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Five years have passed by, and the small pink house looks forlorn. Earlier, a man used to live here with his girl-friend, but without any idea of who the original inhabitant of the house might be. Now the local scribes say that the house at night is a den for Bridgetown’s anti-social elements.During his childhood, this was where Sir Frank Worrell lived. A small, white marble slab says as much: “This is the house where lived Sir Frank, and the house is now the property of the government.” A special board of trustees, at a meeting attended even by the Barbados Prime Minister, was formed on June 26 1991 to look after the house. In the 11 years since then, the trustees seem to have lost all interest in preserving the house.Adjacent to the house is the famous Empire club, one that spawned cricketers like Worrell, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith. Griffith, once the president of the club, has resigned now, and the club has gone downhill along with Caribbean cricket.With nobody living in the house now, grass grows out of the cracks in the stairs. The electricity has been cut off, but the brackets still remain. The window-panes are broken, and, peering through them, one can see the wash-basin that the residents once used. But there is no photograph visible of the man who once reshaped the game in this country. Were it not for the marble slab, there would be no indication that this ramshackle structure was Sir Frank’s birthplace.Griffith and Weekes are worried about the preservation of the house. “Something has to be done. The administrators have to look into the matter seriously. We have his face imprinted on a five-dollar note, but his house is in such a state and nobody is taking any initiative to preserve it in the proper way,” they say.Sir Frank continues to be honoured, though. The university here arranges a yearly lecture in his memory. Even a few days ago, former British prime minister John Major delivered a speech on the occasion. But for some reason, there is no initiative to preserve the house.

Sussex’s acting skipper James Kirtley led from the front with four wickets as his side eased to their first CricInfo Championship win of the season by an emphatic 162 runs against Nottinghamshire at Hove.Kirtley took 4-65 while there were also four wickets for new ball partner Jason Lewry to give him 9-160 in the match as Notts, chasing 371 to win, were bowled out for 208.Sussex were in the driving seat by lunch having reduced Notts to 45-3. Kirtley removed Guy Welton and Usman Afzaal while Lewry accounted for Darren Bicknell.Kirtley struck again when he took the key wicket of Greg Blewett with the first ball after lunch when the Australian gloved a catch to wicketkeeper Matt Prior and Notts were soon reeling at 67-6 when Kevin Pietersen was caught behind off Lewry and Chris Read lbw to Kirtley offering no shot.Veteran Paul Johnson staged a brief recovery in partnership with Paul Franks, the seventh wicket pair putting on 63 in 17 overs before Robin Martin-Jenkins struck in successive overs to remove Franks and then Gareth Clough leg before.Johnson duly went to his second fifty of the match and finished on an unbeaten 88 from 126 balls with 14 fours, but Sussex wrapped up victory 35 minutes after tea when David Millns was leg before to Lewry offering no shot and Smith bowled by Lewry’s inswinger after an entertaining last wicket partnership of 52 in eight overs with the impressive Johnson.Earlier Sussex had batted on for an hour in the morning before declaring on 298-8 with a lead of 370. South African Smith took two more wickets to finish with 5-37 and a match haul of 10-101.

Dirk Nannes is the only certain Australian player through to the Twenty20 semi-finals after Stuart Law’s Lancashire were knocked out and Michael Di Venuto’s quarter-final for Durham against Yorkshire was cancelled amid farcical scenes over an ineligible player. Yorkshire’s failure to register Azeem Rafiq, a 17-year-old with a Pakistan passport, led to their eventual dumping so Durham will have to replay their quarter-final – this time against Glamorgan on an as-yet undisclosed date.Even the installation of Glamorgan was not without its hiccups: at one point Nottinghamshire were awarded the match where Rafiq had played against them and those two points meant they would progress to the quarters. But Adam Voges and Darren Pattinson were denied a chance for further practice for the Twenty20 Champions’ League when Yorkshire’s appeal, although unsuccessful for Yorkshire, led to Nottinghamshire not receiving the points.Glamorgan eventually went through on superior run-rate, but won’t necessarily be represented by an Australian; Jason Gillespie was replaced by Herschelle Gibbs as their overseas player for the Twenty20 competition.As for Law, he travelled to the Oval for Middlesex’s home tie and was made to field, eventually looking at a chase of a mighty 176. Lancashire lost wickets at key times in the chase – Law himself making 11 – and were always behind the last-eight ball.The Twenty20 fracas largely overshadowed another Championship week where Law led Lancashire to another win. Law may have been the shining star the previous week, with 158 against Sussex, but his contributions of 43 and 36 were enough to help bring up a six-wicket win against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl. Sean Ervine’s 2 and 19 and one wicket were barely worth writing home about.With rain spreading across the country, this was one of only two wins from eight Championship matches this week. Matt Nicholson was back for Surrey who had a good chance of bringing up their first Championship win, but they ended with a draw against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. His 38 helped lift his side to 403 – despite Pattinson’s 5 for 72 – and then his three wickets helped to force Notts to follow on. But with Notts six down in the second innings, they just ran out of time, having only fitted in 30 overs on the opening day, while Samit Patel’s century also played a part in thwarthing them.Justin Langer made a bold declaration for Somerset who drew against Durham at Taunton. He had a positive approach, declaring Somerset’s first innings once they’d passed 350 – he himself bagged a duck – and did not bat second time round. But Somerset were barely into their second innings, and Durham didn’t have time for theirs before stumps. For the record, Di Venuto made 40 and took three catches in Somerset’s second innings. In the same week, Langer extended his deal at Somerset for 2009.It was draws all the way in Division Two, but there were some quite exciting ones in there. Chris Rogers made a fifty and 20 on return for Derbyshire, nearly helping them to kill off Leicestershire at Derby but with the visitors eight down, yet requiring only 18 runs, the draw seemed a fair result.Marcus North’s Gloucestershire just about staved off defeat at Middlesex’s hands at Bristol. They were nine down with 200 runs still required at the close, North having made 7 and 21. Rain wiped out so much of Glamorgan’s match against Essex at Cardiff that even though they were skittled for 132 in the first innings they were able to escape with the draw – a better second innings also helped. Gillespie’s contributions were muted: 4 with the bat and 18 wicketless overs for 58.

PERTH, Oct 29 AAP – Captain Nasser Hussain was guiding England towards a sizeable total at tea on the second day of a three-day cricket tour match against Western Australia at the WACA ground today.In reply to Western Australia’s first innings total of 213, the tourists were 4-243 with Hussain (88no) and Alec Stewart (0no) at the crease.Hussain played a fine hand on an increasingly lifeless pitch with some impressive cover drives in his unbeaten 162-ball knock which included 15 fours.Earlier today opener Robert Key (33), who looked dangerous last night as the tourists cruised to 0-54 at stumps, didn’t add to his score being caught by Matthew Nicholson in the gully off Brad Williams’ bowling.Left-handed opening partner Marcus Trescothick (46) also looked in fine touch but flashed at a wide ball from Nicholson and was well caught in slips by Michael Hussey.Mark Butcher (29) and Hussain then put on a 59-run third wicket partnership before Butcher’s luck ran out.The Surrey left-hander lived dangerously, surviving a difficult caught and bowled opportunity by Brad Hogg on 27, before being dismissed after padding up to WA quick Jo Angel just before the interval.Hussain and John Crawley (45) then overhauled the WA first innings total before Crawley chopped a wide ball from Stuart Karppinen back onto his stumps.The 31-year-old Hampshire batsman had looked unconvincing in his 105-minute stay before playing well away from his body and edging the ball onto his wicket.Big Jo Angel had the best figures for the home team with 1-27 off 13 overs.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced the domestic first-class fixture list for the 2003 cricket season. For the first time since 1972, there will be no Benson & Hedges Cup competition, which has been replaced by a new 20-over tournament called the ‘Twenty20 Cup’.The Twenty20 Cup begins on Friday 13 June when five late-afternoon group matches are scheduled. One of these opening games will be broadcast live by Sky Sports.All 45 group matches – the 18 first-class counties are split into three groups of six teams each – will be played over a 12-day period, thus intentionally scheduling the competition around the longest days of the year. This means that matches starting at 5.30pm will finish in daylight at 8.15pm. Essex and Sussex may stage floodlit Twenty20 Cup matches in the group stages, and the timings for any such matches will be confirmed in due course.All counties are guaranteed a minimum of two Twenty20 Cup matches at home next season. The winners of each of the three groups and the best-performing runner-up will progress to a finals day on Saturday 19 July, at which both semi-finals and the final will be played.Extensive media coverage of the competition is guaranteed. Sky Sports will broadcast a minimum of six group matches live as well as the three matches on finals day; Channel 4, meanwhile, will broadcast at least one match live (a Saturday morning slot on 14 June) and the highlights of the Final, plus prominent coverage of the competition in their weekly magazine programme. BBC Radio are planning extensive coverage on their regional and local stations in addition to live ball-by-ball coverage of the Twenty20 Cup Final on Radio Five Live and both Twenty20 Cup semi-finals on Five Live Extra.A new prize money structure will be implemented to encourage both team victories and individual performances. The Twenty20 champions will receive £52,000, the runners-up will get £26,000 and the losing-semi-finalists £15,500 – equal to the prize money on offer for the 2002 Benson & Hedges Cup Final. Incentives will also be made to the best performing individuals with cash prizes of £1,500 going to the best performing batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders (see below for details).Tim Lamb, Chief Executive of the ECB, said, “I have no doubt that the Twenty20 Cup will make a significant impact on our domestic cricket next summer. Thanks to excellent support from our broadcast partners, we can already guarantee a great deal of media coverage for the tournament. And with generous prize money on offer, the players have every incentive to go flat out to achieve success on the pitch. This is one of the most revolutionary and exciting initiatives undertaken by the ECB and the first-class counties for many years.”There are 367 matches, or 799 days of cricket in total, scheduled for first-class counties across four different competitions next season. The Frizzell County Championship season starts on Friday 18 April, the 45 over League competition (sponsor to be confirmed) begins on Sunday 27 April, while the third round of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy takes place on Wednesday 7 May.The women’s domestic season, meanwhile, will include the Super Fours trophy, now in its second year. The 48 best women’s cricketers in the country will be divided into four teams and will compete against each other in six one-day matches ahead of the international season. Super Fours will run each weekend from Saturday 17th May to Sunday 15th June.Yorkshire, meanwhile, will aim to retain their title in the Frizzell Women’s County Championship which will run from Saturday 26th – Wednesday 30th July at University Grounds, Cambridge.

Twenty20 Prize MoneyTeam awardsWinner (1 x £52,000) £52,000Runner-up (1 x £26,000) £26,000Losing Semi-Finalists (2 x £15,500) £31,000Man-of-the-Match awardsGroup Matches (45 x £300) £13,500Semi-finalists (2 x £550) £1,100Final (1 x £1,750) £1,750Series awardsBatsman – most runs (1 x £1,500)Batsman – 2nd most runs (1 x £1,000)Batsman – most 4’s & 6’s (1 x £1,500)Batsman – best strike rate (1 x £1,500)All-rounder – best (1 x £1,500)All-rounder – 2nd best (1 x £1,000)Wicket keeper – best (1 x £1,500)Bowler – most wickets (1 x £1,500)Bowler – 2nd most wickets (1 x £1,000)Bowler – fastest (1 x £1,500)Bowler – best economy rate (1 x £1,500) 15,000Total: £140,350

An army may well win a battle with pop-guns and catapults, buthow much less concerned the soldiers and their supporters wouldfeel if their tank – even one with ailing treads – were rolledout to back up the infantry. Allegorically, Sachin Tendulkar putteam interests before his shoulder bursitis – tendon inflammation- and slipped into one-day colours for the deciding one-dayinternational at Port of Spain.As it turned out, Tendulkar scooped his 44th Man of the Matchaward by hitting a crucial 65 off 70 balls and guiding India to achallenging total of 260. But the innings itself could hardly betermed vintage Tendulkar, and his sore shoulder takes primeresponsibility for the nature of the knock.Tendulkar’s MRF-emblazoned bludgeon, treading the line between”bat” and “lethal weapon” ever so delicately, weighs almostthree pounds, making it difficult to hoist into position with apainful shoulder. Accordingly, his innings was almost completelydevoid of his pet horizontal-bat shots – the cut and the pull.Six runs came in front of point and six in the square-leg region,both areas that would have been thicker in run-density ifTendulkar had the freedom to unleash the full flourish of his baton his shots. Instead, Tendulkar adapted his game to move the batas little as possible. He glided 14 runs to third man and as manyas 18 to fine-leg. Eleven runs came in the mid-wicket region,mostly from effortless nudges off his legs.At the post-match press conference, Tendulkar admitted that hisshoulder hampered him. “There were some shots that I justcouldn’t play,” he said. “My shoulder is still a little stiff, alittle sore, but I’ve been told it’s nothing serious. It shouldbe okay in the next five-six days; it’s just an inflammation.”Under such circumstances, Tendulkar’s knock was all the morepriceless, as much for its contribution to the win as for thesheer effort and dedication it exemplified.

UCT, WPCA double champions, crowned a successful 2002 in Pretoria on Tuesday afternoon after winning the MTN National Club Championship.UCT beat Rentmeester Tuks by five wickets.Chasing a competitive 260 in 45 overs, UCT reached the target in the final over. Man of the Match, Neil Kruger with 95 not out lead the UCT batting assault.UCT, coached by former WP B captain Tim Mitchell, last season won both the WPCA senior club competitions.Kruger and Darren Croxford(52) turned the game UCT’s way with a magnificent fifth wicket partnership.

LAHORE – It was the day of the ‘big fella’, and braving heat despite struggling with his fitness, cramps in his legs making matters worse, he made the New Zealand bowlers suffer nevertheless. The modest Black Caps attack felt the full weight of his bat, and he bludgeoned them into submission without an ounce of mercy in his huge frame. When he was last out, Pakistan had posted a massive 653, their highest against New Zealand, Inzamam’s contribution being 329 in a vigil lasting nearly 10 hours.If the Kiwis expected any respite at finally seeing the back of Inzamam, a rampant Shoaib Akhtar most rudely dashed their hopes. At close, the Black Caps were rather perilously placed. Akhtar’s thunderbolts combined with spin duo Saqlain Mushtaq and Danish Kaneria’s contribution of a wicket apiece, reduced them to 58 for six at stumps.Bowling with pace and venom, on the same placid turf where the Kiwi attack was torn asunder, Akhtar’s missiles homed in with unerring accuracy. And the stumps of the first four batsmen went flying with only 21 runs on the board. Matthew Horne’s leg stump was sent cartwheeling by a fiery toe-crusher and undone by pace, Mark Richardson and Stephen Fleming could hear only the rattle of the uprooted middle stump, while Chris Harris had the mortification to see his off-stump laid back.Within no time, Akhtar, whose figures at that point read six overs, three maidens, five runs, four wickets, had destroyed the Kiwi aspirations of making a match of it.Kaneria and Saqlain produced a wicket apiece with their sharp turners. The former snapped up Craig McMillan when Afridi brought off a good catch at silly-point and the latter induced a big outside edge from Lou Vincent with Rashid Latif pouching the opportunity.From here on, the Kiwis would really need something special to lift themselves and avoid a big defeat. But the Pakistanis, having scented the kill, are now literally going for the jugular. It would be really surprising if the match lasts the full five days.Inzamam’s was only the 16th triple hundred in all, the 10th highest in Tests and only the second by a Pakistani, 44 years after Hanif Mohammad’s 337 at Barbados in 1957-58.When he got out attempting his fourth six in five balls off leggie Brooke Walker, he was just nine runs shy of a new highest individual innings for Pakistan and 47 from the world record.Fatigue and exhaustion, not to mention the cruel cramps in the legs, and the fact he was batting with the No 11 Danish Kaneria, made him hit out. But by then the 32-year-old had made 329, off 436 deliveries in 579 minutes with 38 fours and nine sixes.Unbeaten at 159 on day one, Inzamam didn’t go after the bowling straightaway. He made only four out of 29 in the first hour as the Black Caps bowled with a whole lot more discipline than the previous day. But from then on, it was one milestone after another for Inzi. Three boundaries quickly took him past two landmarks: Saleem Malik’s (5768) career aggregate to make him Pakistan’s second highest run-getter after Javed Miandad (8832), and also his previous best in Pakistan, 177 against the West Indies in 1997-98.Then he went past 200, his previous best. Tuffey trapped an unsettled Razzaq (25, with six fours) in front of the wicket, and Harris snapped up Rashid in an excellent return catch. With six gone at 399, Inzamam (211) went to lunch with Saqlain (13 not out) having posted an unbeaten 55 runs for the seventh wicket. Though Fleming did not allow him a runner post-lunch, Inzamam carried on from where had left off, going for quick runs. McMillan brought one in to knock back Saqlain’s off-stump at 510, but by then the seventh wicket stand had added 111 runs.Inzamam was now running out of partners, but he stroked ahead of Javed Miandad’s 280. In the meanwhile, Waqar had been caught by McMillan off his own bowling. Shoaib Akhtar struck McMillan for three fours as he helplessly looked on, and Inzamam hit Vettori for two sixes at long-on and long-off. By now struggling with a pronounced limp, Inzamam still continued gamely to go to tea at 287.He came out and blitzed past 300 when Shoaib Akhtar, having already hit Walker for a six, jumped down the crease for a repeat, only to be stumped. With last wicket in Inzamam despite his serious discomfort, had no option but to hit out. He smote three glorious sixes, and the fourth seemed to be going the same way when Tuffey got him at deep mid-wicket to end a glorious knock.

BRISBANE – Australians Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden and Indian starSachin Tendulkar have been nominated by their peers for theinternational cricketer of the year award.The trio join Sri Lankans Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardeneand South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis as the nominees for theFederation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) award to beannounced in London on July 10.But Gilchrist’s devastating batting in South Africa earlier this yearhas been ignored in other award nominations, including the “place inhistory” and “sheer instinct” prizes.Gilchrist slammed an unbeaten double century in the first Test inJohannesburg and a whirlwind 138 not out in the second Test in Cape Townto send him to the top of the world rankings.The award covers the year from June 2001, during which Hayden was themost dominant opening batsmen in international cricket with fivecenturies.Past winners of the award, conducted by the Federation of InternationalCricketers Associations, were Australians Steve Waugh (1998) and GlennMcGrath (2000), West Indian Brian Lara (1999) and Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower(2001).Australia’s Test and one-day squads and the Sri Lankan Test team werenominated for the international team of the Year award.Hayden and his opening partner Justin Langer also feature among thenominees for the place in history award for four double-century standsduring six Tests last summer.Teammate Shane Warne (6-161 from 70 overs during his 100th Testappearance) and New Zealand’s Nathan Astle (222 from 168 balls versusEngland) were also nominated.The sheer instinct award doesn’t include Gilchrist among the nomineesbut recognises Waugh for his century against England at The Oval,England’s Mark Butcher, Pakistan’s Waqar Younis and England all-rounderAndrew Flintoff.The four nominees for the young cricketer of the year award includeIndian batsman Virender Sehwag, English seamer Matthew Hoggard, WestIndian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsmanKumar Sangakkara.Three former cricketers will be named at the dinner for induction in theFICA Hall of Fame that already has 55 players on its roll of honour.

“I stand by my commitment of all help in holding the ICC KnockOut tournament in India,” Sports Minister Uma Bharti said in New Delhi on Thursday. “I had invited the ICC to hold the tournament in our country and promised them all help including tax exemption, when Mr Gray met me in March,” Bharti told PTI when contacted for her reaction to International Cricket Council President Malcolm Gray’s letter to her.”I will be very happy if the tournament is held in our country,” added the Sports Minister who described cricket as “an expression of the nation’s sentiment”.Earlier, apparently worried by the statement of BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele that India was “not necessarily keen” to host the ICC KnockOut tournament next year, International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Malcolm Gray appealed to Sports Minister Uma Bharti to continue to lend support to the event.In a letter to Bharti, a copy of which was obtained by PTI, Gray said the ICC was still keen to hold the event in India. “I have been watching with great interest some of the statements about cricket emanating in the Indian press and have been encouraged by your statement and the line you are taking,” Gray said a day after Lele’s remarks sparked doubts that the Board might not host the competition. I hope that you will continue to lend your support to the event being held in India and to the obtaining of tax exemption for the tournament. As we discussed, whenever major sporting tournaments areheld around the world, they are only located in tax-friendly environment.”"We are holding a meeting at the end of this week at which we hope tofinalise our decision as to the venue for the 2002 KnockOut tournament,” the ICC chief added.Overruling Lele, BCCI President AC Muthiah said in Udhagamandalam on Thursday that India would host the event.