Former West Indies captain Courtney Walsh is optimistic the regional team can make a big impact at the forthcoming World Cup.Test cricket’s highest wicket-taker feels Carl Hooper’s men will surprise those who have not given West Indies much of a chance.”I expect them to go all the way and I would love to see West Indies in the final,” Walsh told NATIONSPORT yesterday.”Once we get to the final, the better team will come up trumps. We have to play some good cricket and I am backing the boys to make it to the final.”West Indies, champions in 1975 and 1979, have not qualified for a final since 1983.They have been placed in Pool B alongside South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Kenya, Bangladesh and Canada, and some reckon they will have a tough time to emerge among the top three in the group to advance to the Super Six stage.”I like the position they’re in – where nobody is paying them much attention,” Walsh said.”We will go in as the underdogs or outsiders, which is good for the team. They have a nice, balanced squad. If everybody play as well as they played on the last tour and we bowl just a little bit better, I think we have a very good chance.”A veteran of three World Cups, Walsh is in Barbados to play in a match organised by the Variety Club of Barbados to raise funds for the construction of an autism centre.The match was scheduled for Carlton Club last night.The former West Indies pacer, who captured 519 wickets in 132 Tests between 1984 and 2001, said the major challengers to West Indies at the World Cup would be defending champions Australia and hosts South Africa.”If you are playing in South Africa, you cannot write off the home team. Australia and New Zealand are playing good cricket and Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan have a way of turning it on and off.”All the teams are good, but the top three everybody is going to be watching are Australia and South Africa as the top two, and New Zealand, one of the strong contenders,” Walsh said.”Those are the top three everybody is going to be watching, but I personally think West Indies can surprise all of them.”

JOHANNESBURG – The West Indies’ serious World Cup intentions were made plain last night when they maintained the same XI they used in the triumphant opener against second favourites South Africa for today’s match in Centurion against the weekend club cricketers of Canada, the bottom seed among the 14 teams.The recall of Pedro Collins, the left-arm swing and seam bowler who missed the last two matches with a back injury, is the only change from the team in last Tuesday’s abandoned match against Bangladesh from which they had to share the four points.Nixon McLean filled Collins’ place in the loss to New Zealand and Corey Collymore got the preference against Bangladesh but didn’t bowl a ball before rain ended proceedings.It means that the two youngest members of the team, batsman Marlon Samuels, 21, and fast bowler Jermaine Lawson, 20, are yet to get a match – and are unlikely to get one barring injury."We’re not in a position where we can say we have qualified for the Super Sixes," coach Roger Harper said by way of a straight-forward explanation. "We’re still fighting to qualify."And he indicated that there would be no shifting of the order in which four left-handers – Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul – fill the first four places."If we happened to have four right-handers at the top we might not have seen it as a problem," he said."While I appreciate it’s a benefit to have a left and right combination that makes it more difficult for the bowlers, you have to look at the batsmen you have as well."The implication was that the system has worked so far with right-handers Ramnaresh Sarwan and Ricardo Powell, down at Nos. 6 and 7, contributing important runs.Following the artificially shared points against Bangladesh, the West Indies must win their three remaining preliminary group matches – against Canada, Sri Lanka in Cape Town next Friday and Kenya in Kimberey, March 4 – to clinch their place in their Super Sixes.The table is so tight that every match is critical for every team.Sri Lanka are the only ones with a 100 per cent record and 12 points from three matches. Only defeat in all of their remaining three, against Kenya, the West Indies and South Africa, can deny them their spot among the final three.New Zealand, who forfeited their points to Kenya because they refused to go to Nairobi for the scheduled match, have eight points from four matches with only Canada and Bangladesh left.With the New Zealand donation and a win over Canada, Kenya have eight points from three matches but still have Sri Lanka and the West Indies, along with Bangladesh.South Africa, virtually out of contention following losses to the West Indies and New Zealand, were handed a reprieve by the West Indies’ misfortune with the weather against Bangladesh.They took their first step towards the next round with their comprehensive ten wickets victory over Bangladesh in Blomfontein yesterday but must still beat both Canada, a foregone conclusion but for the intervention of the elements, and Sri Lanka, an altogether more difficult task, to be sure.The weather remained true to the forecast throughout yesterday – hot and sunny – and more of the same is predicted for today. But the West Indies won’t be satisfied until victory and four points are safely in the book.

It was like taking candy from a baby.For the second successive day, Trinidad and Tobago were a mere imitation of a first-class team in their top-of-the-table Carib Beer Series match at Kensington Oval yesterday.On a day when the most prestigious horse race in the southern Caribbean was run off, table leaders Barbados flogged what seemed to be a "dead horse".The runs were flowing as rapidly as Thady Quill was romping to victory in the Sandy Lane Gold Cup at the Garrison Savannah.In the first session, Philo Wallace and Sherwin Campbell duly completed centuries and established a modern era record opening stand of 246.Between lunch and tea, it was the turn of Floyd Reifer and Ryan Hinds to inflict more punishment on the hapless Trinis.In the evening period, Dwayne Smith and Courtney Browne added more lashes.By the time Browne made the declaration at 4:35 p.m. after Barbados enjoyed the satisfaction of becoming the first team to post a total of more than 500 this season, 354 runs were reeled off in 66 overs at close to five-and-a-half runs an over.Trailing by 355 on first innings after Browne declared with Barbados on 502 for nine, Trinidad and Tobago suffered some uncomfortable moments in the 19 overs they faced before bad light halted play at 5:57 p.m. with three overs remaining.At 47 for one, a second successive defeat was staring the visitors in the face.It could come as early as today and it will allow them enough time to get back to their homeland to participate in Carnival celebrations.Trinidad and Tobago, second in the standings, were terribly flat in the field yesterday.Between the start and lunch, 132 runs were scored, and between lunch and tea, another 136 were added.Fast bowler Marlon Black and leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine, Test players in the recent past, came in for some stick against the rampaging Bajans.It was the same story for the youngsters, Ravi Rampaul and Dwayne Bravo.To his credit, teenager Bravo took his licks like a man and was eventually rewarded with four of the first five wickets. He finished with five for 95 off 16 overs, but his last scalp was taken in controversial circumstances.Wicket-keeper Navin Chan claimed a low catch to account for Ryan Hurley, but to those in the Peter Short Media Centre who had an excellent view, it appeared as if the ball had fallen out of the Chan’s gloves. Those in the Kensington Stand were even more certain.By then, Trinidad and Tobago had been fully deflated by Barbados’ enterprising batting.Campbell was the more aggressive in the first hour, his powerful driving through the off-side bringing him on even keel with Wallace after his partner started the day 16 runs ahead.Campbell arrived at his 24th first-class century at 11:10 a.m. and Wallace achieved the milestone for the 11th time in his career in the next over.Their stand broke the previous best by a Barbadian opening pair – 166 – since the sponsorship of regional first-class cricket in 1966.The previous record belonged to Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes (who had two stands of 166) and to Robin Bynoe and Geoffrey Greenidge.Campbell fell soon after his hundred when his attempted cut off Bravo was caught on the cover-boundary.Wallace swung Ramnarine over backward square-leg for two of his three sixes before Bravo bowled him off the pads with a ball of fullish length.His 140 off 186 balls was made in four hours and was the highest of his eight regional first-class hundreds, while Campbell’s 103 included ten fours and a six from 150 balls in 217 minutes’ batting.Kurt Wilkinson’s wretched season continued when Ramnarine bowled him behind his back for six, but left-handers Hinds and Reifer enjoyed the syrup that was being served up by adding 82 for the third wicket.Hinds stroked seven fours in 43 off 72 balls, while Reifer’s 45 off 51 balls contained four boundaries and a towering six over long-off against off-spinner Mukesh Persad that cleared the Pickwick Pavilion.Reifer also had a thumping drive through extra-cover off Bravo that sounded like a gun shot. It was, without a doubt, the shot of the day.After Reifer skied a catch to mid-on and Hinds edged a catch to slip, the exciting Smith (46 from 41 balls) and Browne (35 from 23 balls) featured in a stand of 79 in next to no time before both fell to Black.Smith was prised out by a superb running catch by Daren Ganga at mid-on and Browne was lbw on the back foot two balls later.

Ouch! Kenya have thrown Sri Lanka’s World Cup plans into disarray.Yesterday’s shambolic performance, fittingly described as “amateurish” by afuming Sanath Jayasuriya, means that Sri Lanka’s progression to the SuperSixes is no longer assured.

Worse, even if they do qualify, they will no longer carry through themaximum points that would have eased their route to the semi-finals.Sri Lanka’s day-night game against the hosts South Africa at Durban is thekey match – victory there will assure them a berth in the next round.

Even if Sri Lanka win against West Indies on Friday at Newlands, they willneed to win against the South Africans to avoid being on equal points withSouth Africa, Kenya and New Zealand.Should that happen then Kenya and South Africa would automatically qualifyon the basis of having beaten two of the three other teams.

Net run rate will then decide whether it is New Zealand or Sri Lanka thatqualify.And with New Zealand still having games to play against Bangladesh andCanada, Sri Lanka’s current net run rate of +1.73 could easily beoverhauled.Coach Dav Whatmore described Sri Lanka’s predicament as a “test ofcharacter” and that is an understatement.

South Africa hold the psychological edge with memories of the recent 4-1toweling still swirling around the minds of the Sri Lankans.

Moreover, one fears the impact of yesterday’s electric Kenya performance onthe team’s confidence – a demoralised middle order is now under seriouspressure.All credit to Steve Tikolo’s side, they played with a verve and commitmentthat had hitherto not been witnessed in the tournament.The exhilarating jumping warrior-like huddle that greeted the fall of eachwicket will remain one of the most enduring memories of the tournament.

They batted with guts and fielded like men possessed – should they be ableto produce similar performances then there could be greater upsets ahead.

Kenya now have an excellent chance of qualifying, assuming they defeatBangladesh.Ironically, they will be now be supporting Sri Lanka as only a double defeatfor Jayasuriya’s side can deny them a place in the Super Sixes.

Master New Zealand batsman Nathan Astle should be a contender for the side’s October-November tour of India, after knee surgery last week.Astle was operated on for a long-standing knee problem, and a more recent hernia, last week and while he will be sore for the next two or three weeks from the hernia operation, he is expected to begin a rehabilitation programme soon after that.While the knee operation showed the expected degeneration in a tendon, as was seen in similar surgery experienced by Chris Cairns and Shayne O’Connor in recent seasons, because Astle was being treated as a batsman and not a bowler, his rehabilitation period should be quicker.New Zealand Cricket’s sports science medical co-ordinator Warren Frost said today that the surgery had revealed that it was correct for Astle to have had the surgery at this stage of his career.The surgery had gone well and Astle would be resting up for the next few weeks before starting his recovery programme.

A monumental innings of 194 not out by Mark Vermeulen, Zimbabwe’s openingbatsman, dominated the first day of their match against Sussex atHove. At close of play, Zimbabwe were comfortably placed at 317 for 4.

Heath Streak won the toss and decided to bat, on a warm, sunny day by the sea. With the exception of Mluleki Nkala, who got his game of the tour in place of the rested Douglas Hondo, Zimbabwe played their probable first-Test team. This meant they batted down to No. 11 – ten of them have scored first-classcenturies, and even the last man had several fifties to his name. Sussexplayed a weakened team, captained by the former Zimbabwe Test batsman MurrayGoodwin.The pitch was slightly green, and the bowlers found some swing early on, butthe openers, Vermeulen and Dion Ebrahim, had few problems with the bowling.Vermeulen was soon playing powerful off-side drives as the Sussex bowlers often pitched a little too short. The sun shone, and the tourists enjoyed the pleasant conditions. Hopes of a major opening stand vanished though when, with the total on 33, Ebrahim hooked at a bouncer from Billy Taylor and was given out caught down the leg side for 14. Stuart Carlisle struggled to get off the mark, before finally cutting a ball from Jason Lewry to the boundary.Vermeulen became increasingly confident, reaching his fifty with a slashpast slips for four off Lewry, and then adding another two fours in the sameover. The ball travelled fast over the quick outfield and when a strokebeat the field, it usually went the full distance.The batsmen struggled for a while after lunch. Carlisle played and missedseveral times without edging, as he had done against Worcestershire, whileVermeulen showed some nerves while approaching his century, although he didclout Mark Davis for a clean six over wide long-on. Carlisle finally didedge one from Davis to slip, departing for 35 after a partnership of 114 forthe second wicket. Vermeulen was then on 96, and he reached three figures when he hammered a short vall from Taylor past cover for four.Most of Vermeulen’s eight first-class centuries have been big ones, althoughhe had yet to reach 200, and he showed no desire to give it away. GrantFlower was positive from the start, using his feet well and selecting hisshots with skill. Still, the afternoon session was rather slow – Vermeulenmanaged only 47, moving from 81 to 128, in the two hours.The pair continued their accumulation after tea. Vermeulen passed 150 with afierce square-drive to the boundary, and Flower – who survived a chancebetween keeper and second slip when 43 – reached his own fifty with a neatcover-driven four. He had two more escapes – a return catch to Taylor, andan edge which was floored by Andrew Hodd, Sussex’s 19-year-old debutantwicketkeeper.Late in the day Vermeulen made a bid for his double-century (his highest score is 197) with two magnificent back-foot straight-drives off Paul Hutchison. The dismissal just before the close of Flower – for 64, slashing Hutchison to backward point – and Tatenda Taibu, caught at second slip for a second-ball duck, put paid to that, but he survived to fight another day.

Zimbabwe were dealt a major blow with the news that Stuart Carlisle has been ruled out of the whole of the NatWest Series. Carlisle dislocated his right thumb while fielding against Somerset and an x-ray later confirmed a break. The bone has since been screwed together and will take between three and six weeks to heal, effectively ruling him out of the remainder of the tour.Carlisle, who has scored three centuries on the tour so far, had originally hoped to play a part in the tournament after breaking his thumb, but that is now out of the equation.Heath Streak, the Zimbabwe captain, said: “Stuart has been our most prolific batsman and is probably playing as well as at any time in his career. He was looking forward to carrying that form into the one day series and his loss is a blow to the side and obviously a major disappointment for him personally.”He added: “His departure opens the way for other batsmen to stake a claim in the one day team, such as Stuart Matsikenyeri who has impressed with two fifties so far in the lead up games.”However, no replacement for Carlisle will be called up as the Zimbabwe squad already consists of 16 players, one more than was originally planned for this leg of the tour.Zimbabwe’s last game before the NatWest Series is against Essex at Chelmsford on June 22.

K Madhavan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) investigator during the match-fixing controversy, has challenged an arbitrator’s decision to set aside Ajay Jadeja’s five-year ban in the Madras High Court.Madhavan contends that the decision went against the weight of evidence and the law, and cites Jadeja as first respondent, the BCCI as second respondent, and three BCCI disciplinary committee members – AC Muthiah, Kamal Morarka and K Ram Prasad – as third respondents, the Press Trust of India reported.The petition also claims that Madhavan was prevented from “effectively presenting” his case and that evidence damaging to Jadeja was deleted from the record of the hearing. “It is … inexplicable that the said crucial evidence simply vanished from the records,” the petition said.The arbitrator had earlier found Madhavan’s report “biased, illegal and against the principles of natural justice” because he had not examined witnesses or offered them for cross-examination by Jadeja. Madhavan has insisted that Jadeja did not raise any requests for examination or cross-examination of witness, nor did he air any grievance of the procedure followed.

Mohammad Kaif scored a blistering 40-ball 53 for Derbyshire in a Twenty20 Cup match against Leicestershire, but it wasn’t enough to snatch victory. Replying to Leicestershire’s 171, Derbyshire fell one run short despite the heroics from Kaif, who smashed six fours and a six in his knock. The match ended in controversial circumstances too: 19 runs were needed from 11 balls when Steve Selwood hoisted the ball to Brad Hodge at long-on, who took a fine catch, but appeared to stumble across the rope in doing so. The umpires, however, were unmoved, and with six runs needed from the final delivery, Neil Gunter could only manage a four. Earlier, Virender Sehwag’s dismal run continued, when he was dismissed for just 15, taking his tally to 86 from five Twenty20 matches.
ScorecardThe other Indian in action – Yuvraj Singh for Yorkshire – managed only 4, taking his Twenty20 aggregate to 154 from five games, but watched his team hammer Nottinghamshire by 18 runs in a high-scoring match. A frenetic 101-run partnership by Michael Lumb and Matthew Wood was the cornerstone of Yorkshire’s total of 196 for 5. Despite a spirited run-chase, Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 178 with 11 balls to spare.
ScorecardClick here for all match reports

Saeed Anwar is set to bring an end to his international career after being overlooked for the forthcoming series against Bangladesh.Anwar told the Press Trust of India that retirement was on his mind, but that he wanted to do so in a way that would be beneficial to Pakistan cricket. “I don’t want to sever all my ties with cricket which has given me a lot of fame and wealth,” said Anwar. "But the time has come to call it a day.”I’ve enjoyed playing for Pakistan and it has always been a great honour for me to wear the national blazer," he added. "I relished the challenge of facing the world’s fastest bowlers and scoring runs against them.”Anwar, 34, made his one-day international on New Year’s Day 1989, and entered Test cricket two years later. In 55 Tests he scored 4052 runs at 45.52, including 11 hundreds, but he achieved global fame through his exploits in ODIs.His defining innings was his 194 against India at Madras in 1997 – the highest score by any batsman in one-day cricket. He went on to score 8823 runs at an average of 39.21, with 20 hundreds. He was one of the few batting successes of Pakistan’s disastrous 2003 World Cup campaign, but even his fine 101 against India at Centurion couldn’t avert defeat.Anwar’s priorities in life altered in 2002, following the tragic death of his baby daughter, and he spent several months out of the game in the build-up to the World Cup. In its aftermath, however, he was one of eight players dropped from the squad as the rebuilding process began.