The world of cricket

Nafees added to the century he scored in Zimbabwe in August

Shahriar Nafees made 123 as Bangladesh completed a 101-run consolation win over Zimbabwe in the Champions Trophy.

Dropped in the covers on nought, Nafees shared 84 in 20 overs with Saqibul Hasan (37) and 80 from only 14 overs with skipper Habibul Bashar (30).

Brendan Taylor hit a patient 52 but two comical run-outs and tight slow bowling saw Zimbabwe skittled for a paltry 130.

Neither team was able to qualify for the main tournament after both were beaten by Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Looking to atone for a 3-2 series defeat in Zimbabwe in August, Bangladesh made a nervous start, losing Rajin Saleh who was trapped in front in the fifth over after making no contact with an agricultural swipe across the line.

Aftab Ahmed soon joined him in the pavilion when he gloved a leg-side delivery and was superbly snaffled one-handed low to his left by diving wicket-keeper Taylor, leaving Bangladesh 26-2 in the 10th over.

Nafees and Saqibul rebuilt the innings slowly, bringing up the 100 in the 28th over, with the opener completing his fifty from 92 balls shortly afterwards.

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Fleming is set to beat Arjuna Ranatunga’s one-day record

Stephen Fleming has set his sights on lifting the World Cup before ending his long tenure as New Zealand skipper.

He will set a new record on Wednesday when he leads them for the 194th time in a one-day international.

And the game against Pakistan in Mohali will decide whether the Kiwis reach the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, a tournament they won in 2000.

But Fleming is already thinking about next year’s World Cup and admitted he has a “burning ambition” to win it.

“The biggest worry for us is that we have been inconsistent in big tournaments.

“I think we are a side that gets a bit comfortable once it has won a game,” the 33-year-old commented.

That view has been born out at the Champions Trophy with the Kiwis beating South Africa in their opening game and then losing to Sri Lanka after under-performing with the bat.

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Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott has called for Duncan Fletcher to be axed as coach following the side’s comprehensive defeat to Australia in a Champions Trophy group match on Saturday.

“If you talk to people like John Wright and Bob Woolmer, successful coaches with a lot of experience, they will tell you that the job comes with a shelf-life. And Fletcher just reached the end of his,” Boycott wrote in Monday’s Daily Telegraph.

England lost to India by four wickets in their opening match and were dismissed for 169 by Australia before losing by six wickets.

Zimbabwean Fletcher took over as coach seven years ago and the highlight of his career was guiding England to Ashes success last year after 18 years of Australian domination.

He is currently on a rolling one-year contract with the England board.

“I’m not saying he is a terrible coach. In fact, I think he has done a good job — full marks to him for the way he made England’s test team competitive after the dark days of the 1990s.

“But, after a while, I believe a coach runs out of new ideas and the players get comfortable and complacent with him. He almost becomes too familiar and the players stop listening.”

England’s one-day form has been poor for a while, particularly after injuries to a number of premier players.

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Herschelle Gibbs and his laywer on their way to chat with the Delhi police © AFP

Suspicions of match-fixing during England’s hosting of the cricket World Cup in 1999 have led Indian police to Britain only days after they formally questioned South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs.

Delhi police are probing whether matches held in England were fixed by gambling syndicates and have requested the assistance of Scotland Yard.

Video footage of South Africa’s matches during the 1999 tournament and the UK bank accounts and telephone records of disgraced South African cricketer Hansie Cronje have been requested by the Delhi investigators. Cronje, the now-deceased South Africa captain, became a pariah in April 2000 when he admitted accepting bribes from gambling syndicates.

Before being banned for life and later dying in a plane crash, he was the subject of the King Commission set up by South Africa to investigate the bribery claims. However the King Commission did not focus on any of the matches in the 1999 World Cup.

Of particular concern is Bangladesh’s defeat of Pakistan in a group game, although claims have also surrounded South Africa’s loss to Zimbabwe and a second phase match between India and Pakistan. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh won when their opponents had already assured qualification.

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With the World Cup less than five months away, Barbados is gearing up to play host to plenty of cricket fans. The latest initiative is to have 14 cruise ships docked at its port, of which six will serve as permanent floating hotels to make up for the lack of conventional hotel rooms.

The Jamaica Gleaner quoted Noel Lynch, the country’s tourism minister, as saying that these ships will accommodate around 12,000 fans and help handle the huge influx of fans expected during the tournament. “We are expecting about 20,000 fans for the finals,” Lynch said. “Of that number, our ports will accommodate some 12,000 and the land-based entities the other 8,000 people.”

Lynch also confirmed that much of the extra accommodation had already been sold out. “The Indians, particularly, have eaten up all of the rooms.”

The World Cup has also meant an opportunity for the West Indies to showcase itself as a tourist destination with sound infrastructure, and Lynch indicated that plenty of work was in progress in Barbados to ensure that the country would be in top shape when the tournament starts. “When cricket fans arrive in Barbados, they will see a new-looking Kensington Oval, and major infrastructure work showcasing Barbados as a seriously developing nation on the cusp of being developed.”

© Cricinfo

Also see World Cup, 2007.

Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock can take heart from the surface on view © Getty Images

Graeme Smith might just be enjoying himself a little more in the state of Gujarat than he did in Mumbai. The Sardar Patel Stadium, for starters, resembles more closely the stadia he is used to playing at back home - it’s big, has colourful bucket seats as a backdrop, the outfield is a lush green. And most importantly, the pitch also had just a tinge of green on it - not the kind of grass that would make it a seaming bunsen, but the kind that would hold it together and ensure that the top didn’t come off, as it did when South Africa went down to New Zealand in Mumbai.

Smith was livid after that match, lambasting the pitch after a game of two halves was easily won by New Zealand. When he appeared for his pre-match press conference in Ahmedabad, looking forward to the game against Sri Lanka, he was far more relaxed, and even smiled once or twice, as he fielded the usual questions. But then, that has been the nature of this tournament.

The format has made it such that each team needs at least two wins to be reasonably assured of making it to the semifinal. With one loss and two games to go, South Africa have no uncertainty left - they just must win, to stay in the competition. Sri Lanka, who already have one win, against New Zealand, but lost to Pakistan, can’t breathe any easier. In that sense, the manner in which results have unfolded has meant that this tournament has virtual quarterfinals, even if the organisers did not design it thus.

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Mitchell Johnson: “I want to try to get around that 150. I’m always trying to bowl quick” © Getty Images

First it was Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in Malaysia. Then it was Kevin Pietersen and figures of 3 for 40 in a fine performance against England on Saturday. Now Mitchell Johnson has re-set his sights on bowling at 150kph as his promising international career develops quickly.

Talk of Johnson gaining the third fast-bowling spot for the first Ashes Test has gained more momentum after he surprised Pietersen with his pace and then out-thought him during the six-wicket win at Jaipur. Johnson’s figures in his eighth ODI backed up his 4 for 11 in Malaysia last month and he said he was growing in confidence with every match.

As Australia prepared to leave for Mohali, where they will play India on Saturday and aim for a spot in the Champions Trophy semi-finals, Johnson also spoke about his plan for Pietersen, which involved a short ball that struck the bat handle followed by a full one angled across the batsman.

“That one probably zipped through a bit more,” he told AAP. “My plan to him was to get a short one in early and then try to get that nick early. From the footage that I’ve seen, he likes to get forward early. Maybe Andrew Flintoff as well. Shane Watson got him out trying to play the pull shot and got him on the forearm as well, trying to get forward. Maybe that’s a pretty good option with those guys.”

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Inzamam-ul-Haq leads his side back onto the field … but too late to save the Test © Getty Images

The ICC is to intervene on England’s claims for compensation from the forfeited Oval Test after Pakistan rejected their demands for £800,000 in lost revenue.

As expected, following the failure to reach an agreement between the two countries’ boards, the ECB has now requested assistance and an ICC disputes panel will decide how much compensation England are to receive following Pakistan’s forfeiture of the game.

The ECB originally asked the PCB for £800,000 after they refunded all fifth-day ticketholders and also gave a 40% reimbursement to the 23,000 in the ground on the day of the abandonment, the fourth day. But Pakistan formally rejected this claim, as they maintain that the actions of the umpires were to blame for the resulting refusal by Pakistan to resume the match, and as the employers of the officials, the ICC is responsible for the losses.

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