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Imran offers to help Pakistan out of World Cup crisis

March 21, 2007



'I am ready to sit down with the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board [PCB] and see what we could do to bring the nation out of this cricketing crisis' AFP



Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, has offered his services to help restore Pakistan's status after their shocking exit from the World Cup in a three-wicket defeat against Ireland.

"I am ready to sit down with the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board [PCB] and see what we could do to bring the nation out of this cricketing crisis," Imran said in a television programme.

Imran blamed captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for the debacle after Pakistan lost both their group matches - against the West Indies and Ireland - to become the first team to exit the World Cup.

"His captaincy was timid," Imran said. "Inzamam himself said before the World Cup that he would bat at No.4, but when the tournament began he came out to bat at No.5. This built pressure on the team and we simply collapsed against medium-pace bowlers of Ireland," he explained.

After the untimely death of the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, Imran advised the PCB to bring in two coaches - one for the bowlers and other for batsmen.

"I would suggest Aaqib Javed should be the bowling coach because he had coached Pakistan to win two Under-19 World Cups," Imran suggested. He added, without offering any names, that the PCB also should look for a good batting coach.

Imran backed Younis Khan as the future captain. "It's not the time to take drastic measures," he said.

Domestic cricket, in Imran's opinion, also had to be streamlined in the manner in which domestic competitions were run in Australia and South Africa. "I have played in Sheffield Shield and I know they have the best system of just six teams in first-class cricket," Imran said. "That's the only way we could also produce quality cricketers," he explained.

Botha to lead Emerging Players squad

Cricinfo staff

March 23, 2007



Johan Botha will lead a bunch of young hopefuls in Brisbane for the four-nations tournament Getty Images



Johan Botha, the South African offspinner, has been appointed captain of the 14-member South African Emerging Players squad for the tour of Australia in July. The four-nations tournament also features teams from hosts Australia, India and New Zealand, with Brisbane hosting all matches. Botha was recently cleared by the ICC after being reported for a suspect bowling action.

The teams will compete in a series of three Pro20 matches and seven one-day internationals in a round-robin format. South Africa were the champions from last year's edition, with Robin Peterson playing a blinder of a knock to guide his side home in a thriller. Vincent van der Bijl, Cricket South Africa's High Performance Programme Manager, was hopeful of a repeat performance.

"We are very excited to be invited back and have the opportunity to retain the Emerging Players' Trophy won last year, when Robin Peterson hit the last ball of the final for four," van der Bijl said. "For these young players to play at a top-class international opportunity in Australia is perfect to test the skill and resolve of these 'would be' Protea players. This side is brimful of exciting talent and will be given the perfect opportunity to enhance their future prospects."

The South Africans open their tour with a Pro20 game on July 16 against Australia's Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence.

Squad Johan Botha (capt), Thami Tsolekile (vice-capt), Yusuf Abdullah, Gulam Bodi ,Friedel de Wet, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Heino Kuhn, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Thandi Tshabalala, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Monde Zondeki

'Indian bookie approached SA player in 2005'

Andrew Miller in St Kitts

March 23, 2007



Goolam Raja said the news of Woolmer's murder had not been as much of a shock to the South African players as the original news of his death Getty Images



Goolam Raja, the South African manager, has revealed that one of his players was approached by a bookmaker during South Africa's one-day tour of India in November 2005.

Responding to a query about speculation that Bob Woolmer may have been about to write a book that lifted the lid on the match-fixing scandal, Raja admitted that there had been an "innocent" incident involving a member of his squad.

Although Raja declined to name the player involved, he added that the player was not a member of the current World Cup party. Of the players who toured India 18 months ago, only three are absent from this tour - Johan Botha, Albie Morkel and Justin Ontong.

"The question was just 'What is the team tomorrow?'," explained Raja. "In the past we would easily say, 'Joe Soap is not playing', but no longer. Now we don't announce the team, whether it is picked or not.

"The players are trained to phone as soon as they've been approached, not to get into any discussion with these people, only to take their phone details and pass it onto the authorities. Nothing happened other than that one phone call.

"That is the protocol. If a player is approached, he has to let us know immediately because we have a system for dealing with it."

South African cricket still feels the scars of the Hansie Cronje scandal in 2000, although Raja insisted that the players were older and wiser for the experience. "There's a lot more awareness now than there was five years ago. The players are aware that there are people out there who are interested in finding out things we know, and the players are more cautious. Sometimes we took things for granted in the past, because we never thought that these things would happen."

In the light of the murder investigation now underway in Jamaica, Raja said he would welcome heightened security for his players, even if it meant more constraints on their freedom on tour. "Absolutely, if there is one lesson that we've learnt, it is that you can't have enough security," said Raja. "We've made applications to beef up the security, and ICC have assured us that that will be the case.

"I think a lot of our players have experience of the subcontinent, and what we told them there is the same as what we've told them here. It's a case of being vigilant. If you get a call or a knock on the door from someone you don't know, I've told them repeatedly to please let me know.

"At the hotel, the presence of police and plain-clothes has increased," he added. "Of course the central police officers are trained to look out for people in the foyers of hotels, who not necessarily don't belong there, but look suspicious. They've been asked to let us know."

Raja added that the news of Woolmer's murder had not been as much of a shock to the players as the original news of his death. "The players were saddened to hear the circumstances of Bob's death, it was such a macabre death, but the worse was when we first heard of it," he said. "That was a total surprise but subsequently, like everyone else, we've been waiting for things to unfold."

Australia fresh and ready to fire

Andrew Miller

March 22, 2007



Adam Gilchrist has been part of a "brilliant" lead-up for Australia over the past week AFP



Amid the chaos of the past ten days - the upsets, the ecstasies, the tragedies - the apparent lack of competitiveness in the opening round of the World Cup has been largely forgotten. Ireland's ousting of the Pakistanis, and Bangladesh's prowess against India, have provided timely interludes in what could otherwise have been an excessively long wait for a contest of significance. Such as the one that is now looming large at the weekend. South Africa v Australia: No. 1 v No. 2. The heaviest heavyweight contest encountered thus far.

For the Australians - inactive since Sunday, when they walloped The Netherlands by 229 runs - this has been one of the most leisurely weeks imaginable. Their gentle preparation for a gruelling contest has included fishing trips and rounds of golf, and a relaxed Ricky Ponting was full of praise for the structure of a tournament that had allowed his squad to put down roots and feel at home for such a big showdown.

"It's been brilliant," he said. "This is one of the great places in the world to play cricket, and once this event gets up and running, it'll be one of the best events ever. Speaking selfishly as a player's group, we'd rather stay in one spot, rather than jumping on another plane for three or four hours and gearing ourselves up for another training session.

"For us, this is as big a game as a semi-final or a final. The No.1 and No. 2-ranked teams going head-to-head in the World Cup. It doesn't get much bigger. We're very excited and we've been training very positively this week. Having the five or six days off between games has been a good thing for us. It's allowed us to freshen up and work on our skills, and there'll be no excuses on Sunday."

The mighty feats of scoring that these two teams have produced in their matches against Scotland and The Netherlands have led to the assumption that we are about to see a re-run of the last extraordinary time they met in the one-day arena. At Johannesburg last year, Australia made a world-record 434 but were still overhauled with a wicket in hand.

Ponting agreed St Kitts, with its pocket-sized boundaries, was the sort of venue that would bring out the big hitters. "What I'm excited about is that we are going to see a great game," he said. "Whether that's a 200-plays-200 game, or 400-plays-400, who knows? Whichever way it goes, it's going to be a great spectacle."



Ricky Ponting spoke of Australia being underdogs for the final Group A clash Getty Images



The reverberations of Johannesburg are still being felt a year later, and it was suggested to Ponting that the psychological hold Australia had for so long over the South Africans might have been released by the loss. "We just need to go out and put them under pressure," he said. "If you do that for long periods of time, then opposition teams are going to start thinking all those things.

"We've played some great cricket against them, but they are now the No. 1-ranked team in the world so they've done a lot of things right as well. Maybe some of the pressure's on them now. Maybe we'll be going out as the underdogs and not as the favourites, as we always have been. But trust me, they'll be talking about us in their team meeting tonight, don't worry about that."

One of the principal names that will be up for discussion in both meetings will be Andrew Symonds. Australia's most explosive one-day allrounder, and a recent selection for the nation's all-time XI, has been working his way back to full fitness after biceps surgery seven weeks ago. "Percentage-wise he's gone up quite a lot in the past few days," Ponting said. "He did a lot of fielding, running and throwing yesterday and a fair bit more today. He's actually thrown a lot harder today, which is a very positive sign, but we've got to give him as long as he needs or wants. We'll certainly know more by our final training session.

"He's ultra-important, he wouldn't be here if we didn't know that. We're hoping to get him near enough to 100% and we're hoping he can get out on the field tomorrow and just let all the frustrations out from not playing in the past few weeks. But we're not going to do that if we don't think he's at the appropriate level, especially when we've got other guys in the team playing at their peak.

"We just want to go out and play the best cricket we can. That's all I've asked of the players since we've been here. They did that in our practice games against Zimbabwe and England in St Vincent, and we've had two good wins here. A lot of it has been about what we've been doing away from the games. How we've been practising, skilling ourselves in training, and how we've been analysing South Africa and the way they've been playing. I've no doubt our skills will be in a good enough state to play a great game of cricket on Saturday."

Australia (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Shaun Tait.

South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Herschelle Gibbs, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Mark Boucher (wk), 6 Ashwell Prince, 7 Justin Kemp, 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Andrew Hall, 10 Charl Langeveldt, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

Lloyd hopes Windies can continue winning

Cricinfo staff

March 20, 2007



Clive Lloyd believes that under Brian Lara , the hosts can be dangerous against any team Getty Images



Clive Lloyd, the West Indian legend, hopes the current side can build on their winning start and capture a third World Cup.

"They're looking professional at what they do; most of the things that we have said to them is being inculcated and I think they're looking pretty good, especially in their last game against Pakistan," Lloyd said. "I hope that they can continue with the rest of their performance."

With consecutive wins over Pakistan and Zimbabwe, West Indies have secure their place in the next round of the tournament. They will play their final preliminary round Group D match against a spirited Ireland side on March 23 in Jamaica.

As West Indies manager, Lloyd, 62, said his job was to "help with the team and to see that things run smoothly and, with the help of Imran Khan, it is to see that the guys do the right things at the nets and see if we can repair any faults or anything like that".

"I am also a part of strategy planning in the team's meetings where we have to discuss all sort of things," he added. "We discuss the selection situation. The last say is left to the coach and the captain, but I give my views."

Lloyd earlier this month said he was concerned with the number of inexperienced players in the side, but believed that under Brian Lara the West Indies could beat any side. "Its one-day cricket, anything can happen. When the right team turns up, if our guys get all disciplines right, I think we can be a match for anybody like we did in the last ICC trophy,' he said.

According to Lloyd, the West Indies Cricket Board has requested him to accompany the team on their upcoming tour of England in the summer. "I was asked by the board but we are still in discussions. They've asked me to go to England with them, but at the moment I don' know how much longer I'll be involved, but then again it's entirely up to the Board."

It's only a game

Sambit Bal

March 22, 2007

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'If a game starts taking lives, there is something sickeningly wrong with it' Getty Images



This piece was written before it was established that Bob Woolmer was murdered. We don't yet know for sure why or how Bob Woolmer died. We shouldn't rush to judgment; it is still possible that it was an accident. It is equally possible he was murdered. And, while conspiracy theorists are working overtime on the motives, it is also quite possible that we will never know the full truth.

And in the event of this not being an accident, it is quite likely that Woolmer was a victim of cricket's seamier side. Either it was the stress, induced by the most obscene and blind expectations of cricket fans who brook no failure, or he was killed by people who felt let down or had something to fear.

Either way, it should serve as a wake-up call to those who run cricket, and those who profess passion for it. If a game starts taking lives, there is something sickeningly wrong with it. But this is not really about Woolmer. We didn't need someone to die to awaken us to a problem. The signs have always been there, it's just that most of us have found it expedient to ignore them. Commodification has been chipping away at the soul of cricket for years, and now the game is the danger of losing its head.

Take the current predicament of this World Cup as an example. The major stake-holders in the tournament - the television channels and major sponsors - risk losing millions, either in cash or kind, if India go out in the first round. They are not the number one team in the world by a mile. Not even number two. They are ranked sixth in the ICC team ratings and, while that might not always be the best indicator of a team's worth, they have not won a competition of note outside the subcontinent since 1985. Yet the fate of the World Cup rides on them. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

Cricket has acquired a dangerous obsession with money, to the extent where it is not a question of a game needing the money to survive or grow but making as much as possible at any cost.




The reason for this is not hard to comprehend. Cricket has acquired a dangerous obsession with money, to the extent where it is not a question of a game needing the money to survive or grow but making as much as possible at any cost. Players have been ground to dust and cricket, the one-day variety in particular, has been divested of any meaning and consequence. It would seem that the administrators have learnt very little from the match-fixing scandal, which was as much a result of greed as of a surfeit of matches that meant little to the players.

Meanwhile, the Indian administrators have managed to market a massive captive television audience to acquire financial muscle that relies little on the capabilities of the national team. As a result the cricket economy has gone ahead of the game, which is struggling to catch up.

It's an economy that relies more on projection and hype than reality. SetMax, the entertainment channel owned by Sony, paid nearly 40 % of the total cost of the ICC rights in the hope of recouping it from advertisers. Luckily for them, India made it to the final of the last World Cup and one Champions Trophy. But that was clearly not enough and Sony didn't even bother to bid for the next set of rights, which have been won by ESPN-Star for US $1.1 billion.

ESPN-Star is a joint venture between Disney and NewsCorp, but there is little doubt which television audience they are banking on. It is an unhealthy dependence. So much should never depend on the performance of one team. Apart from putting unfair pressure on the players -- it must take a lot for the Indian players to play normally in such an abnormal situation -- it leaves the cricket economy dangerously imbalanced and prone to huge risks.

The passion of the fans is the biggest strength of cricket in the sub-continent - but it is also its weakness, particularly in case of India and Pakistan. Sri Lankan fans are far more stoic about their team's fortunes and far more accepting of failure, whereas in Bangladesh they are grateful for every little or big victory, be that of the team or individual. But in India and Pakistan, the passion borders on frenzy. As an Indian, I would like India to win the World Cup. But it might not be such a bad thing for cricket if they were to be knocked out in the first round


In India it is brazenly and cynically fueled by an increasingly sensationalist and populist mass media, which treats cricket as one of the biggest baits to attract advertisers. Instead of providing perspective and being the voice of reason, the media feeds the frenzy and cashes in on it. Stars are built up and decimated. Exaggerated glorification is matched by proportionate vilification. So cricketers are either to be worshipped or denigrated. There isn't a middle ground, a measure of reality, or a sense of proportion.

The reality is that India reaching the World Cup final would be an overachievement. Australia and South Africa possess superior teams, New Zealand have more balance and depth and Sri Lanka are the most improved team in world cricket. India have proven, but ageing, batsmen, a bowling attack that's susceptible to pressure and poor fielders. To be a fan is to dream. But to many Indian fans the dream is the reality.

Nationalism is the bedrock of cricket. But you can't call yourself a true fan if the sight of 18-year old Tamim Iqbal charging down pitch to belt Indian quick bowlers brought you no thrill. Yes, India played below themselves, but every cricket match has a winner. To be unable to comprehend, and appreciate, this runs against the spirit of the game.

Yes, India not making past the first round would be a huge setback. But it would be accorded the status of a national calamity. It will be discussed in Parliament. Television channels will conduct inquests. Effigies will be burnt, cricketers' homes will be attacked, and these will be gleefully publicised. A couple of months ago, Greg Chappell was slapped on the back by a man in Bhubaneswar seeking his fifteen seconds of fame. He was obliged. It could get worse. Someone could get killed. Perhaps someone has already been killed.

As an Indian, I would like India to win the World Cup. But it might not be such a bad thing for cricket if they were to be knocked out in the first round. Cricket needs a reality check. It has an unhealthy, and unsustainable, business model that relies primarily on an increasingly delusional and one-dimensional fan-base. The bubble has to burst for a semblance of sanity to be restored. We must learn to once again enjoy cricket as a game.

Hometown heroes roll on with hope

Dileep Premachandran in Jamaica

March 23, 2007



Shivnarine Chanderpaul overcame an uncomfortable start to post a smooth century AFP



The feel-good bubble had to burst sometime, and Ireland will be relieved that it came in this match, with qualification for the Super Eights already guaranteed. They will take solace from the fact that they were shown up by a magnificent innings from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and remain quietly confident that an upset or two remain possible even in the august company they'll find themselves in when they journey to Guyana.

Guyana of course is home to Chanderpaul, and there would have been more than a few celebrations in Unity village as he overcame his sluggish start to the competition with an innings of style and substance. Four fours in one over rather messed up Boyd Rankin's figures, and Andr?otha's Scrooge-like spell against Pakistan was relegated to the recesses of the memory with two magnificent hits down the ground. The pick of the bunch was probably the six against Kyle McCallan though, traipsing down to the pitch of the ball and walloping it against the spin over the legside.

The emphatic nature of the victory also sets West Indies up nicely for a tilt at Australia in their opening game of the Super Eights. The return of Ian Bradshaw was clearly a positive, and the new-ball bowling of Daren Powell continues to be hugely impressive. If Jerome Taylor, who took a hat-trick against Australia in the Champions Trophy last October, can rediscover that sort of form, the West Indian attack won't cede ground to anyone. On the surfaces that they know so well, the offspin of Chris Gayle and the medium pace of Dwayne Bravo will be factors as well.

As for Ireland, they went around the ground acknowledging their fantastic support at the end of the game. After two heroic performances, they were perhaps due a blip, and there's no doubt that Trent Johnston, the injured captain, was badly missed, both for his all-round ability and the inspirational qualities that prompted Adrian Birrell, the coach, to appoint him two years ago.



Jeremy Bray led Ireland's charge with 41, but they needed more AFP



"We needed someone to get a big score," Birrell, who saw Jeremy Bray finish with an innings-high 41 after squandering a promising start, said. "We were looking at 230 or 250 as a par score." McCallan, one of the veteran campaigners who led out the side after more than five years, also conceded that Johnston had been missed. "When you lose a player of Trent's calibre, it takes a lot out of the side. It's like England playing without [Andrew] Flintoff, or West Indies without Brian Lara."

The Irish certainly won't be overawed in illustrious company. "I suppose people wouldn't have given us a chance against Pakistan either," McCallan said. "We're not na?, we know we'll be taking on the world's elite. But if we bat, bowl and field well, who knows?"

Birrell, who admits that meeting South Africa, his favourite side, will be a strange experience, is taking it one match at a time. "It's a dream to play England in the World Cup," he said, when asked about the likely encounter next Friday should the English see off Kenya. "They showed that they could bounce back and beat a team like Australia [in the CB Series]. We're certainly looking forward to it."

For Brian Lara, things are going as well as they could be. "We're building to a point where we want to get on to the bigger games, like Australia and South Africa. The majority of the batsmen have had a hit and that's good for us. We just need to up the ante a little bit."

The prospect of facing Australia in their opening Super Eights game didn't faze Lara. "We've done well against them in the recent past," he said. "And in the last couple of global tournaments since the 2003 World Cup, we've won one and finished runner-up in the other. We want to keep growing as a team."

He admitted that he would have preferred to see Pakistan go through from the group. "We thought they might be able to take points off some of the other teams in the Super Eights," he said candidly. "But Pakistan panicked, while Ireland held their own throughout. These things can happen."

So, on a day when India joined Pakistan on the tournament scrap heap, the hosts moved serenely on. They're not quite the finished article, but the atmosphere at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua should certainly inspire them on Tuesday. And if they can overcome Australia, the whispers of a return to the glory days will certainly grow a little louder. After such a miserable week for cricket, it was certainly heart-warming to see so many thousands heading home with a smile on their faces.

Australia v South Africa, Group A, St Kitts

Hayden, Ponting and Clarke power Australia to 377

The Bulletin by Anand Vasu

March 24, 2007

50 overs Australia 377 for 6 (Hayden 101, Ponting 91, Clarke 92) v South Africa
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out




No mercy - Matthew Hayden gets ready to deposit one over the ropes Getty Images



It rained fours and sixes on a belter of a batting pitch at Warner Park in St Kitts as Australia, who were put in to bat by South Africa, amassed a mammoth 377 for 6 from 50 overs. Matthew Hayden scored a hundred - the fastest in World Cup history - while Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting both fell in the 90s.

There were shades of the Wanderers where Australia set South Africa 434 and famously lost. From an early assault that Adam Gilchrist and Hayden began, the runs just kept coming at a fast clip, with even the fall of wickets not halting Australia's march in the latter part of the innings. Hayden reached three figures off only 66 balls, beating the record previously held by John Davison of Canada, who reached the mark in 67 balls against West Indies in 2003.

South Africa's bowlers, accurate as they were, became a tad predictable, and two aggressive opening batsmen fully exploited the shortish straight boundaries. The fact that the pitch was dry, rather light coloured and a batting beauty did not help South Africa's cause. Bowler after bowler was carted away, and Australia were off to one of their typically belligerent starts.

Gilchrist was the one to get Australia going, taking on Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock. The power region was peppered by shots that ranged from classical drives to firm pushes, and the runs came at an even clip. Australia's 50 came off just 4.5 overs and Gilchrist was merely one half of the partnership.

Hayden has made a habit of bullying bowlers and South Africa's finest were no exception. His forceful strokes back down the pitch were enough for the bowlers to adjust the line and length they were bowling and when the ball was short or a bit wide it was merrily biffed through point.

South Africa's first moment of relief came with the score on 106, when Gilchrist failed to pick a slower ball from Charl Langeveldt and only managed a soft chop straight to point, falling for a run-a-ball 42.

But the fall of Gilchrist's wicket brought little respite to the South Africans. Ponting, who was in fine nick himself, played the big shots with consummate ease, and in between pushed the ball into the gaps for ones and twos. He was fed enough short deliveries to boost his confidence early on.

But the real star of the day was Hayden, who was not merely interested in collecting a half-century. He went on to 101 before a lax shot against Jacques Kallis flew straight to Herschelle Gibbs at point.

With Gilchrist and Hayden gone it fell to Ponting to take over the mantle of run-scoring. He found an able ally in Clarke and two put on a bustling 161 for the third wicket. Ponting began slowly and then suddenly accelerated with a spate of boundaries. At one point India's recently set record World Cup score of 413 was under serious threat. But both Ponting and Clarke fell within 19 runs of each other. Ponting holed out to AB de Villiers at long-on off Ntini for 91, and Clarke was run out for 92, taking off for a single that Andrew Symonds did not consider after thumping the ball to midwicket.

Mike Hussey came out running and holed out trying to score some quick runs. Symonds and Shane Watson had a merry swat, and Australia lost their sixth wicket off the last ball as Symonds played and missed a yorker from Andrew Hall.

loss hurts more than elimination - Inzamam

March 24, 2007



Inzamam-ul-Haq walks away after his final one-day innings against Zimbabwe at Kingston Getty Images



Inzamam-ul-Haq said he wanted to forget the traumatic World Cup campaign which saw coach Bob Woolmer murdered and his team knocked out in the first round.

"It's been a tournament which I and millions of Pakistan supporters would like to forget, but it won't be as easy as it looks," Inzamam told AFP by telephone from Montego Bay where the Pakistan team is staying before they leave for home later Saturday. Pakistan lost their opening match to the West Indies by 54 runs before suffering the ignominy of a three-wicket defeat at the hands of debutants Ireland to crash out of the World Cup.

The following day, Woolmer died and his death has since become the subject of a murder investigation. The Pakistan team were first finger-printed and then had to provide DNA samples. Inzamam, who also announced his retirement from one-day cricket and relinquished the captaincy of the national team, said the suffering had become unbearable.

"We failed to reach the second round and lost a great mentor who was also an inspirational figure in the dressing-room. I feel Bob's loss much more than our elimination. My heart goes out to his family and I want to assure them on behalf of the team and entire nation that in this tough time we are right behind them. I will leave the Caribbean for the last time (as a player) with a very heavy heart."

Inzamam said the team was in a good frame of mind when they came to the Caribbean despite a poor build-up during which they lost key fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif due to fitness problems. "When I landed here, I had high hopes but things changed and became so tragic that we are still struggling to cope with them. Most of the guys are still in a state of shock and when I try to talk to them, I can see their blank faces. They are physically with me but not mentally."

Inzamam, second behind Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time one-day run list with 11,739 runs in 378 internationals, said his team was still a good side despite their early elimination. "I still believe my team was good enough but we just couldn't click. I am disappointed that we failed to live up to our supporters' expectations and also for Bob who gave his heart and soul throughout his three years as coach, hoping that we could fulfill his dream of winning the World Cup."

I haven't had a chance to think about my future because events have happened so fast. But looking back at my career, I think every match that I played was worth it. I had tough times but it came in the package, I guess. I had the honour of representing Pakistan for 16 years, the privilege of playing against some of the greatest players...



Inzamam believes Pakistan cricket can recover from the World Cup trauma. "Pakistan cricket is strong and I don't believe it is in a crisis. In fact, I believe we will get stronger from here because we have good cricketing brains to put everything back on track and we have exceptionally talented players. The current Pakistan team has all the ingredients to beat any team in the world. It's just a matter of getting our act together. Over the years, Pakistan cricket has faced several crises and every time the team has come out of it successfully. That's the beauty of Pakistan cricket."

Inzamam said he hadn't yet made plans after retirement. "I haven't had a chance to think about my future because events have happened so fast. But looking back at my career, I think every match that I played was worth it. I had tough times but it came in the package, I guess. I had the honour of representing Pakistan for 16 years, the privilege of playing against some of the greatest players, being part of the 1992 World Cup squad and most importantly the respect and appreciation of the people. I couldn't have asked for more."

Inzamam also backed the organisers to continue with the World Cup despite Woolmer's death. "The World Cup is a great event and should go on despite the tragedy because we cannot allow this sport to be held to ransom by anybody. Bob would have wanted his event to be a huge success and let's make him happy by supporting the competition."

Second Innings Bulletin: Australia Vs South Africa

By Renin Wilben

It needed a moment of brilliance in the outfield to end the scintillating opening stand of 160 between de Villiers and Smith. Shane Watson scored a direct hit from the long leg to catch de Villiers short after the South African decided to take on his arm. de Villiers fell 8 short of what would have been his maiden ODI hundred. The task wasn't over for de Villiers though. He had to come out as a runner for Smith after his skipper started cramping up. But it did not last long as Smith decided to retire hurt after finding the pain unbearable.

The runs continued to flow at a steady pace even after de Villiers' exit. 12 runs came of the 24th over bowled by Watson. It included 5 wides outside off-stump and a rare 5 run penalty after a Smith edged a delivery behind the wickets which went on to hit the cap placed behind Gilchrist. South Africa reached 184/1 at the halfway stage.

AB de Villiers continued his brutal assault on the Aussie bowling as South Africa progressed to 154/0 after 20 overs.

Andrew Symonds and Brad Hogg were brought into bowl after the opening bowlers went for plenty. But with the pitch turning out to be a batsman's paradise, even they couldn't make any kind of an impact.

Hogg was slammed for 6 over long on and Symonds was pulled for three consecutive fours in his first over by de Villiers.

Shane Watson was clattered for 15 runs in the 13th over as South Africa raced past 100. Smith charged Watson again and cleared the boundary over long on with ease.

McGrath too continued to suffer at the other end. de Villiers drove him over mid-on twice in the 14th over as the bowler looked on in frustration. The South African openers had definitely given their team a chance as they reached 113/0 at the end of the 15th over.

AB de Villiers hit three consecutive fours of Glenn McGrath's opening over as South Africa made an attacking start chasing Australia's mammoth 377/6. South Africa raced to 73/0 after 10 overs.

de Villiers flicked McGrath's first delivery off his pads, drove the next through mid-off and finally square-drove the third through backward point. But the experienced bowler pulled it back with three dot balls.

Bracken did well conceding only 2 off the next over. However Smith decided it was time to take charge. Smith demolished a Shane Watson delivery over long off in the 9th over.

Meanwhile, de Villiers continued his attack on McGrath

de Villiers and Graeme Smith took the attack to the Aussie camp as South Africa reached an impressive 40/0 after 5 overs.

De Villiers began the charge in the first over itself bowled by Nathan Bracken. He punched one through the off-side for his first boundary and then slammed him for a 6 over deep midwicket the very next ball.

Shuan Tait bowled a poor first over spraying to all over the place. de Villiers picked up an easy leg side boundary off him too.

Smith joined in the action by either coming down the wickets and hitting bowlers over their head or standing in his crease and just giving it a mighty swing of the bat.