in Malaysia] but what I can tell you now is that they look hungry. They look like a team desperate for wins. Their results haven’t been good in the recent past, and leading up to the World Cup, with a billion people following you, you need to leave them with some sort of hope going into that tournament.”They were finalists four years ago, and know what they need to do as far as getting their act together goes; they’ve reshuffled a few players to try and get the right mix come March. I must commend them for the sort of character they’ve shown over the last week or so, because they were destroyed in South Africa and didn’t do too well in the ICC Champions Trophy. India is a team you never take lightly.”

Omar Khan, West Indies’ manager, is confident that his team will stand up to be counted when they take on the visiting Australians in the first of three Tests starting on May 22 in Kingston.”What I have noticed about the players is that they are maturing and this gives me confidence going into such a tough series,” Khan said. “We are cognisant of the fact that we are coming up against the world champions, Australia. We know our position in the rankings and theirs, and the players know what is expected of them.”West Indies go into the series on the back of an impressive performance against Sri Lanka – they drew the two-Test series 1-1 before claiming the three-match ODI series 2-0, with one match being abandoned due to rain.An 18-man West Indies squad is currently engaged in a six-day training camp which began on May 12. “The players have been put under intense training,” Khan said. “They have done a lot of physicals and are now moving on to some nets work.””They understand that they need to be at their very best to compete against Australia and have accepted that,” he said. “The guys have also been very interactive in the team-building sessions, and this is good for us. What we are trying to achieve is a strong, united bunch and we are well on our way to achieving this.”Following a two-day practice match against an Antiguan XI which brings the camp to a close, the national selectors will choose a 14-man squad that will fly to Kingston on Sunday to prepare for the first Test.

The recently floated Indian Cricket League (ICL) has found that “reactions have been positive” in its hunt to recruit domestic players.”Quite a few people are disillusioned with the way the BCCI functions,” Himanshu Mody, the business head of the ICL, told the . “At the same time we are carefully scanning players’ lists for our needs. We need to be careful and make sure they suit us too. They have to be players who have either played some level of quality cricket or youngsters who have the potential to do so.”The ICL is a Twenty20 tournament scheduled for this October and will have six teams with two Indian internationals, four overseas players and eight juniors in each side. After two years the plan is to increase the number of sides in the league to 16.On its part, the BCCI is not taking the ICL’s search for players too seriously. “It will not affect domestic cricket in any way,” said Niranjan Shah, the board secretary. The board also made brave noises on the exodus of Indian domestic coaches to the ICL – at last count Madan Lal, Sandeep Patil, and Balwinder Singh Sandhu. “I don’t think the Ranji would be affected. We have enough quality coaches,” Sanjay Jagdale, the national selector, said.Sandhu, whose contract with the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association was not renewed this season, said he had had standing offers or feelers from four BCCI-affiliated associations but still decided to join the ICL. According to him, the ICL was not a competitor to the BCCI since the end goal of the two – that of improving Indian cricket – was the same. “You know why so many talented ones fail to get spotted in the regular camps run by the associations,” Sandhu told Zee News. “They are pushed out by those who are less talented but are being backed by men who matter. This can be set right in ICL talent spotting camps.”Meanwhile, Atul Wassan, Delhi’s chairman of selectors, said that losing some of its top players might be a blessing in disguise for the team. “As it is, we struggle to qualify everywhere. If two-three stars go, we might as well lose with youngsters,” said Wassan. He admitted however that if the team lost youngsters it would hurt it badly.

New South Wales 5 for 360 (Forrest 177, Haddin 55*, Hughes 51, Katich 51) v Tasmania
Scorecard

Peter Forrest made his first Pura Cup century as New South Wales batted themselves into a strong position on the first day against Tasmania. Forrest fell late in the day for 177 and at the close the Blues had reached 5 for 360 with Brad Haddin on 55 and Grant Lambert yet to score.The early signs for New South Wales were excellent as Forrest, in his fifth first-class game, combined with the debutant opener Phillip Hughes for a 112-run second-wicket stand. Hughes, 18, is the Blues’ youngest first-class player since Michael Clarke burst on the scene and he immediately displayed the skills that earned him his place, striking 51.Forrest then had strong support from Simon Katich (51) and Haddin, as Tasmania’s attack struggled to string together two wickets in close proximity. His century came from 174 balls but he was not content to leave it there and finished with 21 fours and two sixes.His lengthy stay finally ended when Brendan Drew trapped him lbw with only 15 minutes left in the day. Ben Hilfenhaus was the only Tasmania bowler to claim more than one wicket, ending the day with 2 for 90.

Australia’s tour of Pakistan may have hit another roadblock with word that Darren Lehmann, the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) president, will not send a delegate on a pre-tour security inspection of Pakistan due to safety concerns.Australia’s scheduled tour has already been shortened and, if it goes ahead, will begin later this month, but further bombings in Pakistan over the weekend have heightened safety fears.ACA chief executive Paul Marsh had been scheduled to join Cricket Australia representatives in Pakistan this month to decide if its players can visit safely, but Lehmann has said that would not happen. “We’re not sending Paul Marsh on the pre-tour visit and that’s basically because we as a board don’t feel comfortable sending one of our employees there at the moment,” Lehmann said.”At the moment our advice is not to, and I don’t feel comfortable sending anybody to be perfectly honest, and the [players’] board doesn’t.”There’s been a lot of things going on in Pakistan. Hopefully it settles down, but only time will tell.”Lehmann believed CA would go ahead with plans for the tour unless it is made clear the trip cannot proceed, and said the players would require plenty of assurances to change their minds. “On Wednesday we’ll meet with the government departments and see what is really out there,” he said. “We’ll get our advice from them, security issues, any other problems we have with Pakistan. I think they’d need a lot of assurances along the way.”CA will meet with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra on Wednesday to receive advice on the current security situation in Pakistan.CA’s spokesman Peter Young said it was too early to tell if the latest bombings would affect the tour. “We will sit down with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and take a formal briefing from them on the situation in Pakistan and the likely situation in the coming weeks,” Young said. “We’ll continue to move through that formal process. We’re not going to pre-empt the outcome of that process until we have gone through the whole thing.”

The ECB National Academy won the second match of their winter tour programme in Australia earlier today – beating South Australia 2nd XI by 70 runs in a One-Day game.Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell took 5-22 with his medium pacers as the home side were bowled out for 170 after the National Academy XI had made 240 in their first innings.Middlesex batsman Andrew Strauss top scored for the National Academy side with 56 backed up by a quick-fire 39 from Durham’s Nicky Peng made in only 37 minutes and including two sixes.A ninth wicket partnership of 60 between Lancashire’s Chris Schofield (30 not out) and Glamorgan wicket-keeper Mark Wallace (36) then bolstered the Academy after they had slumped to 177-8.The National Academy XI, who won their first match against Tasmania 2nd XI last week, will play a 4-Day match against their Australian equivalents, the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, starting next Monday, December 3.

Netherlands’ allrounder Billy Stelling has announced his retirement from first-class cricket, although it will not make much impact on the national side as he has only played one first-class match in the last seven seasons. He will remain available for one-day selection.The bulk of Stelling’s career was in South Africa where he played for Western Province and then Boland. He also had a spell with Leicestershire, making only one first-class outing when he took 5 for 49 against Kent in 2000. He turned out for Berkshire in the Minor Counties Championship and also had spells with East Lancashire and Rawtenstall in the Lancashire League.He first represented Netherlands in 1995 and has always been on the fringes of the one-day side, making 11 appearances. His best bowling came in his last outing when he took 3 for 12 against Scotland during the World Cup.Although he has expressed a desire to continue playing ODIs, he is 38 next month and it may well be that PJ Bakker, the new coach, decides it would be better to look to the future as he tries to rebuild after some high-profile retirements.

The ICC’s search for a new CEO has been dealt an embarrassing blow with the news that Imtiaz Patel, who was offered the job two weeks ago, has “withdrawn his interest” in the position. The decision was conveyed by Patel, currently CEO of the South African media organisation SuperSport, to the ICC’s president-elect David Morgan on Sunday and announced on Monday.The development means the ICC will have to once again cast its net to find a successor to Malcolm Speed, the incumbent since 2001 who steps down from the role after this year’s ICC Annual Conference, which will take place between June 29 and July 4. An ICC statement said the committee charged with identifying a successor – comprising Morgan, ICC president Ray Mali, vice-president Sharad Pawar and the chairman of Cricket Australia, Creagh O’Connor – will now reconvene.”My family and I have reflected deeply on the wonderful opportunity which the ICC presented to me to fulfill such an important role in a sport which is in my blood,” Patel said. “After considering my position carefully, I have, however, resolved to remain in my beloved country, South Africa, and continue in my challenging and fulfilling role as chief executive officer of SuperSport International.”Patel was announced Speed’s successor on March 17, though the ICC failed to seek Patel’s consent for the post. The next day, Patel said he would be “considering my position very carefully during the coming weeks” and a spokesman for SuperSport told Cricinfo he had been offered the job but was weighing his options.”We are obviously disappointed that Imtiaz has chosen to withdraw his interest, having regarded him highly,” Morgan said. “However, the fact that Imtiaz has withdrawn does not mean that, by default, we will be left with a candidate who is, in any way, inferior to him.”In fact, we have been fortunate to have several high calibre candidates on the shortlist, all of whom bring something slightly different to the table,” Morgan said. “The role of ICC CEO, while challenging, represents a huge opportunity for the successful candidate. It is an opportunity for that person to help forge the future of our great game at a time of huge innovation and excitement.”We remain committed to securing the services of the right candidate and we anticipate being able to complete that task in the very near future.”

David Hussey is ‘batting beautifully’ and is in a ‘different class’ to his Victoria team-mates according to Cameron White, his state captain.Hussey stroked 104 and 74 not out to lead Victoria’s 270-run win over South Australia yesterday. In their second innings, South Australia folded for just 77.”David, he’s in a different class to the rest of us I think, batting beautifully,” White told the . “One of the things we want at Victoria is to produce Australian players so hopefully he gets an opportunity.”Everyone knows that he’s good enough and he’s in really good form – if you’ve been watching this game you’ll see he’s been on a different level to anyone really.”White attributes Hussey’s success to county cricket in which he has represented Nottinghamshire for the past four seasons. He has been in prolific form, compiling 7259 runs at 48.39 with a bristling strike-rate.”I’ve no doubt county cricket has definitely helped his game,” White said. “Over the last four winters he’s been [playing county cricket] he’s probably facing a couple of thousand balls out in the middle while everyone else who’s not playing cricket is hitting indoor bowling machine balls.”There’s no doubt I think that makes you a better player over there, batting all that time.”

The ongoing impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the Players’ Association (WIPA) deepened when the board alleged that the WIPA did not meet the deadline to resolve the sponsorship issue. Roger Brathwaite, chief executive of WICB, told CMC Radio, “We have been told that we can expect a response from WIPA soon, and an announcement about the latest position will be made later in the week.”WIPA reacted strongly to the board’s claims, accusing them of undermining the integrity of the players. According to the press release issued by Dinanath Ramnarine, president and CEO of WIPA, the players association had responded to WICB in the time frame promised, and had submitted a counter proposal to the WICB on February 19. A week later, the WICB responded to this on February 24th with its own counter proposal and gave WIPA a deadline of February 25th to respond.Ramnarine further stated that it wasn’t possible for WIPA to respond at such short notice for two reasons – the first being that the WIPA’s legal representatives were not available to give their advice on the matter and, the sceond, that WIPA had to seek its members’ consensus on the revised proposal of the board. “Because the members reside in islands across the Caribbean it would not be possible to get feedback from all of them in time. The President of WIPA therefore advised the WICB that, recognising the urgency of the negotiations, the WICB would have WIPA’s reply by March 2nd. WIPA has kept to its promise and submitted its reply to the WICB earlier today.”The two parties have been engaged in this imbroglio since last December, when the board awarded team sponsorship to Digicel, bringing the players’ personal endorsement deals with Cable and Wireless, a rival of Digicel, in conflict.