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With a little more than four weeks to go until the start of the new cricket season one of Somerset’s closed season signings James Bryant is putting the finishing touches to his packing before leaving the sunshine of South Africa to fly back to the west country.The twenty seven year old batsman who has made his mark playing for Eastern Province told me: "I arrive in Somerset on the 21st March and expect the conditions to be a bit cold and wet to start with, but I’m sure I will get a few knocks in and get used to the conditions."He continued: " One of the main things that I am looking forward to incounty cricket is to play against top overseas professionals who we don’t really get to play against here."The domestic season in South Africa has been cut short to make way for the World Cup that has become the centre of attention for all cricket fans over the last few weeks.For some however the competition has ended in disappointment. The new Somerset recruit told me: "Both England and South Africa are out of the World Cup which is a great pity. No one here can figure out why Nasser Hussain bowled Anderson and not Caddick at the end of the Aussie game because they had it won! The majority of spectators here are English or South African so I hope attendance will still be good for the rest of the competition, but I’m sure they will."Before the start of the World Cup James Bryant played against England in one of the warm up matches. He said: "It was a good experience playing against the English side but just a pity that we didn’t bat at all well and were never really in the game. The best bit was Nantie Hayward getting fired up and sledging the England top order only to be sledged back even better by Michael Vaughan who hadn’t faced a ball yet, something that hasn’t happened in a while but should have."Talking about his own form in the match he said: "My innings was frustrating because I got out just when I had played myself in and received an off cutter from Andy Caddick which cut back and just clipped my gloves."Regarding the Somerset players he added: " Still at least it was one of my future team mates who got me out. Unfortunately I didn’t get to have a really good chat with the Somerset guys because everything was a bit rushed and hectic but I did get to introduce myself to Ian Blackwell."He concluded; "Somerset has given me a chance to play county cricket in England and my aim is to repay that by performing on the field."The young man from Eastern Province can rest assured that he will be given a warm reception by Somerset supporters at the County Ground some of whom will find it hard to resist comparing James Bryant with another `James’ from South Africa, Jimmy Cook who also arrived here as a virtual unknown but turned out to be very successful signing indeed for the Cidermen!

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has appointed Nigel Laughton, who previously worked as ICC European Development Manager, as the new National Academy Manager. He started work in the ECB offices at Lord’s on Monday 9 July.John Abrahams, currently the ECB National Coach for the North West Region, has been appointed as the National Academy Assistant Coach. He will start this post in September.On Saturday 14 July, Hugh Morris, ECB Performance Director, NigelLaughton and John Abrahams travelled to the Australian National Academy inAdelaide, which will host the National Academy for the first year, tofinalise plans for this winter’s programme.Full details on the 2001-2 National Academy programme, as well as the identity of the National Academy Director, will be announced in due course.

Shoaib Malik refuses to underestimate Bangladesh, despite marshalling a152-run thumping win in the opening game of the five-match ODI series againstthe visitors in Lahore. A century from Mohammad Yousuf and 85 from thecaptain himself set Pakistan up before Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum andShahid Afridi wrapped up a comfortable win over a strangely insipidBangladesh.Malik, however, insisted that it was dangerous to draw too manyconclusions from the game. “You can’t judge a team on one match alone.This is cricket where you can’t take any team lightly,” he said. “We setthem a big target and sometimes if you get a good start, you can push thechase close. But our bowlers did really well to take early wickets to putthe pressure on.”Pakistan also plans to give opportunities to players who have impressed inthe domestic ABN AMRO cup, though the first target, Malik insisted, was towrap up the series. “This is not a time-pass series for us. We are takingit seriously and we want to improve our fielding and fitness during it.”Our first priority is to win the series. After that we will look at someof the guys who have done well in the domestic tournaments and give them achance.”As has been the recent trend, Pakistan used a combination of Malik andAfridi for the fifth bowler duties and though both have done well againstadmittedly limited opposition, the ploy will need reworking in tougherenvironments.”We should have a sixth bowling option,” Malik admitted. “We tried thissame line-up in Jaipur against India last year, except we had Fawad Alamin place of Afridi. But we need options for example if one of the bowlersbecomes unfit during a match. This is still an experimental combinationthat we are playing.”The series moves on to Faisalabad for the second game, on April 11.

Matthew Hoggard looks set to miss the third Test against West Indies at Old Trafford, starting on June 7, after aggravating his groin injury in the nets ahead of Yorkshire’s one-day fixture against Derbyshire at Headingley.Hoggard, who withdrew from England’s attack after bowling just 10.1 overs in the first Test at Lord’s, had been optimistic about his rehabilitation. He was hoping to play for his club side Baildon on Saturday, as well as today’s match, but with a long international season ahead of England, he will not now be risked.”It’s extremely disappointing for Matthew, but it’s one of those type of injuries that if you rush back before you’re ready it can turn into a serious problem,” said England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney. “Caution is a by-word for us and hopefully the extra time will help him recover and be back playing cricket sooner rather than later.”The news is a further setback for England’s new coach Peter Moores, who had hinted in the aftermath of the Headingley Test that Hoggard’s injury was more serious than the medical team had first believed.With Andrew Flintoff set to miss the rest of the West Indies series due to further surgery on his injured left ankle, England’s pace attack is down to the bare bones, with the onus yet again on Steve Harmison to locate his best form.In Hoggard’s absence, Ryan Sidebottom, the left-arm seamer who took eight wickets in the Headingley win, is almost certain to retain his place in the side.

Dwayne Bravo simply exudes a sense of dynamism. His presence in the field is unmistakable. And it’s not only because of his superior fielding skills. He brings to the table the zip, drive and vigour. He is the pulse of the place. He is the livewire of the party. His knack for making things happen is well documented. But what is not well known is his emerging leadership qualities.Ever so often during the one-day international series, Bravo would go up to Brian Lara and offer a suggestion or an observation. It is something rarely seen by someone who is only 22 years of age, only in international cricket for two years, and only with the experience of 12 Tests and 43 one-day internationals.As premature as it sounds, there is evidence that Bravo could some day emerge as a West Indies captain. It is something he has thought about, but it is not on the list of what he wants to achieve in the immediate future.”Anyone playing cricket for West Indies would like one day to captain the team, but at this point in time, it is not one of my goals,” he said. “It is not something I’m looking forward to. All I’m concentrating on is trying to see how Dwayne Bravo can improve on his game, both batting and bowling. If I was to captain West Indies, so be it, but I’ve not set my mind on it.”Bravo’s inclination to offer advice tells you he is a thinking cricketer. “I’ve captained teams before. I’ve had an understanding about the game. Therefore, when I see certain things on the field, I think the captain is very open-minded and I look forward to giving him a few tips.”Lara said it was important that players come forward to show leadership material. “You’ve got guys who are growing in a team and you need all of them to be leaders. At this present time, we’ve got guys like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan who I consider leaders in the team. As a guy gets more comfortable and more experienced, you expect him to take up that role, even if it is indirectly.”At a time where there is the perception that there is a leadership crisis in West Indies cricket, these are encouraging signs. “The most important thing is the guys are showing they have the ingredients to lead,” Lara said. “They’re going to be given the opportunity, first of all at first-class level and then we’ll see how they do.”For this team to continue growing and to be successful, we need the guys showing that they want to grab the responsibility in front of them at the moment – which is being senior players.”

As if things weren’t bad enough for India after their crushing 217-run defeat at Bangalore, it is now being reported that Sachin Tendulkar might miss the remainder of the series.Details of the tennis-elbow injury have been far from clear as team officials sought to keep the exact extent of it under wraps. In the build-up to the first Test, Sourav Ganguly told reporters that Tendulkar would be fit while Andrew Leipus, the physiotherapist, said he would not. He was only finally ruled out on the day before before the match started. Leipus has now been ordered by the Indian board not to comment.Yesterday, Dr Premchand Khincha, an orthopaedic specialist in Bangalore, who examined Tendulkar was quoted in the local Deccan Herald as rating him 50-50 to play in the second Test at Chennai. “He is still feeling the pain while driving the ball and the injury still persists,” Kincha explained. “Normally, it takes about six weeks to three months to recover from a tennis elbow, but in the case of a person involved in heavy physical activity, such as Tendulkar, recovery could take longer.”Tendulkar has been out of action for seven weeks, but several Indian journalists who have spoken privately to the specialist have reported that the outlook is far less optimistic.While there is no doubt that he is on the mend, the process is slow. Initially he was almost incapable of any backlift, and while he can now bat in the nets, he is only able to face three or fours overs before packing in. With the Chennai Test starting on Thursday (October 14) it is almost inconceivable that the improvement in the intervening four days would be enough to enable him to bat for several hours.Tendulkar himself admitted in an interview with The Sun-Herald that he is struggling and that he also needs to rebuild the muscle in his arm which has wasted because of his inactivity. “If I try to rush into playing early there could be a repeat injury because the muscle is not strong enough to take the pressure of batting,” he said. “When there is strength, I can start practising.”On Friday, Tendulkar, who was with the Indian squad at Bangalore, left the Test for a few hours to visit Sai Baba, a popular spiritual guru. He is also believed to be toying with the idea of using a lighter bat to speed his recovery. It seems he is prepared to explore any avenue to get fit, but the reality is that it is simply a matter of time.

Tony Dodemaide, MCC’s head of cricket, is to leave England to become Western Australia’s chief executive.He spent five years at Lord’s, and oversaw several major operations, including the re-laying of the outfield and the development of portable pitches. He was also at the heart of the MCC’s efforts of encouraging the game in schools.”In five years, Tony has made an impressive impact at Lord’s – both personally and professionally," said Roger Knight, MCC’s secretary. "He has always been an extremely popular member of our senior management team. While we all congratulate him on his exciting new appointment, which is richly deserved, we shall be very sorry to see him go. Everyone at MCC wishes Tony every success in the future.”

Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting had warm praise for the Netherlands after his side clinched a comfortable 75-run win in their rain-affected World Cup Pool A clash in Potchefstroom.Damien Martyn hit a top score of 67 as the holders posted 170 for two from their 36-over innings, which was twice delayed by interruptions for rain.The Dutch, needing 198 for victory according to the Duckworth/Lewis method, were bowled out for 122 from 30.2 overs.”Full credit to the Dutch boys, they turned up and wanted to play,” Pontingtold Sky Sports. “It was done on a wicket that wasn’t 100%, so full credit to them for wanting to play the game.”We decided to get through those last six or seven overs without losing anywickets as we thought that would give us a decent enough score to defend as thegame went on.”Things are going really well. The lads are enjoying themselves and are playing some very good cricket so far. We have a big game coming up against Zimbabwe and hopefully we can play at our best in that game as well.”Netherlands skipper Roland Lefebvre felt his side had done themselves justice in their first one-day international against Australia.”I think we played very well. It was enjoyable for everyone,” he said. “It was the one game everyone wanted to play in and I think it showed. I hope we can carry this on.”This is the reason why we are here – to learn and to enjoy ourselves and wecertainly did that today. We worked hard and I was very proud of the way our bowlers handled the conditions this morning.”We kept a very disciplined line at to restrict this Australia team to 170 fortwo from 36 overs was a marvellous effort.”

In a revolutionary move to revive cricket at the grassroots level, Pakistan Cricket Board has launched Instaphone Interschool Cricket Tournament in five major cities of the country. A total of 16 school-teams from each of the five cities – Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Rawalpindi – are taking part in the tournament, which got underway from the July 10, 2001.A brainchild of the newly established PCB Development Committee, headed by the former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja, the 15-day tournament is sponsored by a cellular phone company Instaphone, and has cash prizes and trophies on offer.The winner the tournament, whose finals would be staged on July 24, will get a cash prize of Rs. 10,000, while the runners-up will get Rs. 5000 each. Cash prizes would also be given on outstanding individual performances.The Board has appointed its organisers to oversee the smooth functioning of the tournament at each centre. In this regard, Kh Muhammad Zafar is looking after the affairs at Lahore, while Prof Sirajul Islam Bokhari is to oversee the tournament in Karachi. The organisers at Peshawar, Quetta and Rawalpindi are Fazl-e-Habib, Yawar Aziz and Ashraf Qureshi, respectively.The 16 competitors at each centre have been divided into 4 pools of four teams each. These four teams would play matches against each other on single league basis, before the four semi-finalists are decided. The top teams would meet in the finals, which will be played simultaneously at the five centres on 24 July.

England’s hopes of victory in the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington have taken a serious blow after their hero of the first innings, James Anderson, twisted his left ankle while playing football on the outfield after the close of the third day’s play.Anderson was a surprising selection for this match ahead of Matthew Hoggard, but he excelled in the first innings taking 5 for 73 in 20 overs of pacy swing bowling. According to an England spokesman, he received immediate ice treatment after going over his ankle during England’s warm-down session.There are no plans to send him for a scan as yet, and he was able to put weight on his foot soon afterwards. But he was seen leaving the ground on crutches, and it remains to be seen whether he will be fit to bat when England resume tomorrow on 277 for 9, let alone bowl.If Anderson is unable to lead the attack, England’s chances of drawing level in the series will rest on their remaining frontline seamers, Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad, as well as the spin of Monty Panesar. With an overnight advantage of 421, they would still remain huge favourites against a side that has only ever passed 400 twice in the fourth innings and lost both matches, but even before the news broke, New Zealand were confident of putting up a fight when their turn comes to bat.”We’re pretty jovial, there’s a lot of time left in the match,” said Kyle Mills, who felt that the pitch conditions had eased significantly on the warmest day of the match so far. “If we get a day like today tomorrow and our batsmen can get in and cement themselves, I think it’s game on because we bat a long way down.”We feel a tick over 400 is definitely gettable,” he added. “Hopefully we can get the final wicket fairly early tomorrow and hopefully there won’t be many too clouds around. If we can get that sun on the wicket it can turn onto a flat one. There’s so much time left in the match.”Paul Collingwood, who carried England into the ascendancy with his second half-century of the match, also agreed that the conditions for batting had improved overnight. “With the sun being out all day today, it has dried it out a touch,” he said. “So we’ll have to wait and see what it plays like tomorrow. There is still a little bit in there though.”England may have one eye on past contests if the track does turn out to be flat when their turn comes to bowl. On their last tour in 2001-02, Nathan Astle gave them an almighty scare with an incredible 222 from 178 balls, and carried New Zealand within 100 runs of chasing down a total in excess of 500.Astle has moved on, but with aggressive strokeplayers such as Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum in their middle order, Collingwood predicted that New Zealand would come out fighting once again. “I think they will play the same way they are always playing and that’s pretty positive,” he said. “That is a good thing for us because it gives us chances. They’re an aggressive side and if they get to four or five-down it’ll be interesting to see how the McCullums and Orams come out to play it. It’s a big total but the wicket has played really well and we have to bowl well to stop them from getting the target.”Another man who could be expected to rise to the occasion is the former captain, Stephen Fleming. He has never scored a century on his home ground at Wellington, and in his final appearance before his retirement, tomorrow would be the perfect day to break that duck. “He’s a class batsman and I’m sure he’ll want to cement his mark on this Test match,” said Mills. “He always talks about doing well against England, but I’m sure he’s looking forward to making a big contribution tomorrow.”New Zealand’s record in Test run-chases is not too great, but the same players have enjoyed some notable success in one-day cricket, including against Australia last year when they twice chased down totals in excess of 330. “Australia posted those big scores and I guess at half-time people were writing us off and never thought we’ll reach them.”But this is just another target for us. There’s a lot of belief in this team and if we play to our potential, play well and get the conditions to suit us, all I can say is game on, we’ll definitely be fighting right to the end that’s for sure.”