He has had no control over the sponsorship dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) that coincided with his appointment. He is not to blame for the open split it caused in the team or the consequent use of 32 different players in the year he has been in charge. He cannot take catches, bowl properly or prevent his tailend trying to swipe Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker into the stands or shamelessly backing away from pace bowling. He is powerless to prevent supposedly elite umpires making elementary errors to despatch his two premier batsmen. But after the crushing loss to Australia in the first Test in his home town of Brisbane and on the famous Gabba where he coached Queensland to three inter-state championships early in the decade, Bennett King, the West Indies coach, confronts the most pressing challenge in his new post.More than any of his seven predecessors, King, the Australian who is the West Indies’ first foreign coach, has been given all but absolute authority to produce results and end the tailspin that has carried the team to the lower reaches of international cricket. Two Tests in the current series remain over the next three weeks, in Hobart and Adelaide, and similar results to Brisbane will pose significant questions for King. Even before he eventually signed his three-year contract, Teddy Griffith, then WICB president, publicly stated that the buck would stop with the new coach, whoever he happened to be.Under a new team structure, Griffith revealed, the head coach would not only be a member of the selection panel but would also have the casting vote. He would also be “the principal authority”, in consultation with the captain, in the choice of the final XI. His control, said Griffith, extended even further. While the captain would lead the team on the field, the coach would carry out the strategy and tactics as determined in collaboration with the captain. “It follows, therefore, that he will be accountable for the performance of the team and will be judged accordingly in relation to his contract.”No such powers extended to the West Indians who preceded King, from Rohan Kanhai to Gus Logie via Andy Roberts, Clive Lloyd (briefly), Malcolm Marshall, Viv Richards and Roger Harper. In the convoluted circumstances that he has had to deal with, it has been impossible to appropriately assess how effective King and his all-Australian support staff of David Moore, the assistant coach, Stephen Partridge, the physiotherapist, and Bruce Cavanaugh, the fitness coordinator have been. They have certainly pressed the players – whoever they have been – with training and practice. Almost to a man, the players have praised King’s methods and his man-management. The first-hand evidence is irrefutable. Yet the results under him have been confusing.After Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo and others with personal contracts with Cable and Wireless were disqualified from the first home Test against South Africa last April and Brian Lara withdrew from the team and captaincy in solidarity, the West Indies so dominated the match they could enforce the follow-on and might have won but for a couple of missed catches. Back to full strength on the return of the Cable and Wireless group, they were immediately beaten by South Africa in the next two Tests and in all eight one-day internationals, against South Africa and Pakistan, an unprecedented whitewash in a home series.Stripped over the same ridiculous row about tour contracts of ten of the originally-chosen 13 for the series in Sri Lanka in July and August, King had to devise urgent contingency plans for the team of ill-prepared, novice replacements. They played above themselves, in spite of predictable defeats in the two Tests, and ended the losing ODI streak with victory over Sri Lanka in the triangular Indian Oil Cup.Although the best players were again available, and picked, for the current tour of Australia, there was justifiable concern over whether unity could be maintained. Lara’s refusal to carry the West Indies flag at the ICC awards function during the Super Series in Melbourne or represent the West Indies at the parallel annual Test captains’ conference in Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s absence was an early warning sign that all was still not well. The energetic and enthusiastic build-up to the Brisbane Test, on and off the field, eased such worries. The players seemed committed and keen and a dominant performance that was within one wicket of earning victory over a strong Queensland was confirmation.Such optimism was shattered within a day and a half of the Test. The assault by Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken on the second morning weakened resolve and umpire Ian Howell’s harsh lbw verdict against Lara smashed it. The subsequent capitulation was swift, complete and utterly humiliating.If for nothing else, King was culpable in the decision to exclude Jermaine Lawson, Corey Collymore and Fidel Edwards from the lead-up match against Queensland – it was better, he said, to “monitor their workload in the nets” – and include them in the Test. It took no more than an over to realise that Lawson, who had not bowled in a match since Sri Lanka in August while he had a minor operation on his ankle, was under prepared. Even before the toss was spun, it was obvious that the selection of four fast bowlers meant a potential hat-trick once seven wickets were down.King’s task over the week prior to the second Test is to lift morale by uniting the team and convincing them that the Gabba was an aberration. He might remind them of England’s recovery after their heavy loss by 239 runs in the first Test in the recent Ashes series and the Lara-led phenomenon of 1999 in the Caribbean that transformed an all-out for 51 in the first Test and defeat by 312 runs into victories in the next two.The West Indies, and King, cannot afford two further results like the first.

India’s new selection committee opted for consolidation, naming the same 15-man squad for the second Test at Delhi, starting on December 10. The panel, led by Kiran More, and comprising new faces like Bhupinder Singh and Ranjib Biswal, said that there had been no discussions about players on the fringes during the meeting.”The selection committee met today, and there is no change for second Test. The same team is retained,” said Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary. “The selectors agreed that rather than watching the Test fully, we will spend more time in watching Ranji Trophy. Will come only on the last two days of the [Delhi] Test match and select the team for the last one.””We didn’t discuss anyone’s name at this point, with hardly any game played here,” said Kiran More, chairman of the selection panel. “We discussed how to go about domestic cricket. The selectors will watch Elite and Plate as well, good teams are playing there.”With rain having wiped away any chance of a contest at Chennai, the decision to go with the same 15 was no surprise. Despite the constant innuendo over Sourav Ganguly’s inclusion, it was unthinkable that he would be jettisoned without being given at least a couple of chances at the batting crease.Squad
Rahul Dravid (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Murali Kartik.

Australia’s World Cup campaign received a significant boost with the renewal of sponsorship between Cricket Australia and Travelex, the world’s largest foreign exchange specialist, extending the partnership until the end of 2010.Travelex has been the overseas sponsor and international tour partner of the Australian men’s cricket team since 2001. The new agreement features annual performance measures and incentives for the team to maintain its high levels of success.James Sutherland, the CEO of the Australian board, said the partnership with Travelex was not only an indicator of the strength of Cricket Australia’s brand in the marketplace, but also provided tangible support for the men’s team in the build up to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.Sutherland added that Travelex’s strong international reputation will assist Cricket Australia develop and expand its brand into traditional non-cricket markets in Europe, North America andSouth-East Asia.

Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, showed a welcome return to form as he guided Wellington to a four-wicket win in their State Shield one-day match against Auckland yesterday. Fleming, who returns to the Black Caps squad for tomorrow’s match in the one-day series against Sri Lanka at Wellington, hit 104 off 117 balls as Wellington eased past Auckland’s 252 for 8 in 47 overs. Following Fleming’s dismissal – caught by Tama Canning off the bowling of former Wellington representative Mayu Pasupati – with Wellington’s score on 235 for 6, Luke Woodcock hit 41 off 42 to see his side through to a comfortable victory. He was ably supported by Grant Elliot, the South African allrounder, who contributed an invaluable 11.For Auckland, Kerry Walmsley and Chris Martin picked up two wickets to send back Jesse Ryder and Chris Nevin, Wellington’s openers. Wellington were then left at 90 for 3 as Canning removed Rob Nicol for four, but Fleming was in supreme form, forming partnerships with Matthew Bell and Woodcock to help his side home. Martin was the best of the Auckland bowlers, picking up 2 for 44 runs off his 10 overs, while Pasupati managed 2 for 47. Struggling at 100 for 6 after being asked to bat, Auckland were rescued by Nicol’s fighting 88 not-out and some stern resistance from the lower order in Reece Young (40) and Pasupati (42). Iain O’Brien, with 3 for 46, and James Franklin, with 2 for 43, were the best of the Wellington bowlers.Michael Papps, the former New Zealand opener, steered Canterbury to a six-wicket win over Northern Districts to give the national selectors yet another reminder of his fine form. Papps was unbeaten on 137 when Canterbury cruised past Northern’s 272 for 8 in their 50 overs with 10 balls to spare at Owen Delany Park in Taupo. The other batsman not out was Chris Harris (24), Canterbury’s captain. Papps scored 92 in the first round of the competition last week but couldn’t stop Wellington winning that match. Yesterday, however, he brought up the three-figure mark off just 114 balls and forged a valuable 100-run partnership with Nixon McLean (38) before adding an unbeaten 50 with Harris. Fine innings from Alun Evans (89), BJ Watling (53) and James Marshall (33) had earlier seen Northern set a reasonable target, but Papps was too good on his day.Ross Taylor’s century was the only bright spot at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth as rain forced an early end to Central Districts’ match against Otago without a result. The match was abandoned with Otago on 36 for 1 in the seventh over, chasing a reduced target of 203 from 34 overs due to rain. Central scored 219 for 8 in 39 overs with Taylor hitting 107 off just 103 balls.

One-day series openers between Pakistan and India have a way with runs. In Karachi 2004, nearly 700 runs had been scored and an eventual margin of five runs separated the two. In the Peshawar of 2006, over 600 runs were scored and again, only a small margin separated the two sides, although this time, Pakistan emerged victorious.Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, admitted afterwards that although his side had become adept at big chases, he would be happier if they weren’t in that position in the first place. “If we have to chase big totals, we must learn how to chase. We have done pretty well in the last two years, but the problem is that we are conceding too many runs, and that is something we will have to look at.”That said, we fielded and bowled beautifully in the last ten overs. We took a couple of wonderful catches and bowled extremely tightly. At one stage, I thought we would end up chasing nearly 380. In the end, we did very well to bowl India out before the 50 overs.”In a batsmen-dominated game, only Mohammad Asif came out looking good. From 9.4 overs, he conceded only 30 runs and picked up three wickets in only his second ODI. Against England on his debut, he had taken two and at an economical rate. Woolmer was full of praise for the bowler he calls the most improved in Pakistan. “His figures speak for themselves. To take three for 30 in 9.4 overs on this surface was a wonderful effort. It was a superb batting surface and if at all it’s possible, this was an even better pitch than the ones at the Lahore and Faisalabad Tests,” Woolmer said.The game was also significant for Umar Gul as it marked his comeback from a career-threatening back injury. Having bowled Pakistan to victory against India in the Lahore Test two years ago, Gul hadn’t played an international match until today. And although he went for 35 runs in three overs and was eventually subbed, Woolmer urged patience. “He had a tough game, he just didn’t get it right at all. But he is a very good bowler, and I am sure he will bounce back as he plays more matches.”Although the light was poor throughout the day, it wasn’t until late in Pakistan’s run-chase, when the light deteriorated further that the umpires offered light. Woolmer didn’t blame the umpires however for their late intervention. “The umpires tried to get as much cricket in as possible. We weren’t offered the light earlier on, but we knew that we were always ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis calculations.”On an incident-filled day, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s dismissal, obstructing the field, was another as he became only the third player to be given out in such a manner. Although the captain expressed indignation initially at being given out, Woolmer said it a legitimate decision. “Under the letter of the law, he is out. Let’s just leave it at that.” He added, “He was run out trying to avoid being hit by the ball in the Faisalabad Test against England, and now this. I suppose if you can’t get him out in any other manner, the run out would appear the best way to dismiss him,”Rahul Dravid also backed this up saying, “We appeal for caught behinds, lbws and run-outs too. It’s up to the umpires to give the decision.” Inzamam had stated earlier at the post-match ceremony, “I don’t understand the rules and I am not sure why I was given out. It happened in Faisalabad and it happened again here.”

Kiran More, India’s chairman of selectors, has claimed that he was grossly misquoted on the contentious Sourav Ganguly issue and said he had decided to refrain from speaking to the media, at least for the time being.”I have started fearing the [media] – I don’t know what all you will write,” he said when asked to comment on the statement attributed to him that Ganguly would not be picked to play Tests for India ever again. He said, “I don’t know from where this one came up.”More, who actively participated in the nets of the Indian team at the PCA ground, refused to divulge any information regarding the composition of the team for the second Test beginning on Thursday in Mohali. “All I can say is that the mood in the camp is very positive. The body language of the players during practice was very good.”Meanwhile, in an interesting development, Ganguly will be in Mohali, but only as a spectator. Ganguly has accepted an invitation to watch the match, said the Punjab Cricket Association’s president, IS Bindra, on Tuesday. “As a former captain, we have invited him to watch the India-England match and he has already given his confirmation. Sourav said he will be coming to watch the Test after March 11, because that day he has his involvement in Jaipur [at the Deodhar Trophy match].”

This England team may have lacked experience, but their indomitable will carried them to a resounding 212-run victory in the third and final Test, a win that is destined to be remembered as one of their finest in the subcontinent.Afterwards, Andrew Flintoff, who showed the way with an immense personal contribution to the series – 254 runs at 52.8 and 11 wickets at 30.54 – puts things into perspective when he said that “it ranks right up there” with the Ashes triumph over Australia in September. “Last summer was huge,” he said. “But to come out here with the problems we had leading up to the series, and to lose Steve Harmison here…”The young lads making their debuts and those that have played a handful of matches, with us being one behind, we required one last push. The manner in which we played here was fantastic, and I think this is the first time England have won a Test match in India for more than 20 years.”India needed 295 runs with nine wickets in hand when play resumed on the final day, and Flintoff said that he had been quietly confident of success. “I thought we were in a great position. Having batted yesterday and scratched around for more than three hours, I knew it wasn’t easy batting out there. India needed the best part of 300 runs, and with the ball spinning and bouncing and the surface wearing, I though the percentages were in our favour.”Having said that, not even he could have been prepared for the abysmal surrender post-lunch. “I must admit I thought we would be scrapping it out at the end of the day, we would be fighting it out at the end,” he said. “We knew that Rahul [Dravid] doesn’t give his wicket away, and while Rahul and Sachin [Tendulkar] were together, anything was possible. But once we got two wickets in two overs after lunch, and especially with the way Shaun Udal was bowling with the ball bouncing and turning, we knew we were on top.”

According to Flintoff, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s suicidal charge at Udal was just as pivotal, a signal to the dressing-room that the champagne and beer could be put on ice. “It was always going to be difficult once Dhoni was dismissed because they had only the bowlers to come. We were also lucky to have got [Anil] Kumble early because he has been a thorn in our side. He is a tricky batsman to bowl to.”The emphatic victory was nothing less than England deserved, and Flintoff said as much. India’s nine-wicket win in Mohali had flattered them, and according to Flintoff, “We spoke about it, we saw what went on in Mohali and realised that we were not that far away. We were so close, and it was just a matter of scoring a few more runs. The bowlers were magnificent, and Straussy was fantastic. We needed one of our top-order batsmen to go on and make a big score, and we knew that if we had a good first-innings score here, we had a great chance.”Flintoff was reluctant to criticise Dravid’s decision to field, but admitted that he was as puzzled as anyone when asked to bat. “I would have batted first if we won the toss, but I have no local knowledge,” he said diplomatically. “For me to say I will bowl on winning the toss, the grass will have to be knee-deep. I was pleased to bat first, that was our game-plan.”With two 50s in the match, Flintoff did as much as anyone to set up the win, and four years on from his nightmare with the bat on the last tour, he was a content man. “The one thing I wanted to do in India was score runs,” he said. “The last time I came here, I made 27 runs [actually 26] in three Tests, so there were question marks over my head as regards playing in the subcontinent and playing spin.”I worked very hard with Neil Fairbrother back in England, and with Duncan Fletcher and Matthew Maynard after coming here. I have been refining my game against spin. It’s disappointing that I didn’t go on to make a hundred, it would have been nice to go on, but I have improved as a batter and the bowling is taking care of itself. Maybe the added responsibility has helped as well.”

Flintoff was originally supposed to skip the Mumbai Test so that he could be with his wife, Rachel, when their second child was born, but Michael Vaughan’s knee injury scuppered those plans. “To stay back and lead the side was what I wanted to do, and it’s what Rachel wanted me to do as well,” he said. “Of course winning makes it worth it because you may not get the chance to captain the country again.”While many questions focused on his role in the victory, Flintoff was anxious not to deflect attention away from the team that had done him proud. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” he said. “With guys going back and stuff, Alastair Cook made his debut, Monty Panesar and Owais Shah made their debuts, and though Shaun Udal is 37, he has only played a handful of Tests.”It shows that English cricket is strong and that young players are coming through and there is a lot of talent. Every lad that came in fitted into the side, contributed on and off the field. The character of the side has been fantastic, and the lads can be very proud of what they have done in the last three weeks.”Flintoff was insistent, however, that he was merely keeping the captain’s chair warm for Vaughan. “As soon as he is fit, he is the captain. I have had a taste of it and I have enjoyed it, but I have enjoyed playing under Vaughany. This is very much his side, and not just me but everyone in the team is looking forward to him coming back.”If there was a sour note, it was provided by a crowd that jeered Tendulkar on Sunday, and then heckled Dravid at the presentation ceremony. “It was a strange one from the crowd,” said Flintoff, not bothering to hide his disappointment. “Of course, there were a lot of English folk too in the crowd. But there were sections that were on our backs, calling us names and stuff, and you don’t want to see that. Rahul is a fantastic player and a fantastic captain, and he doesn’t deserve to be booed. Hopefully, we won’t see it happen to us.”If he keeps playing like this, that’s highly unlikely.

Adam Gilchrist is confident Stuart Clark can continue to play the role of Glenn McGrath’s replcaement successfully even if the second-Test pitch at Durban does not offer the same assistance as Cape Town. Clark sealed the third-best debut by an Australian bowler with 9 for 89 in the seven-wicket win on Sunday and made sure the side coped without their leading bowler of the past decade, who is looking after his wife during her cancer treatment.”We did make the comment during the game how probably unplayable Glenn McGrath would have been on that wicket, but Stuey certainly took up the reins in grand fashion and we’re all really thrilled for him,” Gilchrist, who took six catches in the match, told . “Stuey beat the bat a lot and bowled a very tight line and length. He seemed to release from high up and was pretty straight, stump to stump almost.”Gilchrist said Clark shared similarities with his New South Wales team-mate but refused to anoint him as “the new McGrath”. “I don’t want to burden him with that, but he certainly filled the void beautifully in this game,” Gilchrist said. “Stuey knows the challenge is there to repeat that on any surface, and I’m sure he’s keen to take that on.”The Cape Town pitch helped the fast bowlers throughout the game and played a part in Clark’s hauls of 5 for 55 and 4 for 34. At the end of the match Clark was surprised by the attention to his Man-of-the-Match performance.”I couldn’t even have dreamt it was going to be like this,” Clark said in . “If I got a wicket I would’ve been happy. To get nine? I don’t know what to say. The phone’s been ringing non-stop. I had to turn it off the other night because it was ringing too much.” The second Test starts at Durban on Friday.

New Zealand have recalled Kyle Mills into their side for the third and final Test against South Africa. In a must-win situation after losing the first Test at Centurion, New Zealand will be hoping that Mills’s presence beefs up the bowling attack in conditions expected to suit the seamers. Mills will replace Jeetan Patel, who performed creditably on debut on a flat batting pitch at Cape Town, taking 3 for 117 from 42 overs, but will miss out as the pitch at Johannesburg is likely to contain some moisture and assist fast bowling.The rest of the team is expected to be the same, unless Peter Fulton pulls out due to a back injury. Fulton has had a sore back since the second Test, and might make way for Jamie How, who has been included in the XII as cover for Fulton. Hamish Marshall will miss out again as he hasn’t yet recovered from a rib injury he sustained in the first Test.New Zealand were demolished by 128 runs in a low-scoring first Test at Centurion, while the second match ended in a high-scoring draw. Pitch preparations have been hampered by the cold conditions and lack of sunlight as the South African winter draws nearer, but Chris Scott, the curator at Johannesburg, has indicated that he is attempting to prepare a pitch which will be in between what was on offer in the first two Tests.

Ken Gordon, the president of the West Indies board, says the region acted in its best interests in throwing its support behind the Asian bloc’s bid to secure the International Cricket Council’s 2011 World Cup.Furthermore, the 76-year-old administrator said the West Indies did not sell their vote at the April meeting in Dubai and defended allegations of a deal with India that helped a joint bid with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh gain approval.”We live in the real world and we must understand that when people want to achieve an objective, they try to get support for that objective. Clearly, the India Board of Control wanted to have support for their objective and we did speak. We made it clear that our position was that we were interested in building a relationship with India,” Gordon told CMC’s Cricket Plus Friday.”We didn’t have a vote for sale. We were interested in building a relationship and they indicated that they would like to do the same and our position as far as the vote was concerned was, ‘look if your bid is a fully competitive bid and if it is on par with all things being equal, we will support your bid because friends support each other’.”Other people in other parts of the world support each other as well but [we said] ‘if your bid is not in our view, comparable, we cannot support you because we don’t think that would be acting in the interest of cricket’.”Reports following the ICC meeting in Dubai in April indicated the West Indies had thrown their support behind the Asian bloc’s vote, in return for a lucrative financial arrangement.The WICB’s vote helped the Asian bloc beat out a joint bid by Australia and New Zealand to host cricket’s major showpiece. Gordon said their decision to support the Asian bloc, once the bid was in the best interest of cricket, was communicated to Australia before the voting process.”That was the position we took. We made that clear to India before the vote was taken [and] they understood our position and they said they respected it,” Gordon continued.”We also made that position clear to the Australian side before the vote was taken. We said, ‘we feel we want to develop a relationship with India and there are lots of reasons for that, including our impecunious state and if we can work together, it would be a good thing’.”‘If the bids are competitive and we see everything being equal, we will vote for India. If they are not, we will vote for you’.”He added: “That’s our position, so all this talk about deal and so on, if you call that a deal, that’s fine, but as far as I am concerned we acted in the way that anyone who is concerned about their self-interest, would want to act.”The WICB recently announced they had signed a bilateral deal with India which would see the staging of a three to five-match One Day Internationals series in United States and Canada later this year.With the West Indies experiencing dire financial problems, India is expected to fund the series with the understanding that this would be repaid out of the WICB’s share of the profits. While not revealing financial details of the arrangement, Gordon said it was a move that would help the West Indies financially.”I am very cautious about a financial boost for the moment. I know positively there will be a financial boost but until we have completed our negotiations on the terms of the arrangement, I would rather not go there,” Gordon said.”What I would say is that it is going to be a positive factor in terms of taking us forward. Our Indian friends have indicated that they have a strong desire to assist wherever they can and we will try to ensure that happens. “The bottom line is that I am optimistic.”