“What happen? Is only white people does field slips for Zimbabwe?”That loud query from a fan in the Learie Constantine Stand yesterday as the visitors warmed up for the final one-dayer against West Indies is just one of the reasons why the Queen’s Park Oval will always be one of my favourite places.For all of the innovations and renovations over the years, this home of cricket in Trinidad and Tobago, and still one of the most beautiful grounds in the world, retains a timeless appeal, even for those not too enamoured with the increasingly artificial and orchestrated nature of spectator support.Nowhere is the sacred art of picong – the biting, sarcastic wit that has often had many a West Indian legend wondering if this was really a “home” ground – better expressed than at the Oval. Indeed, in the golden, idyllic days before we were all being deafened by the booming amplifiers and the Trini-Jamaican-Yankee deejays, a day of cricket there was an education both on and off the field.As if the privilege of seeing some of the finest players of all time in their pomp was not enough, there was (and I’m sure still is in the areas of the ground furthest from the noise) the opportunity to be educated on the more aesthetic points of the game by an assortment of well-studied experts, a history lesson recounting in vivid detail the great deeds by great champions over the years, and, if the cricketing professors were sufficiently mobile, an impromptu practical coaching clinic on just how it should be done with front elbow cocked, bat and pad close together and much more.I may never be a fan of the Trini Posse, but it will take more than an assortment of unbearably noisy party animals who know next to nothing about cricket to keep me away from this venue.If this all sounds like shameless self-indulgence, it is. But then again, for someone weaned on the game and brought up believing it to be a great teacher in matters considerably more weighty than just bat and ball, there should be no need to apologise for a game and an environment that has been enjoyable, enlightening and quintessentially Trinidadian.

Issues of crime and violence, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice, fade into the background when the sun comes up on a day of international cricket at the Oval. Indeed, there will be much heated debate in the stands on those matters, as there has always been when friends and foes gather, especially for a Test match. However, that is just the pepper sauce to flavour the meal, the true enjoyment of which can only be appreciated over time and explains why, as dull and dreary as it may get, there will always be that core of fans for whom the longer version of the game is the only real cricket.Having been so extremely fortunate over the years to be able to cover cricket at home, around the region and around the world, it is easy for the traveling media to become very cynical about the whole thing. For us it is just another ODI or Test, watching the same players play the same shots, bowl the same deliveries and make the same mistakes, even if the results are occasionally different. But there are still brief moments, small windows of memories and nostalgia that offer a timely reminder as to why cricket at the Oval is such a special experience going beyond wickets, fours and sixes.”Call it off man! Let we go from here!” many of us in the media area were already saying when the rain started to come down really heavily on Saturday afternoon. It took a while, but the showers hung around long enough to force the abandonment. With a few minutes to spare before being picked up by my wife (no parking this time in the Oval with all the construction going on), I decided to take a walk up to the Queen’s Park Savannah and then, sitting on a bench, enjoyed a refreshing coconut (medium jelly if you please) with my considerably better half.

The reawakening of the senses as to the timeless beauty of the Savannah and its surroundings made the journey around the world’s biggest roundabout even more pleasurable heading back to the ground on Sunday morning.From the poui trees in full bloom to the cricket nuts with their coolers, to the wide-eyed children being dragged along, it brought back memories of a time when life seemed so much simpler and considerably more enjoyable.West Indies versus Zimbabwe, eighth against tenth, is hardly the sort of contest to get the pulses racing. But cricket at the Oval, or at anyone else’s favourite ground, is never just about the action in the middle. It is about a comfortable environment that, even as it changes physically, fights to remain the same spiritually.The sense of great deeds done over the years under the stately gaze of the samaan trees and against the backdrop of the hills of Maraval, St Ann’s and Cascade makes it a special arena. So even as the stands climb higher and look more impressive, even as greenery has to give way to steel and concrete, the Queen’s Park Oval will remain a storehouse of rich memories, an oasis of what is, or was, good about life in this country.

Mohammad Hafeez, the former Test opener and ODI regular, is in danger of losing his place in the Pakistan A squad for this summer’s tour of Australia after being reported for misconduct by his region’s coach.The PCB disciplinary committee has received a complaint from Waseem Haider, coach of Faisalabad for whom Hafeez plays, which says that the all-rounder has shown poor conduct in recent months, reported.The initial hearing on the complaint was recently held and the PCB is now awaiting a report on the incident from its inquiry committee. Saleem Altaf, Director cricket operations, PCB, confirmed that a complaint had been filed, telling the newspaper, “I am expecting a report on it tomorrow.”Hafeez was a member of the Pakistan A side which won the EurAsia Cup in Abu Dhabi recently and he was also included in a 29-member Pakistan A preliminary squad for the tour of Australia this summer. He has also played three Tests and 30 ODIs for Pakistan, and though his last Test was in September 2003, he was a member of the ODI side until the series in India last year. It is thought that any action against Hafeez might hamper his chances of making it to the A squad for Australia.Hafeez was suspended for a match last year after refusing to wear the sponsors’ logo in a domestic competition.

The chances of the proposed one-day series between India and West Indies in Canada in September going ahead is growing increasingly unlikely after it emerged that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) had entered into a deal with its Indian counterparts without consulting its players.Under the terms of a memorandum between the WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association agreed earlier this year, the board undertook not to increase the number of matches without reaching prior consultation with, and agreement of, WIPA.Any series in Canada would be outside the Future Tours Programme and, as such, needed the specific agreement of WIPA before any commitment was made.It is reported that a deal was struck with the Indians by Ken Gordon, the WICB president, while he was in London attending the recent ICC AGM. If that is the case then not only did Gordon fail to consult with WIPA, he also kept his own board in the dark. If so, then it would not be the first time he had done that. Back in May, it was claimed that Gordon appointed Brian Lara without following the usual protocol of getting the full board’s approval.It is possible that Gordon might be forced into an embarrassing about-turn were the players to refuse to participate in the series. The mood among them is not good after a series of ongoing disagreements with the WICB, and although the board desperately needs the income the matches would generate to alleviate its serious financial problems, the players might decide that this is where they make their stand.The details of the Canada series are still being thrashed out, but if it fails to come off then it is believed that India are looking at the possibilities of an alternative tri-series featuring West Indies and Australia somewhere in Asia.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council, won a close election and will continue as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal.Dalmiya, who was given a run for his money by Prasun Mukherjee, the police commissioner of Kolkata, won the election by the margin of 61 votes to 56. A total of 117 people voted, representing various clubs, with the representative from the Ananda Bazaar Patrika Sports Club not turning up to cast his vote. Mukherjee was backed by Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, but could not garner enough votes to defeat Dalmiya.”I am happy that I have got a platform that I badly needed,” Dalmiya said soon after the results were announced. Dalmiya was referring to the fact that the BCCI have banned him from attending board meetings, withheld CAB subsidies and alleged financial irregularities. Appearing along with Mukherjee, who accepted the defeat gracefully, Dalmiya added, “the election result was a victory for cricket. We will work together from tomorrow. There is no enmity between me and Prasun Mukherjee.”Mukherjee then responded by saying, “it was a close contest, but a gentlemanly and friendly fight. It was a fair election. Nobody had anything to complain about. I would have enjoyed winning, but, nonetheless I acept the result.” He was also quick to add, “Dalmiya is an old hand at cricket administration. Cricket has won. I’m new to the game. But I’ll be back next time.”Dalmiya has been the president of the CAB since 1992-93, and has never lost an election of any kind. This time around, however, the battle was especially hard, with several quarters joining ranks to oppose Dalmiya. First there was the request from the chief minister asking Dalmiya not to contest. Then came the email from Sourav Ganguly damning Dalmiya for his alleged role in leaking a confidential email to the press and thereby hastening Ganguly’s exit. In fact, the elections had become so politicised that the ruling Left Front and Communist Party of India (Marxist) were split on whom to support.In the end, though, Dalmiya came through, and also ensured that other members of his camp won the posts they were contesting for. Saradindu Pal and Amitava Banerjee, both from the Dalmiya camp, were elected joint secretaries defeating Raja Venkat and Samar Pal. While Pal sailed through with 71 votes, Banerjee secured 60. SK Kalyani, another of Dalmiya’s allies, retained the treasurer’s post, beating Tushar Kanti Sarkar.

Shoaib Akhtar has said he is looking forward to playing his part in a “lethal” Pakistan one-day team during their forthcoming series against England. Shoaib marked his return to international cricket after a six-month absence with 1 for 31 as Pakistan, in their maiden Twenty20 international, beat England by five wickets at the Nevil Ground.”It was all right. After a six-month lay-off, to come back in a Twenty20 is never easy,” Shoaib told reporters when asked about his performance at Bristol. “Just finding my rhythm is more important and I need to do that as quickly as possible,” added Shoaib ahead of Pakistan’s five-match one-day series against England starting with Wednesday’s day-night clash at Cardiff.Shoaib, who’d been sidelined with a stress fracture of his left ankle, last played international cricket in February when Pakistan beat India by 341 runs for a series-clinching third Test victory at Karachi. Together with Rana Naved and Shoaib Malik, he missed the entire Test series against England which concluded with Pakistan’s dramatic fourth Test forfeiture at The Oval after they’d been penalised for ball-tampering.Shoaib insisted that the furore caused by events at The Oval had not deflected the tourists from their on-field targets. “We’re a happy bunch of lads. We love playing cricket, we love playing for our country and we enjoy the game. We’re here to win,” said Shoaib. “We’ve got a full, fresh side now. We’ve got our bowlers back, myself, [Mohammad] Asif and Rana. Our batsmen are getting runs and we’ve got people who can hit the ball really hard at the end. We are a very lethal one-day team right now and we would just like to continue winning.”England’s defeat – their seventh in as many shorter matches against Test match opponents this season after a Twenty20 and 5-0 one-day series loss against Sri Lanka – was made worse by the announcement that Stephen Harmison would miss the one-day series with a back problem. The consolation was the performances of Stuart Broad, who took two wickets off successive balls, and allrounder Michael Yardy, who scored 24 not out and took a wicket with his left-arm spin.Marcus Trescothick, who top-scored for England with 53, said his side’s lack of runs was compounded by Afridi’s whirlwind 28 off 10 balls which swung the match Pakistan’s way after Broad’s double-strike had reduced the visitors to 23 for 2 inside four overs. “We were probably 20 or 30 runs light,” Trescothick explained. “That innings from Afridi was quite crucial at the time. Afridi is a little bit hit and miss at times, with all due respect to him. But when he is good like that he is destructive and can take the game away from you very quickly.”Trescothick also had words of praise for Broad. “I think he’s a good prospect – and the way he approached it and the fashion he bowled in was encouraging. We talk about picking characters, and I think he definitely has something.” Trescothick defended the performance of Darren Gough as well, even though he went for 35 in 3.5 overs and failed to take a wicket. “In his first two overs he went for 17, I think, and didn’t even bowl a bad ball. They just got after him with the wind, and it just didn’t go his way.”

The season ended with frustration and a few tantrums at The Rose Bowl after Shane Warne made clear his anger at Lancashire’s refusal to declare and set Hampshire a target to chase.Lancashire had already lost out on the title to Sussex, but they had made their runners-up position safe earlier in this game when Hampshire failed to secure maximum bonus points. Warne clearly hoped that there would be a declaration and a run chase, but Mark Chilton opted to bat on as Lancashire ended the day on 339 for 6, a lead of 562.Warne, however, did not appreciate the thinking behind the decision. “Coming into the day and after losing a day through rain, we thought we were going to get a game. It got to the stage where they were 430 ahead with 60 overs left and still didn’t declare. It was ridiculous. I started throwing some lob-ups to see if they wanted any more runs but that didn’t work.”Shortly after lunch there was a surreal five-over period where Warne and others deliberately offered up a series of ridiculous deliveries in an apparent protest. Warne himself sent down a succession of bouncers and was no-balled for throwing the ball from a standing start.Chilton admitted that he perhaps should have done more to make a game of it. “We definitely didn’t want to lose the game so we were going to bat ourselves into a very strong position,” he said. “After lunch there was a window of opportunity in which we could, and should have perhaps, declared. But after Hampshire started throwing the bowl 20 feet into the air we decided it would be inappropriate.”I’m not proud of what happened but I feel sorry for all the spectators that made the journey and I hope this doesn’t cloud what has been a great season for us. If I could have the time again, I would have done it differently and I will learn from things like this.”Warne, meanwhile, said that the umpires had congratulated his side on their conduct. “We did everything we could to get a game but I was disappointed for the crowd who had come to see what happened.”

Scorecard

Inspired by Nilesh Kulkarni’s five-wicket haul, Mumbai gained a seven-run win in a contrived match against the Australians in their final Champions Trophy warm-up game at the MIG Ground. Although Mumbai batted first and ended up scoring only 218, both teams agreed to bend the rules. Australia’s target was revised to 300 to allow their batsmen to gain more practice and make the game more competitive for the large number of spectators who filled up the temporary stands erected outside the ground.Kulkarni, the left-arm spinner who had troubled Australia in the past, returned to haunt them again in a productive display. Australia got off to a typically aggressive start as Adam Gilchrist, who pulled a slew of short-of-a-length deliveries, and Shane Watson added 96 at the required rate, punishing anything off line from Zaheer Khan. Gilchrist was the first of Kulkarni’s victims, beaten in flight after slamming a huge six over long-on to the previous ball. After Watson, who again opened ahead of Simon Katich, quickly departed to the same bowler, Australia appeared on track with Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn adding 106 and registering half-centuries.However, with spinners bowling from both ends, Mumbai managed to put the brakes on the scoring, and Ponting perished soon after reaching his fifty, trying to launch Kulkarni over the stands. Andrew Symonds’ cameo of 35 off 24 balls ended when he was trapped in front to the offspinner Aniket Redkar. Redkar sent back Michael Clarke in the same over and Zaheer finally had some success, yorking Michael Hussey for 2. The asking rate increased as the batsmen fell in quick succession and Australia finished with 292 for 9.Mumbai also tinkered with the rules to give the Australians a chance at bowling their full 50 overs as Rohit Sharma was called back to the crease in the latter stages of the innings. He was dismissed in the 22nd over after scoring 8. Mumbai lost their way in the middle overs following an impressive start. Sharma’s second innings came after the eighth wicket fell and gave the crowd plenty to cheer as he slammed three fours in one over off Nathan Bracken, followed by a huge six. Sharma, who hit 41 off 19 balls, and Abhishek Nair took the score to 218 with a 59-run stand.

Chris Schofield, the former Lancashire and England legspinner, has signed a one-year contract with Surrey with whom he has been registered since August.Schofield, 28, left Lancashire under acrimonious circumstances in 2004 and sued the club the following year for unfair dismissal. Since then he has represented his old club side, Littleborough, and played for Suffolk in Minor Counties cricket before earning a trial with Surrey’s second XI. This is his first full contract with a county for nearly three years.”Chris will not only be a great addition to the spin bowling department alongside Ian Salisbury and Nayan Doshi, but his ability with the bat and in the field will prove vital as the club move up to division one cricket next year,” Roger Harman, Surrey’s chairman of cricket, said.Schofield, clearly delighted at joining the club, thanked Alan Butcher, the coach, for the opportunity while adding: “I found it refreshing how on more than one occasion this year Surrey selected three spinners in the starting line-up and as such I am very much looking forward to playing with Ian and Nayan as we start our Division One Championship campaign next year.”

West Indies cricket is currently in finer fettle than it has been for some time but Brian Lara believes that next year’s World Cup will make things even better, both on and off the field. “The World Cup is a watershed moment in our cricket,” Lara told reporters in Karachi. “Not only for the practical side of it on the field, but financially and administratively we think the World Cup is going to kick start something new, something very much needed.”The West Indies will host the ninth World Cup for 16 teams from March 13 to April 28 next year. The countdown begins next week with 100 days to go for the first-ever World Cup in the region. The event is expected to attract 2.2 billion television viewers around the world and about 100,000 visitors are expected to travel to the Caribbean for the tournament.”We are looking forward to the World Cup and we are looking to the end result of it and it is going to be very very promising for us on the field as well as off it,” said Lara. “The corporate world in the Caribbean is not as great as in India or the subcontinent but we have been depending a lot on the revenues coming out of the World Cup to move us forward.”The West Indies won the inaugural World Cup held in England in 1975, went on to win the next one too in 1979, again in England, and finished runners-up to India in the third edition held in the same country four years later. They have failed to reach the semi-finals of the last two World Cups – in England in 1999 and in the South Africa four years later.But under Lara, and in home conditions, they are one of the favourites for the tournament. Their recent form is solid, having beaten India 4-1 at home before finishing runners-up twice to Australia, first in a tri-series in Malaysia in October and then the Champions Trophy final in India earlier this month. They have also won a big tournament in recent years – the 2004 Champions Trophy in England.Lara said he was happy with the team’s progress. “We have played very good one-day cricket over the last couple of years. We have a lot of one-day cricket planned actually with five one-dayers in Pakistan and we come back to India in January. Of course there are periods when we have collapsed, especially our batting. Host countries haven’t done too well in World Cups but I am quite happy with our preparations.”

Scorecard
Defending champions Uttar Pradesh slumped to their second defeat of the season, crashing to a humiliating innings and 88 runs loss to Haryana on the second day at Rohtak. Having been shot out for 71 in the first innings, they collapsed for 178 the second time round. Haryana carried on their impressive batting performance this morning, stretching their total to 327 with Sumit Sharma and Sachin Rana completing fine hundreds. Trailing by 266 in the first innings, UP were done in by Haryana’s new-ball bowlers. Joginder Sharma, who’d snared seven wickets in the first innings, scalped three more and Sanjay Budhwar ended with an impressive 4 for 36. day.
Scorecard
Hyderabad strengthened their position on the second day with a solid batting effort, gaining a 138-run lead with five wickets in hand. Resuming at 66 for 1 overnight, Hyderabad rode on plucky efforts from all their top-order batsmen with D Vinay Kumar standing out with 64. They stitched together vital partnerships of 53, 37, 23 and 41 to boost Hyderabad to a cosy position at the end of the day. Swapnil Hazare and Ramesh Powar struck twice apiece.
Scorecard
Laxmi Ratan Shukla led Bengal’s response on the second day at Kolkata as their game against Gujarat hung in a balance. Bengal were still 102 runs behind with five wickets in hand as Shukla, batting on 50, carried on useful contributions from the top order. Rohan Gavaskar gave him company with a useful 45. Gujarat hung on in the contest through Hitesh Majumdar’s medium-pace effort, picking up two wickets and pegging them back.
Scorecard
Thilak Naidu’s attacking century was the highlight of the day as Karnataka wrested the initiative after the Delhi seamers ran through the middle order in the morning session. Resuming on 299 for 3, the wheels started to come off for Karnataka as they lost six wickets for just 62. That brought KP Appanna and Naidu together, and Naidu played according to plan, hogging the strike while Appanna guarded his wicket at the other end. The bowling lost its sting as the seamers were guilty of bowling too short or too full, failing to slip in the yorkers, thereby allowing Naidu to use the long handle to good effect.Though Ashish Nehra picked up four wickets, leaked 171 runs while Ishant Sharma fared comparatively better, conceding 99. Sharma wrapped up the innings, dismissing Naidu for 122 to pick up his four-wicket haul. Matters got worse for Delhi in their reply, losing their first four wickets for just 14 runs, rocked by the seamers B Akhil and Vinay Kumar. Virat Kohli stood firm, remaining undefeated on 40 with Puneet Bisht as the pair took the score to 103 for 5 at stumps with plenty of repair work still to be done.
Scorecard
A 123-run last wicket partnership between captain Pankaj Dharmani and Luv Ablish propelled Punjab to a commanding 550 in their first innings. Dharmani, who retired hurt on 71 on the first day, resumed his innings and remained unbeaten on 113. Ablish, the right-arm seamer who began the season with five-wicket haul against Gujarat, played an entertaining knock of 76 off just 75 balls, with nine fours and three hits over the fence. Vipul Sharma, the overnight batsman, was unlucky to fall seven short of his ton, and was one of legspinner Sairaj Bahutule’s five victims. In reply, Maharashtra lost Harshad Khadiwale early for 5, before Dheeraj Jadhav and Hrishikesh Kanitkar took the score to 50 at stumps.
Scorecard
Meaty contributions by the middle-order propped Tamil Nadu to 500 against Saurashtra at Rajkot. Half-centuries by R Satish, K Vasudevadas and R Naresh strengthened Tamil Nadu’s position after Sreedharan Sharath laid the platform with a century on day one. Sharath fell after adding six to his overnight score, but Satish carried on from where he finished the previous day, scoring at over a run-a-ball in his 93 which included 14 fours. Vasudevadas and Naresh then frustrated Saurashtra further with a stand of 114 for the sixth wicket. Naresh’s 64 was the more agressive knock, coming off 95 balls with six fours and two sixes. Sandip Jobanputra, the left-arm seamer, picked up four wickets. Saurarshtra made a solid reply with the openers – Sagar Jogiyani and Kanaiya Vaghela – adding 70 till stumps.
Scorecard
Prasad Reddy’s patient 148 off 474 balls took Andhra to 342 in their first innings against Baroda. Reddy nearly carried his bat before he was run-out in the final over of Andhra’s innings. He was involved in stands 54 and 70 with B Sumanth and Mohammad Faiq respectively, with Faiq contributing 41. Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner, was the only bowler who managed to pick up wickets, finishing with figures of 7 for 87 in 48 overs. Baroda began cautiously, with the openers adding 33 in 17 overs till stumps.