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The countdown is on for the World Cup and tickets are moving quite slow. But organisers are not too worried, and don’t expect the visa problems being experienced by some fans to have a major effect on ticket sales.The problems some nationalities were having obtaining visas were believed to be playing a major part. There were teething problems in Australia, and New Zealanders expressed dismay. Now, the Pakistanis have found out they have to send their passports to New Delhi, India.Negotiations are under way between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Pakistani Foreign Office to get the visas issued in Pakistan instead. Ahsan Malik, a spokesman for the PCB, said there was a precedent where special visa arrangements were made for fans in the past.Citizens from Britain, Canada, Ireland and South Africa are exempt from the visa requirement but supporters from major cricketing countries like India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka are not.Delroy Taylor, senior project officer for ticketing, said he didn’t believe the visa situation would stop fans from making it to the region. When the second phase of ticketing ended in November, only half the 800,000 seats had been sold. The nine local organising committees expect to rake in US$40 million from ticket revenue.Taylor added that it was strongly believed the majority of tickets would be snapped up by Caribbean fans when the final phase of ticketing started on February 1. “I wouldn’t say the visa situation could be aligned to the ticket sales,” Taylor said while at the airport yesterday. “The ticket sales opened a long time ago [May 1, 2006] and the visa system just came about a few weeks ago.”The ticket sales are slower than hoped. The ideal is that we would have loved to have sold all by this time. But we are expecting the people of the Caribbean to come on board and buy most of the tickets in the final phase. This is the phase which most people in the West Indies can relate to – first come first served. The international market has snapped up a lot of the tickets in the early stages.”Chris Dehring, the chief executive of the World Cup Organising Committee, was more upbeat. “This event has faced so many challenges that at this stage, everything is full steam ahead,” he told The Miami Herald newspaper. “The little hiccups are simply rolled out.”Today marks 44 days to go before the official start of the event and Taylor remained optimistic. He noted that the stadia were being completed and there had been a definite up-swing in spectator interest.”We were expecting this would happen,” Taylor said, “there is a feel-good factor happening around the Caribbean. A year ago there was scepticism, but now the stadia are being painted and they are right in front of us for the people to see.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Mornè Morkel, with a five-for in his second Test, and Dale Steyn were thedestroyers as Bangladesh were knocked over for 192 soon after tea on theopening day, but a stirring fightback inspired by Shahadat Hossain andMohammad Rafique left the match intriguing poised when play was called offwith eight overs still to be bowled. By then, South Africa had stumbled to76 for 4, with Ashwell Prince and Johan Botha holding fort on a pitch thatwas already showing signs of misbehaving.The key wicket, as is so often the case when South Africa play, was thatof Jacques Kallis. Having repeatedly exposed his stumps to the probing left-armspin of Rafique, he had no answer when one turned and kept appallinglylow. At one stage, with Hashim Amla and Kallis adding 35, it looked asthough South Africa had overcome the early Shahadat-induced wobble, butRafique accounted for Amla as well, trapping him plumb in front with onethat came in with the arm.Graeme Smith had inside-edged one on to his leg stump and Neil McKenzie, openingin place of the dropped Herschelle Gibbs, was rapped in front by one thatangled back in. Shahadat bowled an inspired spell, and could have hadKallis as well, but a muted appeal when the ball struck pad before batdidn’t quite convince the umpire.The batting debacle took the sheen off a superb bowling display from SouthAfrica’s callow pace bowlers. Steyn, so devastating during the homeseason, dealt the first blows. Spot on with his first ball of the match,the second looped back to his left after Tamim Iqbal had inside edged onto his pad. Steyn reacted smartly on his follow through to hold on.In his next over, more success, as Junaid Siddique hung his bat out at onethat slanted across him, and Mark Boucher dived across Smith at first slip tohold on to the catch. More uncomfortable moments followed, with Makhaya Ntini andSteyn testing the batsmen with short deliveries, but Shahriar Nafees gavethe crowd some solace with a crisp pull and square-drive off Steyn.Habibul Bashar pulled Ntini for a boundary, but looked out of sortsotherwise, and the introduction of Morkel sent him speedily in thedirection of the pavilion. Considering that he’s a former captain and themost senior batsman in the side, it was a wretched shot, a nothing waftoutside off stump, and McKenzie held a low chance in front of him at awide third slip.Stodgy defiance hasn’t been a characteristic of Bangladeshi batting inrecent times, and Mohammad Ashraful’s approach when he arrived at thecrease was indicative of a cavalier mindset. An edge for four got himgoing, and when Morkel then pitched too full, he clipped one effortlesslythrough midwicket for four.Ntini has seldom been a factor on subcontinent pitches, and Ashrafulcapitalised on his more predictable offerings with a superb square-driveand a meaty pull. At the other end, Nafees was alternately watchful andattacking before Morkel turned out to be too good for him.A full delivery was driven superbly through the covers, but the next ballangled across and deviated away. The hesitant push flew to Smith, andSouth Africa had four wickets for just 60. Ashraful continued undaunted,lacing a couple of lovely drives, but Botha’s introduction on the strokeof lunch proved a masterstroke.

Ashraful drove and cut for fours before impetuously whacking a lofteddelivery straight back to the bowler. That left Bangladesh in disarray at82 for 5, with Aftab Ahmad and Shakib Al Hasan having to shoulder thepost-lunch burden.They did so for well over an hour, with a combination of pluck and luck.Shakib started with a gorgeous straight drive off Ntini, and followed upwith two more crisp strokes through the off side. There were hints ofinexperience too, though, with an ill-judged paddle sweep off Botha barelymissing the stumps off the inside edge.Aftab had eschewed his normal flamboyance to knuckle down, but as thesession wore on, the frustration became palpable. Something had to give,and it did with Aftab playing an appalling shot to Botha after having gotto 44. Ntini took the catch at mid-off, and South Africa soon had muchmore to celebrate.His departure appeared to upset Shakib’s composure too, and when Morkelangled one across, he edged to a wide second slip where AB de Villiersheld on to a sharp chance. Rafique lasted just one ball, with SteveBucknor taking an age to raise the finger after a thick inside edge on tothe pad. Crucially though, Mashrafe Mortaza, with a breezy 29, andMushfiqur Rahim added 40 for the ninth wicket before Morkel and Steynreturned to scatter stumps.At that stage, it was very much South Africa’s day, but the 24 oversbefore stumps suggested that repeating their success in Pakistan lastOctober may not be so straightforward after all.

Dale Steyn, South Africa’s pace spearhead, has said that he will continue to represent his domestic team, the Titans, after he was linked to a move to the Cape Cobras.There was speculation that Steyn was planning on leaving the Titans, since he had decided to move out of Centurion, where the franchise is based. His national coach, Mickey Arthur, had also said that he was “definitely moving.””I think some messages got a bit mixed up,” Steyn told the , a Gauteng-based daily.”I am moving down to Cape Town, which is where my girlfriend lives.”I couldn’t really do anything while I was in the subcontinent, but when I got back from Bangladesh and India, I was able to sit down with the Titans management, and we agreed that I would continue to play for them.”The Titans’ chief executive, Elise Lombard, expressed satisfaction over retaining the services of Steyn. “We are very happy our boy from Phalaborwa is going to continue to play for us when he is not on national duty. He came through the system, and we don’t like to bring the players through only to lose them to another franchise.”We don’t mind where Dale lives, as long as he plays for the Titans when he is available.”Steyn also said that travelling to join his team-mates would not be an issue. “It might have been more convenient to play for the Cobras, but it is also easy to get back to Pretoria to join the rest of the team.”Incidentally, Steyn had played against the Cobras in the semi-finals of the Pro20 tournament in South Africa, before taking 1 for 16 in the Titans’ title triumph against the Dolphins on April 25.

New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee has been ruled out of the upcoming two-match T20I series against Sri Lanka after scans showed a bruise on the bone of his left foot.Southee had sustained the injury during the third ODI in Nelson, and was subsequently replaced in the ODI squad by Matt Henry. An NZC release confirmed that Henry would stand in for Southee even in the T20s.”Tim was feeling really fresh after coming back from a break for the first two ODIs, so it’s certainly disappointing for him that this has happened now,” Mike Hesson, New Zealand’s coach, said. “Tim’s obviously a key member of our team and been a strong performer for us in all three formats, so he’s a big loss.”We haven’t set a date for his return at this point, but will continue to monitor him and work to get him back to full fitness as quickly as possible.”Incidentally, that Nelson match was Southee’s first ODI since June, as he had been rested for the limited-overs tour to Africa in August. Southee suffered from an irritated disc in his back during the first Test against Australia in Brisbane, but regained his fitness to play the remaining two matches, in Perth and Adelaide.He was also rested for the first two ODIs of the Sri Lanka series, in Christchurch, and in his absence, Henry, Southee’s replacement, went on to take four-wicket hauls in both games.

The Cobras registered an amazing come-from-behind victory over the Lions as the Potchefstroom pitch made a remarkable recovery from its ill-form on the first two days. JP Duminy, the left-hander who is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s brightest batting talents, converted his immense promise into tangible destruction as his century saw the Cobras chase down 355 to beat the Lions by five wickets.The Cobras’ second innings of 358 for 5, built on Duminy’s elegant 115 and 96 from Henry Davids (the competition’s leading run-scorer), was all the more impressive after were skittled for just 80 in their first innings.The Cobras won the toss and sent the Lions in to bat first on a saucy pitch, thanks to a cold front that had swathed neighbouring Gauteng in rain for three days. After an opening stand of fifty between Blake Snijman and Alviro Petersen, Monde Zondeki made excellent use of the conditions, swinging the ball wildly to take 5 for 55 – his fifth five-for of the tournament – and the Lions were bowled out for 181.The Cobras’ reply lasted a mere 22.5 overs though, with Friedel de Wet (3 for 23), Garnett Kruger (4 for 27) and Heinrich le Roux (3 for 7) sharing the wickets in a fine bowling display. Vernon Philander top-scored for the Cobras with 23 not out, but he was to play an even bigger role when he took the new ball for the Lions’ second innings. Swinging the ball beautifully, Philander took 7 for 64 as the Lions were bowled out for 253, setting the stage for Duminy’s majestic, match-winning century.Although the Cobras were celebrating their second successive win, the Eagles are still the undisputed kings of the competition, enjoying a 20-point lead over second-placed Dolphins. The Eagles had the better of their match against the Warriors in Port Elizabeth, which was ruined by the arrival of rain on the final day. The Warriors batted first and posted a fairly adequate 279, thanks to Zander de Bruyn’s 111 and Davey Jacobs’ 61. A hesitant batting display by the Eagles saw them slip to 245 all out, with Dean Elgar scoring 63 and Boeta Dippenaar and Ryan Bailey falling just short of half-centuries. Juan Theron, the fast bowler, was the most took 3 for 41.The Eagles then took control, however, when the Warriors slumped to 195 all out in their second innings. Johan Botha was the only top-order batsman to shine, scoring 51, a score which Mario Olivier matched in the tail. Olivier, of course, is the bowler who came to prominence by taking all 10 wickets in an innings against the Eagles in Bloemfontein at the start of last month. It left the Eagles with a target of 230 to win and a full day in which to get it, but they could only reach 42 without loss before rain washed out play.The Titans and the Dolphins were also forced into a draw as rain washed out the first two days of their match in Benoni and only 190.4 overs were possible overall.The Dolphins, sent in to bat, crashed to 45 for 6 but Daryn Smit, the wicketkeeper, and 17-year-old Khayelihle Zondo were not numbed by the crisis and added 64 as the Dolphins eventually reached 190.Smit tore into the Titans bowlers in his unbeaten 89, while Zondo’s debut was a big plus as he scored a gutsy 25 against the defending champions in two-and-a-half hours at the crease.The Titans enjoyed batting practice in their innings, but Farhaan Behardien and Albie Morkel answered the match’s dying request with some excitement, scoring fluent unbeaten half-centuries as they added 117 runs in 31 overs to take them to 299 for 6 at the close.The most important thing to come out of the match was that Morne Morkel, eyeing a return to international action after a stress fracture of the foot, was able to get through 16 overs, taking 2 for 48.Player of the week
JP Duminy has enjoyed the occasional insert into international action this summer, appearing in five one-day internationals, without doing anything wrong. But the 23-year-old has yet to have any chance in Tests as other batsmen like Ashwell Prince, Hashim Amla and Neil McKenzie have been ahead of him in the queue.But he ensured his name will still be on the national selectors’ lips with a match-winning century over the weekend for the Cobras. The selectors will be especially impressed because his 115 not out, a 265-minute innings of immense willpower and class, took the Cobras to a daunting victory target of 355 after they had been dismissed for just 80 in their first innings.The run-chase will be remembered for a long time by local supporters, but pundits have predicted that Duminy will enjoy a long and successful career in the international limelight. The left-hander has a classic technique with the touch of a surgeon. The cover drive is the stroke he plays most elegantly, but the short ball holds few terrors for him either.

I think it was Nat “King” Cole, the Blues & Soul singer, who had a major hit song called “Again” some time in the past. That song must have been specially dedicated to the West Indies cricket team, for, again, they were destroyed by some good fast bowling. While good, the bowling was not so good that the West Indies cricket team should only have made 125 on such a perfect batting pitch. The West Indies batting on Day 3 was shameful, at best. They can hide behind no excuses this time. 54; 61; now 125. What next, one wonders!The West Indies started at 11:00am BST at 13-0. By 11:35am BST, they had progressed to 32-0. Then hell, or more aptly, Andy Caddick, Darren Gough, Dominic Cork and especially Craig White broke loose. Perhaps that is the concept of “hell” that the West Indies cricketers now have. In exactly three hours, at 2:35pm BST, the West Indies had been dismissed; the 1st innings in complete disarray, all out for another “lottery number”.Again, Sherwin Campbell played away from his body to Dominic Cork. Again he got an inside edge, since the batsman’s feet had not moved. Again that inside edge cannoned on to the off stump. One wonders if Campbell will learn at all, or if the Coaches are getting through to him, or if the Coaches are getting through to anyone at all.From 32-0, the West Indies were destroyed by some of the most determined and careful fast bowling seen for some time, except the aggression was not the “bouncer and body-line” type, but the type which suggested that a plan had been devised by England for the plethora of left handers that the West Indies presented as players masquerading as batsmen. The English fast bowler, in contrast to the ‘body-line” aggression at Lord’s during Test No. 2, bowled at a much fuller length, but the batsmen wilted just the same; again!Again, playing as mindlessly as he had done at Leeds, Adrian Griffith drove away from his body to a Craig White delivery, immediately after Campbell’s dismissal, only to see the resultant flying edge taken high but well by Graeme Hick at 2nd slip. Remembering that he lost his off stump in a similar manner at Leeds, one wonders if this team has any hope. They just keep doing the same things over and over again.Then, the real nail in the West Indies coffin was effected. Brian Lara, whom the press everywhere had put great pressure on by suggesting that he will be the man to change things for the West Indies in this Test, played across the first delivery he received, from Craig White, bowling around the wicket, instead of playing fully out, and heard rather than saw his leg stump disturbed behind his back. The shout of celebration from White, his team-mates and the English supporters could have been heard all the way to Maraval, where Lara lives in Trinidad & Tobago.I am convinced that the English cricket team had done their homework on the left handers in the West Indies cricket team. Immediately that Craig White came on to bowl, he started from around the wicket to Adrian Griffith, the batsman just digging out a yorker, because he was at the crease for a spell; White’s first delivery. Lara was not so lucky, He saw nothing as the ball slanted into and away from him to leg, to hit the leg stump.That did not happen by accident, as White never bowled over the wicket for the entire day while bowling to a left hander. That was definitely a plan!Wavell Hinds soon took a delivery on his pad which was headed to middle stump, and suddenly, the West Indies were 34-4. England’s bowlers were being tremendously accurate, and Craig White and Dominic Cork, the 2nd tier of England’s attack, were the destroyers this time. What an attack this is turning out to be.For once Ramnaresh Sarwan let ambition become greater that his team’s position, for, as he drove with his head in the air, he lost his balance, the resulting edge careening to Marcus Trescothick at gully for the fieldsman to take a great sharp catch. At 39-5, the West Indies looked as if they were not even going to be able to save the follow-on; 82 required.It was suggested by many that Jimmy Adams looked very tired when he approached the crease to bat. Certainly his stroke, to give catching practice to Hick at slip from Cork’s bowling, suggested that Adams was indeed tired, probably from the tour, probably from his team’s efforts. 56-6 was not a great position to be in when England had already made 281.Had it not been for a real face saving partnership of 44 between a much improved and gutsy Nixon McLean; both his batting and bowling looked tremendously useful; and the resurging Ridley Jacobs, the West Indies would have been embarrassed even further. They had come to the crease after Mahendra Nagamootoo, picked to bowl leg breaks, but recognized as a fair batter, showed his worth for 18, helping Jacobs to carry the score from 51-6 to 74-7. What a completes shambles this was!!Once Mc Lean was gone, bowled from the inside edge from White, again from around the wicket, it was all over, not including the shouting. That, of course, continued apace, and rightly so. The West Indies were again decimated by fast purposeful fast bowling, operating with a plan. That final score of 125 attested to that.A final thought on England’s 3rd Day efforts. There was no real help from the pitch for the bowlers. It was true and firm and played very well. The bowlers simply put the ball down in the right places and allowed the West Indies to, again, make themselves look like fools batting. How a team could manage to make itself look like a kindergarten school’s cricket team as well as the West Indies cricket team does is anyone’s guess. England’s bowlers were magnificent, and Craig White, who got his best Test figures to date, 11-1-32-5, deserves to be the head of the pack. He, and the rest of the English contingent, planned their efforts well and executed well.Even with the eventual wickets of Marcus Trescothick and the luckless Nasser Hussein, the West Indies are slowly being, if indeed it has not yet happened, played out of the game. With a lead of already 212 with eight wickets in hand, and only six sessions left in the game, it is still possible for the West Indies to pull of a magnificent, magical win, but not very likely.England hold all of the aces now. All they have to do is bat at least two of those sessions and score perhaps another 100 runs. Making over 300 runs is possible, but who would bet on the West Indies doing a Barbados again, when Lara and his boys managed a miracle? Again?

Nimbus, the Indian production company, has secured the rights for India’s offshore series against South Africa in Ireland in June. The series was under threat yesterday when the BCCI’s deal with Zee Sports fell through, but Nimbus have stepped in to alleviate Ireland’s fear of the whole tournament being cancelled.Nimbus agreed to pay US$24.20 million for the series and, according to Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president, bagged the rights after Zee failed to pay the stipulated amount by the deadline of May 28.”Nimbus have agreed to pay US$6.05 million per match for the four matches in Ireland [against South Africa on June 26, 29 and July 1] and Scotland [against Pakistan on July 3],” said Modi. “We have terminated the contract through a letter sent to Zee today.”According to Ashish Kaul, Zee’s senior vice-president, his company had pulled out of the deal because they were not given the same discount offered to Nimbus for telecasting the matches held in India, after the broadcasters were forced to share the feed with public broadcaster Doordarshan. But Modi denied this claim.”Zee were offered the same discount as Nimbus but it was not agreeable to them,” said Modi. If Doordarshan, with whom all broadcasters have to share their feeds, does not encrypt its signals, Nimbus will be given a discount of Rs 257 crore from their overall deal of US$612 million with the BCCI to telecast all cricket played in India till March 2010.”We recognise the problems faced by broadcasters over the non-encryption of Direct to Home (DTH) signals by Doordarshan and have come to an amicable settlement with Nimbus,” added Modi. “We have held many meetings with both Nimbus and Zee over the issue.” After Zee’s pull-out the BCCI held talks with ESPN Star Sports, Ten Sports and Nimbus who were the only ones who accepted the board’s offer.Modi also disagreed with Zee’s views that the BCCI kept the broadcasters in the dark about offshore ventures and said, as per the agreement, the telecasters were told about future offshore ties six months in advance.Harish Thawani, Nimbus’s chief, expressed satisfaction with the four-match deal and said they would be interested in televising further offshore matches organised by the BCCI. “We have come to an amicable amount and we are happy that the BCCI have quantified our losses and compensated us,” said Thawani. “Cricket has to go on. One or two technical matters have also been dealt with.”Thawani added that the matches would not necessarily be shown on Nimbus’s Neo Sports channel but there was a possibility of it being syndicated to six other channels, including regional ones, as was done with the Bangladesh series.These developments come 24 hours after Nimbus pulled out of broadcasting the Afro-Asian Cup beginning in India on June 5. They cited the absence of several big stars in the Asian XI as the reason for pulling the plug. However, the series will take place as planned after the Asian Cricket Council struck a last-minute deal with ESPN-Star.

Former Zimbabwe cricket stakeholders have broken their recent silence by urging the ICC to take decisive measures if auditors find the current Zimbabwe Cricket administration responsible for the misappropriation of funds.In June the ICC appointed a top South African audit company, KPMG, to look into Zimbabwe Cricket’s accounts after Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, said in a leaked document that he believed board funds had been squandered.The auditor’s findings were expected to be presented to the ICC’s board meeting in Dubai this week, but that was postponed and the ICC accepted an undertaking that the exercise will now be finalised “as soon as possible.”A former influential board member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said if the audit named culprits then they must be booted out of sports administration for good. “Once the audit results are known, [if anyone is named they] must never be allowed to administer cricket and sports again, they must be must be brought to book because they have enriched themselves while the game suffers.”Cricinfo sources have also said an audit arm of the Sports and Recreation Commission, led by experienced Zimbabwean sports administrator, Mark Manolios, was also doing its own investigations into ZC’s financial handlings in order to lead by example as the country’s supreme sports regulatory body.Another former Zimbabwe provincial administrator, who spoke to Cricinfo from South Africa, urged the ICC to use the audit results to take a firmer stand on the Zimbabwe issue. “This is a brilliant opportunity for the ICC to redeem itself on Zimbabwe,” he said. “Us, as the legitimate stakeholders of Zimbabwe cricket, feel the ICC has neglected our cricket in Zimbabwe and let it die. We await too see what sort of action they will take this time. It’s not late for them to save the situation.”

Guyana Cricket Board has made assurances that the pitch at the Providence Stadium will be ready for the first Test against Sri Lanka despite the warm-up match between the Sri Lankans and a Guyana President’s Select XI to be played at the same venue.The tour game, scheduled between March 17 and 19, was to be played at Bourda but heavy rain left the ground waterlogged and the board was forced to shift it to the Providence Stadium, which will host its first-ever Test on March 22.”After Bourda was under water for several days we consulted the West Indies Cricket Board about using the National Stadium [ Providence Stadium] for the warm-up match and we were told once we do not use the same pitch it would be fine and the pitch we are using [for the warm-up game] is two pitches away from the one we will be using for the Test match,” said Chetram Singh, the Guyana board president.Singh said groundsmen will work overtime to get the Test pitch ready in time. “We started the preparations for the Test match earlier than usual so we will ensure that the three day match will not disturb the Test pitch to a level of Test match readiness.”Ticket sales picked up on Friday after two days of little rain and much sunshine, according to Singh. “We’re hoping from Monday that the sales will pick up further with additional publicity and the cricket fever kicking in with the public knowing that the Sri Lankans are here.”The confusion we usually have at Bourda at the gates and so on, we don’t see that confusion at the [Providence] stadium. Parking facilities will be much better at the stadium because there is a huge parking space in front the stadium and because the stadium was constructed to specific ICC regulations the entire running of cricket at the stadium is going to be much easier.”

Logistical reasons have forced a switch in the dates for the two Standard Bank Pro20 semi-finals.Taking into consideration a Super 14 rugby match at Newlands, involving the Stormers on Saturday, which is the reserve day for the clash between Cape Cobras and the Titans, the match has been switched to Sunday. However, there is no change in the venue for the game. The other semi-final between the Dolphins and the Eagles at Kingsmead, Durban will be staged on Friday.Friday’s match will be a day-night encounter and will commence at 1800, and if it is forced into the reserve day on Saturday, it will be replayed at 1430. Sunday’s match in Cape Town is a day match and will begin at 1430 and if it goes to Monday, it will start at 1800.