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A quiet, but welcome and overdue, revolution is occurring in the lower levels of cricket in New Zealand as a potentially debilitating problem is being weeded out.It has taken a $1.5 million budget but it is shaping as the most realistic attempt yet to attack a long-smouldering problem in the game.It’s all to do with player recruitment and retention at what has become known as the “grassroots” level of the game.As recreation opportunities grew, and the numbers of male teachers in primary schools declined during the 1970s-1990s all sport suffered an inertia which reduced participation and left potential players missing out on a chance to play many team sports, let alone cricket.When New Zealand Cricket underwent the Hood Review in 1995, one of the key areas for attention was in the club and schools area. It has taken time for an effective policy to be formulated but NZC national development manager Alec Astle and his staff have put in place a programme which, as boys and girls mature, should result in a much-needed revitalisation of the base of the game in New Zealand.Already the signs are encouraging. The first area of attention was primary schooling and so well has the system worked, that the intended second part of the project, the troublesome secondary school area, has had to be leap-frogged in favour of attending to the needs of cricket clubs.If that hadn’t been done, the clubs would not have been equipped to handle the expected upsurge of numbers in a few years as the players exposed at primary school come through the system.The most obvious example of the growth of the game in schools has been in the annual participation rates for the MILO Cup and Shield primary school tournaments for boys’ and girls’ respectively. In 2000 the numbers of entries were 240. In 2001 it rose to 249, then in 2002 to 257 and this summer to 301.Until this year, the finals of the tournaments have been a North v South Island contest played in Palmerston North. But the numbers have been divided into four zones this year, three in the North Island and the fourth covering all the South Island, and the four winners in both boys’ and girls’ competitions, will now travel to a finals weekend.Another level of incentive has also been added as the result of a sponsorship agreement reached with the New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) which is not only taking over as sponsor of the national secondary schoolgirls’ tournament, but also sponsoring a national Year 9 (or third form) tournament for boys which will be played over a full summer, not broken into a calendar year as happens with the boys’ Gillette Cup and the girls’ NZCT tournament.The Year 9 event can be played out over the summer because those secondary school pupils are not so affected by end of year examination requirements. The final of the tournament will be played in national summer tournament week towards the end of March, possibly in Taupo.The country’s six major associations are going to play a much greater role in the organisation of all the children’s tournaments as part of the drive to have the associations operate the cricket business occurring within their boundaries.Each of the majors appointed a cricket development manager for their region and he worked with a team of cricket development officers to deliver the initiatives into the primary levels of cricket.When the national discussions were held in 2000 about the game in secondary schools, clubs and districts, community cricket initiatives were introduced under the headings of School Support and Club Assist. Working in these areas are community cricket co-ordinators who work with a cluster of clubs and secondary schools to identify areas needing improvement and the plans to follow up targeted changes.The co-ordinators then assist in implementation of the desired strategies, placing less time pressure on the club officers and schools. Metropolitan clubs and district associations ran trials in five of the six major associations in 2001-02 and as a result of their success the programme was expanded into other metropolitan clubs and districts.There is no set formula. Each major association has been able to bend the strategy to suit their own situation.Auckland used the ‘Club is the Hub’ system where clubs are funded and club managers have the job of delivering the requirements.Wellington and Otago are using a central structure with the co-ordinators working for the association to oversee a specific number of clubs and schools.Northern Districts, Central Districts and Canterbury have appointed co-ordinators to work with clubs or districts. Some of these positions have been developed further by funding arrangements with the clubs or associations to encompass wider areas of coaching and development.Monthly checks are part of the administration process across the country to ensure all are achieving specified targets.The community cricket initiatives have been taken up by 17 of the 24 district cricket associations, by 22 metropolitan clubs, 14 in Wellington, five in Christchurch and three in Dunedin. Auckland have four clubs involved in their ‘Club is the Hub’ programme while other clubs are working on Sportsville studies and one club will soon enter into a funding partnership with a rugby club.These opportunities have provided employment for 32 community co-ordinators, 19 of whom are full-time.While there are still areas of need and much more that needs to be done, the effort to at least attack the problem and get some altered thinking in place has proved beneficial.Important benefits that have been realised include clubs now functioning over 12 months of the year, the revitalisation of long suffering volunteers who now have time to devote to things other than administrative work, a greater profile for cricket in far-flung communities and probably, most importantly, a point of contact when problems arise, allowing a much speedier, and often less hassled, resolution of problems.Cricket is on the move from the area of its greatest resource – if it can be maintained it could prove to be the most significant happening in New Zealand cricket in modern history.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has short-listed three candidates as they seek a replacement for current national team coach Dav Whatmore whose contract will not be renewed.Former Australian wicket-keeper Steve Rixon, New Zealand all-rounder John Bracewell and England batsman Bob Woolmer have all been approached, according to board sources.Whatmore’s contract expires at the end of May but the forthcoming four-nation Sharjah Cup will be his last series in charge and the Cricket Board are anxious to fill a vacancy as soon as possible.New Zealand arrive in Sri Lanka for a two-Test tour on April 16 and with the first Test on April 25 an interim coach may have to be hired for the series.Rixon, 49, coached New Zealand successfully from late 1996 to 1999 after which he returned to Sydney for a second stint as New South Wales coach.Bracewell, 44, has been a successful title-winning coach with English county Gloucestershire, guiding them to five trophies in two seasons.Woolmer has outstanding credentials having had highly successful assignments with Warwickshire, the English county, and South Africa from 1994 to 1999.He had been tipped to take over from Roger Harper as West Indies coach but the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) have now sought the services of Bennett King, head coach of the Australian Academy.

Friday, March 14, 2003:::
“If I can get my basics right, getting wickets should not be a problem. All that I strive for in every ball is to remain consistent,” Indian left-arm quick Zaheer Khan
Source: The Gulf News, Dubai
“I am a better one-day player now. Earlier I batted at No 3 and instruction to me was to bat 50 overs. Now I bat at No 5 or 6 and many a time, I just have to go for my shots,” India’s vice-captain Rahul Dravid
Source: Times of India
“I’ve said all along that Australia are beatable. It’s just that we don’t seem to know what a losing position is,” Australian middle-order batsman Darren Lehmann
Source: BBC, UK
Related CricInfo links: Darren Lehmann player page
“A lot of mind-power has gone into some nicknames,” Adam Gilchrist, on the name game that has seen almost all Australian players being given nicknames
Source: iafrica.com
Tuesday, March 11, 2003:::
“It would have been very disappointing, three years of planning, and not to have qualified would have been regarded as a failure. That’s how hard I would have taken it.” New Zealand Chairman of Selectors Richard Hadlee, on his thoughts had New Zealand not qualified for the Super Six
Source: Stuff, New Zealand”At my age, when you are snubbed for the World Cup, you think that’s it…my last match was for Manicaland against Matabeleland. I made five which was quite good – it only took me two balls.” Zimbabwe opener Alistair Campbell, on his sudden call-up in place of Mark Vermeulen
Source: The Star, South Africa”Um, Sanath (Jayasuriya) won the toss, I suppose.” Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore, on being asked what positives he could find from his team’s loss against India
Source: The Independent Online, South Africa

Zimbabwean captain Stuart Carlisle tried to look on the bright side after his team crashed to an innings defeat against Sri Lanka in the opening Janashakthi National Test on Monday but admitted that they needed to think long and hard at how to counter Muttiah Muralitharan in the second Test.Zimabwe lost by an innings and 166 runs in four days as Sri Lanka extended a winning run to six consecutive Test matches – a record for a sub-continental team."There were stages where we showed a bit of fight today but on the whole it was a disappointing Test match," Carlisle said afterwards during a post match downpour that came twenty minutes late for the tourists."But we still had some positives. The batsmen got 20s and 30s and did all the hard work. Its just that they didn’t go on to make the big scores, which we have to do if we are going to save games."He added: "I wouldn’t say the morale is so down. Every one knows that we were unlucky and that certain things went against us. I don’t want to make excuses but if decisions don’t go your way, the game can change."There are still two Tests and there is plenty of scope for improvement. The guys have got to sit down and have a look at their games."Muralitharan took eight wickets on a pitch that offered him little assistance. In Kandy, where the next match starts on Friday, the master off-spinner will be looking forward to greater bounce and pace in the wicket."We have got to have a re-think on how to play him. He is obviously a world-class bowler and very difficult to score off. We played him pretty well in stages, especially Travis Friend today."From a team point to view we will have another game plan and then each and every individual has to work out how to best play him. Travis (Friend) showed that the trick is to relax at the wicket, use your pad, be patient and work him for ones and twos."Sri Lankan captain praised the all-round efforts of his side and hoped on a personal note that he would soon covert a half-century into a big hundred."Credit to should go to all the members of the team," he said. "It has been a terrific team performance starting against India in August."It was difficult to get them out today because the wicket was so good for batting. The bowlers had to work really hard."Special praise for Muralitharan, once again: "Even Murali found it hard to get wickets on this pitch. But he works so hard – every time you give him the ball he tries his best. His attitude makes me really happy."And for Kumar Sangakkara, the man of the match: " It is not an easy job to keep wicket and bat in the top order. As a batsman he has been really patient and occupied the crease well. We only hope he can continue to perform like that for the country."Personally, I am disappointed with myself for getting out in the 80s and 90s all the time. When you get set you must go on and get a big one.He now hopes that the team can win the next two matches too: "We are trying our best to get a clean sweep, but to do so we have to continue performing at this high level."

The pick of Somerset’s young cricketer’s have just resumed their regular Friday evening squad sessions at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground in Taunton.Somerset Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson told me: "Over the next few months all of the age group squads will be coming to Taunton every third week, between 6.30 and 9.30 pm."He continued: "During the time that they are here the young players will be carrying out various activities across the five core areas of their training -technical, tactical, mental, physical and lifestyle."In all well over 120 players will be involved in the Friday night sessions which will also include specific sessions, including playing spin bowling which will be taken by the Cidermen’s 2003 skipper Mike Burns, a regular physical session taken by the club’sfintess intsructor Andy Hurry, and a session on nutrition that will be taken by the Head of Injury Prevention Darren Veness.The Youth Development Officer continued: "Below the squad sessions we are also resuming the district sessions across the county and these will be taking place at five different venuesat Wraxall, Wells, Langport, Writhlington and also here in Taunton, and any lads who do well at district level will be added to the county squads."He concluded: "There is a lot of junior cricket going on across the county and hopefully we will identify all of the promising young talent that there is in Somerset through these activities."

Queensland’s batsmen survived on the Gabba tightrope for long enough today to edge their noses in front of New South Wales during a difficult start to the Pura Cup match.The Bulls were closing on first innings points when stumps was called on a long first day, which had the batsmen second-guessing on a Gabba wicket which regained some of its old zest.It was green and the skies were grey, leaving New South Wales to scratch together 146 in its first innings before the Bulls reached 4-109 when bad light stopped play.Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but there should still be time for a result if the Gabba maintains the tricks which prompted Bulls captain Stuart Law to ask the Blues to bat.Frontline Blues batsmen Michael Slater (15) and Michael Bevan (three) were among the casualties, but the conditions had nothing to do with their departures against a Queensland attack underpinned by professional quick Michael Kasprowicz (5-44).Slater tried to pull Kasprowicz in the fifth over of the morning, edging one of seven catches to wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe.Only Bevan knows what he tried to do to the first ball from medium-pacer Andrew Symonds (3-30), but the result was an off-balanced looping catch to cover.Symonds struck again with his next ball, claiming Michael Clarke for nought to leave NSW 3-38.”I’ve played on worse wickets here but I’m not about to say anything bad about the batsmen who go out there and play their shots,” Lee said.”Bevo rarely plays a shot like that and he looked like he was going to bat for a long time but that shot was very uncharacteristic and sometimes that happens.”It was a wicket where you never really felt ‘in’ as a batsmen and where bowlers always thought they were a chance.”But this is going to be a six-point game so if we can get a couple of nicks tomorrow morning then we’re really in with a chance.”The Blues got plenty of nicks after a 74-minute rain delay today, but every one of them flew over or short of a frustrated slips cordon.Paceman Stuart Clark (3-31) showed plenty of anguish as he was edged to third man, but he was clearly the best NSW bowler, claiming Jimmy Maher (10), JerryCassell (12) and Martin Love (12).Clinton Perren (37 not out) diced with the slips early before finding his feet for one of the more convincing efforts of the day, outside the usual hasty knock of Symonds.His 23 from 27 balls ended with a run out, slipping as he turned back, to give the Blues a vital wicket before the umpires offered the light to the Bulls batsmen, despite the blazing Gabba floodlights.”The red ball does get tough to see and it’s different from the white ball, but we would have loved to keep going with them four-down,” Lee said.

As sure as night follows day the dismissal of Brian Lara singled the end forWest Indies as they slipped towards their third consecutive defeat to giveSri Lanka their first ever series whitewash in their 19 year Test history atthe Sinhalese Sports Club on Monday.Caribbean hopes, faint as they were, had largely rested on the Trinididianman of the series, who has performed with astonishing consistency throughoutthe series, scoring 688 runs, the second highest aggregate ever in athree-Test series after Graham Gooch’s 752 against India in 1990/1.But although he scored 130, his third hundred of the series and second ofthe match, he eventually fell – to widespread shock – when Nuwan Zoysaslipped an inswinging yorker through his defenses.Thereafter, it was just a matter of time before the inevitable, as ChamindaVaas scythed his way through the West Indies in a supremely skillfulexhibition of reverse swing bowling on a bone dry pitch offering fastbowlers scant assistance.West Indies, who had started the day on 145 for two, were bowled out for262, as they lost five wickets for 18 runs after the dismissal of Lara. SriLanka’s openers knocked off the 26 runs needed for victory in 5.3 overs.Vaas finished with career best figures of seven for 71 in the innings and 14for 191 in the match, which were the second best figures by a Sri Lankanafter the Muttiah Muralitharan’s 16-220 at the Oval in 1998.Vaas bowled heroically throughout much of the morning, taking the other keywicket of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who also ended the series with an average inexcess of 50, with a full-length outswinger that veered away sharply to takethe edge of his bat, to end a stubborn 141 run partnership (161 for three).Carl Hooper – who may be now pondering the wisdom of coming of retirement asWest Indies losing run overseas extended to 21 losses in 25 games -supported Lara for 39 minutes before he missed Muttiah Muralitharan’sstraighter ball and was stumped (203 for three).Marlon Samuels became one of five tourists to be dismissed for a duck whenhe propped forward and was caught at bat-pad by Mahela Jayawardene secondball.Then, just before lunch, Zoysa, who had replaced Vaas, showed just how hardthe Sri Lankan’s have worked on reverse swing as he unlocked Lara’s defensewith a 70-over old ball.Mervyn Dillon and Ridley Jacobs survived for 24 minutes after the interval,despite incessant appealing, before Dillon was caught at mid-off off theleading edge (258 for seven).The innings quickly folded as only two further runs were added: DinanathRamnarine had failed to score a single run all series and it was not much ofa surprise when he was trapped lbw without scoring, whilst Pedro Collins andMarlon Black were also trapped lbw in Vaas’s next over.The beaming smiles on the faces of the Sri Lankan players said it all. Eightmonths ago they had watched glumly from the same balcony, as the Barmy Armycheered Nasser Hussain’s team for their unexpected victory. But since thenthe team has discovered greater self-confidence and have won six out oftheir last seven games.Sri Lanka now move into an equal third place with England in the ICC TestChampionship. It’s not quite like winning the world cup, but it’s SanathJayasuriya’s greatest moment of his captaincy.For President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Sri Lanka’s success couldn’t have come at a better time, with just two days remaining till the generalelection, and she has organised an impromptu banquet to say thank-you to theplayers for boosting the spirits of the nation. It is only deserved.

Promising Hampshire YC’s all-rounder David Wheeler is set to play his first Southern Electric Premier League match of the season tomorrow (SAT) – barely a week after having been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the spine.But instead of playing for the Hampshire Academy, whom he helped win the Premier 2 championship last summer, Wheeler is planning a "gentle run out" for New Milton against Hungerford at Fernhill, 1pm.Wheeler, 18, played all his junior cricket for New Milton before joining the Academy and has been given the nod by Hampshire Second XI coach Tony Middleton to return to his roots tomorrow."David is terribly frustrated and desperate to get a bit of cricket in before he undergoes surgery to cure his back problem," said his father Cliff."He hopes it will be a quiet run out with his old New Milton chums, in which he can do a bit of batting and fielding without over-extending himself."That’s unlikely to prevent the big hitting Wheeler from changing his natural game.He scored almost 600 runs for New Milton in 2001 and nearly 400 in the Academy’s Division 2 title success last summer.Paultons expect to build on their opening day success against Hook & Newnham Basics with a win over Hambledon, while strongly fancied Trojans are boosted by the return of Jamie Donaldson, Nigel le Bas and Chris Mitchell at Waterlooville.Title favourites Winchester KS face a difficult test against Ventnor at Steephill.

West Indies women’s tour of Sri Lanka has been abandoned due to safety fearsin the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on America.But Pakistan have come to the rescue of the Women’s Cricket Association ofSri Lanka when they agreed to replace the West Indies at short notice.The tour schedule remains the same with three One-Day Internationals and oneTest to be played in Colombo.Pakistan will arrive on 18 January.

* CBI report on match-fixing tabled in Lok SabhaThe CBI report on betting and match-fixing in cricket, which detailedthe worst-ever scandal in the game’s history, was tabled in the LokSabha on Monday. The 164-page report, which was submitted to the thenSports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on September 30 last year, hadnamed five Indian cricketers including former captain MohammadAzharuddin for their alleged involvement in match-fixing practices.The report, which was completed in six months after the CBI registereda preliminary inquiry on May 4 at the request of the Sports Ministry,also named nine foreign players of having either allegedly taken moneyfrom the bookies or shown interest in match-fixing practices.Acting on the report, the Board of Control for Cricket in India hadbanned Azharuddin and former Test cricketer Ajay Sharma for life andimposed five-year bans on Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar. All fourdenied the charges and Azharuddin and Jadeja have challenged thedecision in separate petitions in court. The report also highlightedthe security risk involved due to match-fixing and claimed thatseveral underworld people were involved in the practice.The report won laurels for the CBI at various international cricketingfora and several countries initiated inquiries based on theinformation contained in the report.* Tendulkar’s availability to be known after another bone scanBatting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s availability for the three-matchTest series in Sri Lanka from August 14 would be known only after thesecond bone scan on his injured right toe, scheduled for August 10,according to Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) joint secretary MayankKhandwala.Khandwala told PTI in Mumbai today that he spoke to the star batsman,who informed him that he was feeling much better but said the toe wasstill paining a bit. “He (Tendulkar) told me that the padding on theright toe was still on and he would get a clear picture only after thesecond bone scan in the second week of August,” Khandwala added.Though the selectors would be meeting here on August 2 to pick theIndian team for the Test series, a slot would be kept vacant toaccommodate the master batsman at the last minute after he goesthrough the bone scan, according to BCCI sources.* Tendulkar signs up with FiatCelebrated cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has become the ‘Brand Champion’of Fiat, a popular car manufacturer. The master blaster’s associationwith the brand will kick-off Fiat’s new initiative into the Indianmarket, It will commence with the soonto-be launched new ‘Palio’,according to a company release in Chennai.”The company feels Tendulkar is the perfect Brand Ambassador as hiselevated level of performance and dynamic, creative strokeplay willget perfect with the approach that Fiat will soon adopt in the Indianmarket,” the release said. It quoted Tendulkar as being equallypleased. “I have always been a big fan of Italian cars, especiallyFerrari and I am happy to represent Fiat and Italian Motoring.””Tendulkar is young, strong, dependable and above all, number one.That is exactly what Fiat is aiming to be,’ said MP Bianchi, Fiat’sManaging Director.