Bennett King, the West Indies coach, has lambasted his lower-order batsmen for failing to follow the instructions in the closing stages of the crucial third one-dayer against South Africa in Barbados. West Indies, who required only four runs of the last over with three wickets in hand, lost the match by one run when Charl Langeveldt claimed his maiden hat-trick.”The instruction was to hit the ball and try and give the strike over to Dwayne (Bravo),” King was quoted as saying by The Nation. “It just highlights some of the experience of the boys and some of the thinking and their process that needs to change.”However, the tailenders, Ian Bradshaw and Daren Powell, were clean bowled trying to attempt big shots, and Corey Collymore was caught plumb in front the wicket, leaving Bravo stranded at the other end on 21.King pointed out the lack of experience in the lower order, which led to their downfall. “The real reason why we didn’t win that game was simply because we made some mistakes early and didn’t bowl as well as we could’ve,” he continued. “And all combined the results are there for everyone to see. So you don’t want to end up dwelling on things like that that happened in the past.”However, King also mentioned the positives to have come from the match. “The general public, from various sectors, have been very supportive about what they see on the field,” King told CCN TV6, a Trinidad based television channel, “And I think the people who know their cricket can see that there’s been some changes in the side already and changes they believe are quite good, so the feedback’s been good.”South Africa lead the five-match series 3-0, as the two teams head to Trinidad for a double-header over the weekend. South Africa also won the Test series 2-0, which was their fourth successive Test series win over West Indies.

Is it a sign of Australia’s willingness to evolve, or proof of their impending demise? As one of the most hyped series of recent times prepared to get underway at Bangalore, Adam Gilchrist, Australia’s stand-in captain, indicated that his team’s era of unabashed aggression was about to draw to a close.With the scars of 2001 very much to the fore during a chaotic press conference at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Gilchrist hinted that a patient approach might be called upon, on a dry and cracked pitch that the coach, John Buchanan, recently described as “terrible”.”By nature, we are an aggressive team,” admitted Gilchrist. “But to a huge extent, that aggression left the door open to India on our last tour. Back then, we were a very confident team riding a wave of momentum, but we’ve had a lot of time to ponder that defeat, and we’ve picked up a great deal of experience in subcontinent as well.”At Kolkata in 2001, India famously brought Australia’s all-conquering run of 16 consecutive victories to an end, after VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid compiled a stand of 376 to turn the follow-on on its head. Australia, set an all-but-impossible final-day target of 384, crumbled to 212 as Harbhajan Singh ripped through the innings.”We are wise to those experiences,” added Gilchrist, who made a king pair in that match. “This time, we have planned much better, and we are ready to adopt what we think would be the right approach. Whether that means we’ll have to be more patient, remains to be seen.”Any attempt by the captains to play down the hype was emphatically outmanoeuvred by the series sponsors, who first attempted to rouse the assembled press hoards with a continuous loop of “I vow to thee my country”, before unveiling the series trophy – which emerged out of the backdrop on a revolving plinth – amid a deafening blast of the Star Wars theme tune.Star Trek might have been more appropriate, given all the talk of Australia’s “final frontier”, but Gilchrist refused to be drawn into such talk, placing those words straight back into Steve Waugh’s mouth, from where they had first emerged.”It was maybe the final frontier for Stephen,” said Gilchrist. “It was towards the end of his career, and he hadn’t had success here, despite achieving so much in various places around the world. We prefer to see it as a fantastic opportunity to create a bit of history, although that’s not to say we’re putting any more emphasis on this than an Ashes series or the last India series. It’s great that the Australia-India rivalry is so high-profile, and on worldwide scale, but that’s as far as it goes.”The series begins without two of the most brilliant batsmen of the modern era, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar, although Gilchrist was wary not to get carried away by Tendulkar’s absence, and the effect it might have on the Indian team.”I regard Sachin as one of the best players I’ve ever seen,” he said. “He provides a wonderful foundation for the rest of the order to work from, but in all honesty, he’s not been the one who’s really done the damage to us in the past series. He’s played one or two remarkable innings, but over the course of the series it’s been the Dravids and Laxmans who’ve really done it.”I can tell you, we’re well aware of the talent in the Indian team,” concluded Gilchrist. “We won’t be taking it easy at all.”

Cricket South Africa will continue to be consistent in its stance regarding tours to and from Zimbabwe, Gerald Majola, their chief executive officer, said in a statement on Tuesday.”We view tours to and from Zimbabwe as cricketing matters,” said Majola, when asked to comment on reports that the New Zealand government was putting pressure on the ICC to suspend the Zimbabwe Cricket Union because its links to Robert Mugabe’s regime. We will continue to meet our obligations to the ICC and the ZCU in this regard. We have always been consistent in this. I have just returned from a meeting of the ICC’s chief executives, and the matter of any possible suspension was not even raised. In fact, all the countries, including New Zealand, who are due to tour Zimbabwe reaffirmed their commitments.”Cricket South Africa is also at the forefront of developing Africa into a major cricketing continent,” concluded Majola, “and this includes assisting in the progress of Zimbabwean cricket. We will continue on this path.”It is being reported that South Africa have agreed to play three ODIs in Zimbabwe on July 30, 31 and August 3.

Shane Bond, the New Zealand bowler, has said that he feels that he is nearing his best form as he took one for 28 off 8 overs for New Zealand Academy against they beat Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) by 60 runs at Brisbane.Recovering from a major back surgery, Bond said that he was happy with his progress since the New Zealand Academy’s tour of Australia started. “It’s getting better day by day. This was my best day today and hopefully I can step it up a notch tomorrow. I’m 100 percent,” said Bond according to a report on stuff.co.nz. He said that he felt no discomfort while bowling, “I’m starting to get a little bit more consistent. It’s nice to be outside getting consistent cricket.”Bond has one more match to play against India’s Karnataka State Cricket Association’s team before returning to New Zealand to prepare for their forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe.

Sourav Ganguly will remain suspended from international cricket, but his ban has been reduced from six matches to four. Justice Albie Sachs, an independent arbitrator, ruled on Thursday that Ganguly’s original punishment for slow over-rates was “too severe”. Ganguly has already missed two one-dayers, so he will sit out the next two matches – the opening ties of the Indian Oil Cup – before returning to India’s squad at the start of August.The Indian board had appealed unsuccessfully to the ICC Disputes Resolution Committee about the ban imposed during the one-day series against Pakistan in April, saying that they were unhappy with the process used to deal with Ganguly’s first appeal.But the ICC said in a statement that Sachs had said the ban was correct. However, Sachs had “formed the view that […] the penalty imposed was too severe in the circumstances”, a view which relates to the fact that the Indian side was only five overs behind the rate.Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, said he was pleased the issue had been resolved at last. “Justice Sachs has dealt with all the issues raised by the BCCI in full and highlighted the fact that the process and application of the rules was appropriate.”

Rawle Brancker has resigned from his post as chairman of the West Indies organising committee for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.Brancker, a former Barbados cricketer, tendered his resignation on Saturday during a meeting with organisers in St. Kitts without giving a reason, according to a statement from the West Indies board. Brancker’s resignation was accepted by Kenneth Gordon, the president of the West Indies board, and the statement also added that several other non-executive directors, who were present at the meeting, also resigned.Brancker took the position in 2003 and there is no immediate word on his successor. Gordon thanked Brancker for his work preparing for the 2007 World Cup, to be held in the region for the first time.Cricket officials will begin another series of meetings in St. Kitts on September 5 at which they are expected to discuss possible replacements.

Duncan Fletcher has been granted British citizenship after 15 years of trying after Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, stepped in to review his application. All it took was an Ashes series victory, although the Home Office are saying it is just a “happy coincidence” that it occured the day after England’s 2-1 series triumph.The cries for Fletcher to be given a British passport had grown increasingly vocal during the summer as England got closer and closer to regaining the Ashes. However, his application was rejected because he spends more than three months of the year outside the UK.Fletcher, 56, qualifies for British citizenship as both his parents and all four grandparents were born in the UK. But he had been caught out by the small print which says those applying must have lived in Britain for five years, with no more than 450 days outside of the county, including 90 within the past year.But Home Office sources confirmed that it was discovered at least half of his time outside the UK was spent touring overseas with England. A spokesman said: “It is right to say the home secretary used his discretionary powers and it was decided Mr Fletcher deserved to be granted citizenship.” Fletcher must now attend a citizenship ceremony to confirm his new status.

Ravi Rampaul, the 20-year-old fast bowler, is expected to make a return to action for Trinidad and Tobago in next month’s West Indies Cricket Board President’s Trophy limited-overs series.”It has been a lot of hard work trying to get myself back in shape,” Rampaul told TV6 Sports in an interview. “I could not run or use my legs excessively for about one year, but I am now back in the gym. It’s been tough because the hardest thing to do is to get back to fitness, when you are not fit.”Rampaul has not played cricket since he returned from the West Indies’ tour of England last year with shin splints. He said he never thought about throwing in the towel during the long period he spent away from the game.Rampaul said he kept focused by looking at tapes and keeping himself informed about what was happening in the world of cricket. “After the President’s Trophy, hopefully I see how I feel,” he said. “I know it’s still a long road back, and I still have some way to go to get back to full fitness, but I will have to see how things go in the regional one-day competition and move from there.”Rampaul also said that he was as anxious as ever to make a return to the West Indies line-up. “This is my ultimate goal,” he said. “I want to get back into the team and I am looking forward to giving a good performance in the President’s Trophy, and use it as a stepping stone to get back into the West Indies team.”Rampaul has played 17 one-day internationals for West Indies.

Victoria 271 and 6 for 184 (White 48*) defeated Western Australia 142 and 312 by four wickets
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Victoria recovered from the danger of losing two early wickets and narrowly missed a thunderstorm to secure a first-up victory over Western Australia at the WACA. Resuming on 4 for 86, the Bushrangers suffered a horror start when David Hussey hit the first ball of the day for four and top-edged the second, an attempted pull off Brad Williams, to the wicketkeeper Ryan Campbell.Nick Jewell fell shortly after to Brett Dorey, but Cameron White, who made 48, and Jon Moss steered their side to safety with a 71-run stand that finished moments before a heavy shower hit the ground. Moss, the Man of the Match due to his eight wickets and first-innings 58, attempted to thrash a four from the first three balls of the final over and eventually struck a two to finish on 25.”I was probably the most nervous for the whole match when ‘Mossy’ played and missed those first three balls,” White, the Victoria captain, told . “I just knew it was the last over.” Victoria claimed six points for the outright victory and White said it was “a nice way to start the season”.Mike Hussey, the brother of David and the Western Australia captain, was disappointed with the result but pleased the side had a chance to win on the final day. “We know we need to improve,” he said, “but I know we can.”

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England’s men may be struggling with their tour of the subcontinent. Not so the women – four matches, four wins; so far, so good. And they will be highly encouraged by their latest triumph against a strong opposition yet, an India A side comprising seven Under-21s and four of the full side.It was their first real test this tour, and a much-needed one ahead of the one-off Test at Delhi which starts next Tuesday and will in itself be a warm-up for the one-dayers which lie ahead.True, this was a less-than-convincing performance from England’s batsmen – they have that, at least, in common with their male counterparts – as they made 182 for 8 from their 50 overs. Their topscorer was Rosalie Birch, who made 30 at No 5.More reassuring was their bowling and Birch again led the charge, taking six wickets to rip through the middle order at a vital time. India’s opening pair had put on 67 between them, their batting slow but assured, but then they both fell on the same score; Karu Jain was run out for 48, Arran Brindle bowled 25-year-old Arundhati Kirkire for 29. Enter Birch who made sure that England’s record was kept intact, as they followed up a 10-wicket win with victory by 27 runs to complete back-to-back one-day successes at Meerut.England continued to shuffle their pack to give everyone a chance: Laura Newton and Beth Morgan dropped to the bench. Jo Watts and Jenny Gunn got the nod this time, but they were the only bowlers to go wicketless on this occasion. So confident were England of success this time that they announced before the game that their batting order would be entirely flexible. They weren’t so confident as wickets were slowly tumbling, but they had done just enough.