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Kenyan cricket is looking towards the future as Nairobi prepares to host the World Cricket League, which starts on Monday featuring the top six associate countries.Samir Inamdar, the Cricket Kenya chairman, says the tournament is a major stepping stone for cricket in the country. “Kenya has a long and proud history of cricket and it is determined to put on a great tournament,” he said. “We have the facilities, we have the expertise and we have the manpower. This is an enormous opportunity to announce to the world that we are ready to host an event like this again.”By running a good tournament we will showcase Kenyan cricket and put it back in the news for all the right reasons. Cricket in Kenya has gone through a period of transition in recent years but we are very optimistic for the future of the game here and part of the development process for us is being able to host events like this.”We are moving forward here at Cricket Kenya and this tournament is very much part of that process.”The ICC president, Percy Sonn, added: “There is now an exciting structure of competitive cricket outside the 10 Full Members that gives a real edge to the level of competition being played at that level. In many ways, the World Cricket League is what the ICC is all about.”The big prize at the end of the tournament for Kenya is a place in the Twenty20 Championships to be held in South Africa during September. There are two spots up for grabs, for the two leading teams from WCL, and a huge financial boost as well.

Bangladesh A 209 (Sahagir 86, Tushar 52, Broad 3-35) v England A 0 for 0
Scorecard

Stuart Broad further enhanced his reputation with a haul of 3 for 35 from 16.5 overs, as the England A bowled their Bangladeshi counterparts out for 209 on the first day of the four-day unofficial Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.Broad was well supported by his fellow seamer, Graham Onions, who finished with 2 for 32, while the mainstays of Bangladesh’s innings were the former Test opener, Tushar Imran, who made 52, and Sahagir Hossain Pavel (86).Broad, who also took three first-innings wickets on a dead track in Mirpur last week, dismissed Jahirul Islam without a run on the board, before Onions grabbed Mehrab Hossain jr and Nasiruddin Faruq to reduce the Bangladeshis to 30 for 3.A sixth-wicket stand of 84 between Tushar and Sahagir revived their fortunes. On 129, Tushar eventually holed out to Michael Yardy off the spin of Alex Loudon, but Sahagir found a useful ally in Mohammad Sharif with whom he added another 68 for the seventh wicket before Sharif was run out for 28.Yardy had Sahagir caught by Nick Compton for 86, before Broad returned to mop up the tail. There was just time for one more over before the close, which Will Jefferson safely negotiated.

Sir Viv Richards has offered to help India develop their mental toughness after what he called a “mind-boggling” ouster from the World Cup. Richards, widely regarded as the most destructive batsman in history, said a lack of self-belief sent India crashing to their worst World Cup performance since the 1979 tournament in England.”Like many of their fans, I find India’s ouster from the tournament as mind-boggling,” Richards, 55, wrote in a syndicated column that appeared in Indian newspapers. “I would not blame the team management for this debacle, but there has to be some reason why a team as supremely talented as India does not achieve more success.”The reasons have less to do with talent and potential and more to do with mental strength. Each player, especially the experienced one, is responsible for himself and capable of self-training and managing his mental preparation.”India, title holders in 1983 and runners-up in 2003 runners-up – were stunned by Bangladesh in their opening match before they suffered a second defeat against Sri Lanka to be knocked out of the tournament.Richards felt the blame should not be put on any on individual. “These are aspects that come from within, so blaming coach Greg Chappell or even captain Rahul Dravid is not going to take Indian cricket ahead,” he said. “I would certainly like to help India in this aspect of their preparation if asked to. I have always enjoyed a challenge as a player, and would enjoy the challenge of instilling self-belief and confidence in a group of players as talented and promising as the Indians.”Richards, who helped West Indies win the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, said India would do well to learn lesson from his team’s experiences. “I remember we were devastated when we lost the 1983 World Cup final [to India]. That is why we came in full force and with great intent to win when we toured India later that year. We needed to prove to the world and more importantly to ourselves, that we were the best team.”Richards said he hoped India would bounce back on the tour of Bangladesh in May for two Tests and three one-day internationals. “They should regroup and convince everyone that what happened in Port-of-Spain was a blip, and nine times out of ten there can be only one winner in an India-Bangladesh encounter. Having said that, we must also acknowledge that the Bangladeshis are a talented, fast-improving bunch. They remind me of the Sri Lankans in the late 1980s, and therefore cannot be considered pushovers.”

Australia have received a boost ahead of their Group A showdown with South Africa at Basseterre on Saturday, with the news that their key allrounder, Andrew Symonds, has been passed fit to play in his first match since tearing his right biceps on February 2.Symonds, who has been steadily working his way back to fitness during Australia’s three weeks in the Caribbean, described himself as “95% fit” after coming through his final practice session at Warner Park. “I wouldn’t go out there if I didn’t think I could last a full 100 overs,” he said.Symonds’ return means Australia have dropped the man who came in to replace him, Brad Hodge, who was named Man of the Match after scoring a century in his last outing against Holland. “There’s an argument that Brad Hodge should be in the side,” Symonds said. “He’s played very well and is very unlucky to be dropped.”I’m feeling for him right now, because it’s happened to him before. But that’s the way it goes. I spoke to him earlier and he hasn’t given up by any means. He’ll just have to wait and if he gets an opportunity, he’s the perfect man to come in and take over a batting role.”The other alternative would have been to remove the spinner Brad Hogg, a man whom South Africa’s stroke-making top-order are sure to target given Warner Park’s small boundaries, although that decision would have put too much of a burden on Symonds’s own offbreaks. Though his batting has looked pretty uninhibited in the nets, his bowling and throwing are the areas that have not yet been adequately tested.”Today, I threw very firmly with relatively no pain at all,” Symonds said. “The only thing I haven’t done is had a full game and match-fitness is probably the only thing that is an unknown. The adrenalin of being back out there in this competition will probably beenough to get me through it.”I guess we’re expecting a good old-fashioned Australia-South Africa showdown. There will be no love lost. I think it’s a game that everyone is looking forward to watching. We’re certainly looking forward to playing it. It’s nice to play against the stronger sides. We’ve had a couple of games when we haven’t been pushed or tested, so now it’s really time to see where we’re at.”Australia 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 MikeHussey, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 GlennMcGrath, 11 Shaun Tait.

The launch of Star Cricket, the dedicated cricket channel for the Indian sub-continent, by ESPN Star has meant that there is another player in the crowded cricket broadcast scene in India. Star Cricket will be on air from June, just in time for India’s tour of England where they are scheduled to play four Tests and seven ODIs. The channel will be the 15th network launched by EPSN Star Sports in the Asia Pacific region. This could mean shifting of cricket content from the sub-continent feeds of ESPN and Star Sports to the new channel.Star Cricket is helped by the fact that ESPN Star hold the ICC Telecast rights for the next eight years which includes the World Cups in 2011 and 2015 and the ICC Champions Trophy. ESPN Star have also acquired telecast rights for matches held in England and Australia for the sub-continental viewership.The channel will telecast 24 Test Matches and 42 ODIs in 2007 , and the ICC Twenty20 World Cup to be held later this year with 27 matches.

Allister de Winter, the former Tasmania player, will return to Hobart as an assistant coach with the Tigers next season. He replaces Michael Bevan, who stayed on in an off-field role after his retirement in January but has now gone home to New South Wales.From 1986-87 to 1992-93, de Winter, a fast bowler, played 21 first-class matches for Tasmania and ten limited-overs games. Tim Coyle, the Tigers’ coach, said de Winter had a lot to offer. “It is great that we have someone dedicated to the bowling program, and Allister is an experienced coach who will definitely add plenty of value to the program,” Coyle said.After his playing days ended, de Winter was a regional game development manager in Tasmania before moving to Western Australia as a zone coaching manager and he relocated to Bangladesh in 2005. There, he served as a high-performance manager, head coach of the National Cricket Academy and was coach of the Bangladesh Under-19 team.However, de Winter said he was keen to return to Tasmania after the Tigers won the Pura Cup for the first time in 2006-07. “There are exciting times ahead after the success of the Pura Cup final last season and I’m looking forward to working with a talented group of young players and developing young bowlers throughout the state,” de Winter said.

Division One

Yesterday it was a 38-year-old, Ottis Gibson, who took the headlines – and today, another wise cricketer put Durham on the verge of an exciting win. Paul Wiseman, 37 years young, took 5 for 65 to give Durham hope of beating Hampshire at Chester-le-Street, but the hosts were thwarted by Michael Brown who produced a magnificent performance to carry his bat for the second time in the match. Durham declared on 221 for 5 to set Hampshire an unlikely 359, in 75 overs. And after reducing Hampshire to 121 for 5, only Durham had realistic ambitions of winning. Wiseman chipped away at the tail to reduce them to 252 for 9, but Brown was defiant, ending unbeaten on 126 to take his match aggregate to 182 runs.Darren Maddy’s dogged persistence, and equally determined rain clouds scuppered Kent’s chances of beating Warwickshire on the final day at Canterbury. With Warwickshire resuming on a wobbly 187 for 5, Maddy found excellent support in Jim Troughton with whom he put on 90 for the sixth wicket, Troughton digging out a dogged 31 from 103 balls before he edged Andrew Hall behind. And with Maddy nudging his way towards 150, the rain fell to thwart Kent’s hopes of taking the final three wickets.Darren Gough took 6 for 50 to bowl out Surrey for 229 before rain forced a draw on the final day at Headingley. Stewart Walters and Mark Ramprakash put on 67 for the fourth wicket, before Walters fell to Jason Gillespie. And though Ramprakash made 59, and Rikki Clarke 65, Surrey’s tail collapsed. Before the rain fell, Yorkshire lost Craig White for 2.

Division One points table

Division Two

Derbyshire escaped with a draw against Glamorgan in a tense final session at Derby, after Robert Croft ripped through the home side’s top-order with 6 for 44. At the start of the day, Kevin Dean took 5 for 24 to dismiss Glamorgan for 127, leaving Derbyshire to chase 276 in no more than 46 overs. And they got off to a good start, too, with Travis Birt and Steve Stubbings putting on 84 for the opening stand. Then Croft struck, reducing them to 170 for 7 to give Glamorgan a scent of victory – but Graham Wagg (48*) dropped anchor and saw them safely through to a draw as Glamorgan ran out of overs.Hilton Ackerman brought up his hundred from 148 balls to take Leicestershire past the 400 mark against Middlesex, before the match petered out into a draw at Grace Road. Jim Allenby smacked a quickfire 38 from 26 balls, carving six fours, as Leicestershire declared on 403 for 5. Middlesex lost Nick Compton in reply – Stuart Broad bowling him for 1 – but inevitably the rain forced an early close, and the end of the match.Rain prevented any play on the final day at Taunton, as Somerset’s match against Essex ended in a draw.

Division Two points table

Malaysia’s greater experience and competence led them to a 61-run win over Thailand in the final group match of the ACC Women’s Tournament.Malaysia recovered from a poor start to post 101, taking the game out of the reach of their opponents. “The team surprises me sometimes with how much they can do,” said Shan Kader, Thailand’s manager. “There’s enough raw material there to beat Malaysia in the future. Today they were just too good for us.”Malaysia’s recovery from 16 for 3 in the fifth over was due to the patient batting of their captain Arina Rahim and Nur Aisha. Rahim, a flight-sergeant in the Malaysian Air Force, outranks her nine armed-forces colleagues in the squad; the qualities she evinces even without her stripes mark her out as captaincy material. Her calm assurance and encouragement in between overs did much to ease the passage of 16-year old Nur who gradually grew in confidence and started to play some impressive shots in front of the wicket.Following Rahim’s dismissal with the score on 52, Nur and her fellow teenager Alessandra Shunmugam kept the momentum going and in the last thirteen overs of their innings, Malaysia almost doubled their score.101 was always going to be a tough score to chase, especially by a team who haven’t yet been through all the pages of the batting coaching-book or seen much of any cricket let alone any on television. Thailand just didn’t have the strokes to keep the fielders busy.”We tied with Nepal, who beat Hong Kong, and beat Thailand by a long way,” said Arina. “We have youngsters who would fit into any team in the tournament and if we keep the momentum going, we’re going to be competitive in the years ahead.”

Haroon Lorgat, South Africa’s chief selector, says he has no issues if he is replaced from the post he has held for four years. Cricket South Africa (CSA) hold their AGM on Friday and Lorgat’s position, and possible replacements, is expected to be on the agenda.South Africa reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, but erratic performances culminating in an emphatic loss to Australia elicited criticism back home. But Lorgat said he would not have any hard feelings if he was replaced.”I don’t feel at all like a scapegoat, my term was always going to stop at the World Cup and I would have no issues if I was replaced,” Lorgat told .Media reports have suggested that Lorgat is definately out of the running and provinces have put forward the names of Joubert Strydom, Mustapha Khan and Shafiek Abrahams. Khan and Strydom are current selectorsm, while Abrahams is better known for his media work than the sole ODI he played as an off-spinner in 2000. The ultimate decision, however, will be taken by the board itself.Lorgat criticised reports that he was already a non-starter to retain his position. “It has always been a board appointment although provinces are welcome to make their nominations. I just wish journalists would phone first to check their facts before writing their stories.”Lorgat also hit back at criticism that players like Vernon Philander and Thandi Tshabalala did not get enough opportunity during the tour to Ireland in June.”When we went to Ireland, it was always our plan that each player would play in two of the matches and we achieved that.”Vernon played his two matches and by then I would have been quite happy to send him home with a big green tick next to his name. We saw what we needed to see from him during his two matches.”

Andrew Flintoff has given England further cause for concern ahead of the fifth one-dayer at Headingley after reporting “soreness” in his troublesome left ankle.”Freddie’s got a little bit of soreness in his ankle again,” Paul Collingwood, his captain, said. “We’ll have to wait and see about him in the next few hours. He’s icing it up as usual but he has got a little bit of tenderness there. I’m sure he’ll seek advice from the medical team.”Collingwood added that if Flintoff was ruled out, fast bowler Chris Tremlett would be his likely replacement. “It looks a pretty typical Headingley pitch and it looks as if it will be overcast,” he said. “That would give the big lad Tremlett a chance of playing because he took a good couple of wickets in the middle of the innings at Edgbaston (where England won by 42 runs on August 27).Flintoff appeared to turn his right ankle while fielding in England’s thrilling three-wicket win at Old Trafford on Thursday, but yet again it is his recently-operated left ankle which concerns most. Since the operation, he has only bowled 55.5 overs for his county, Lancashire, and England, though did produce career-best figures of 5 for 56 at Bristol in the second ODI.Indeed, Flintoff’s bowling in the one-day series has been his major strength; as a batsman, he has made just 14 runs in three games.”It’s early days for him,” Collingwood said, “and, as a unit, we’re batting very well generally. We had a little bit of a hiccup in the last game but came through. It takes time at any level of cricket, never mind international cricket, to get back in touch. I’m sure he’s one innings away.”The fifth of seven one-dayers gets underway on Sunday.