THE Zimbabwe Board XI got off to a flying start in this season’s United Cricket Board of South Africa Bowl competition with wins over North West B in both the three-day and one-day matches played atFochville from November 2.The Board XI won the three-day match by three wickets. North West elected to bat on winning the toss and were all out for 301 in 95.1 overs in their first innings. Former national team pace bowler Brighton Watambwa, making a return to competitive cricket after a four-month absence due to injury, was the pick of the Board XI attack, taking four wickets for 65 off 19.1 overs.Spinner Raymond Price, who left South Africa soon after the match to join the national team in Bangladesh, took three for 77 off 32 overs. The other three wickets went to captain Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Campbell Macmillan and Barney Rogers.In reply the Zimbabwean side made 309 in 84.2 overs, to take a first innings lead of eight runs. All-rounder Dirk Viljoen was the best batsman with an unbeaten 122 from 208 balls while batting at number five. He hit three sixes and 13 fours in 149 minutes.The second-best contribution came from number eight batsman Alester Maregwede who scored 55 off 82 balls, hitting nine fours. Opener Mark Vermeulen hit eight fours on his way to 39 off 55 balls.North West B declared their second innings at 326/8 after 85.4 overs for a lead of 318 with number three batsman Craig Light scoring 106 off 168 balls and opener G Cilliers falling one short of a century. Macmillan took three wickets for 88 off 26 overs while Mbangwa and Price claimed two wickets each.Set 319 to win, the Zimbabwe Board XI reached the victory target for the loss of seven wickets in 63.3 overs. Opener Gavin Rennie scored 93 runs off 126 balls while former national team opener Alistair Campbell made 60off 88 balls. Rennie and Campbell made 131 for the third wicket. Maregwede, elevated to number six, made 65 off just 59 balls and hit three sixes and eight fours.On November 5 the two teams met in a one-day match at the same venue and the Zimbabwe Board XI posted a comprehensive ten-wicket win in a match which saw only six batsmen at the crease during the day, four of them scoring centuries.North West B won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 254 for two off their allotted 50 overs. Opener Willie Dry finished unbeaten on 117 off 128 balls while fellow-opener van Niekerk scored 110 off 131 balls. The only two wickets to fall were claimed by Macmillan for 42 runs off eight overs.The Zimbabwean side needed just the opening pair and 263 balls to get the victory target of 255. Campbell was not out on 112 off 130 balls, smashing two sixes and 13 fours. Fellow-opener Vermeulen was more ruthless and finished unbeaten on 122 off 123 balls. He hit a six and 16 fours on a terrible afternoon for bowlers.

FULL NAME: Charles Kevin Coventry
BORN: 8 March 1983, at Kwekwe
MAJOR TEAMS: Matabeleland. Present Club sides: Bulawayo Athletic Club and Universals
KNOWN AS: Charles Coventry. Nickname: Chappie
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat, Wicket-keeper.
BOWLING STYLE: Leg Breaks
OCCUPATION: None at presentFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 5-7 January 1999, Matabeleland b Mashonaland, atBulawayo Athletic Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (November 2001)At the moment, Charles Coventry junior, generally known as `Chappie’, is most famous for being the youngest-ever Zimbabwean first-class cricketer. At the age of 15 years and 303 days he played, unexpectedly, for Matabeleland against Mashonaland in the Logan Cup match on his home ground, Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC), and actually produced the third-highest score of the innings, 33.Charles shares the same name as his father, who is generally known as Chuck and is a leading Matabeleland umpire, with international experience. Chuck was actually umpiring in this match when Charles made his debut. Charles had taken his cricket kit to the ground – `just in case’, he says – and found that due to a mix-up one of the Matabeleland players had not arrived at the start of the match. He was thus thrust into first-class cricket almost by accident, but also because he had been keen and ambitious enough to be ready for his chance and to take it.He went in to bat at number five as Matabeleland chased a Mashonaland total of 243. The score was 66 for three when he joined Guy Whittall at the crease. “I got hit a few times by Andy Blignaut,” he said. He also had to face an array of test-match bowlers in Eddo Brandes, Paul Strang, Everton Matambanadzo and Grant Flower. He had never faced any of them before, and he says that the pacemen were the quickest he had ever faced. Yet he survived to score 33 off 121 balls before being run out.”Guy Whittall guided me through a lot of my innings,” Charles says. “He told me to concentrate on every ball and helped me out with the bowlers.” Since then Charles has become a regular player for Matabeleland, opening the innings as he has always done.It was naturally Chuck who introduced Charles to the game, in their family garden and the nets at BAC. Charles remembers with pleasure the hours they spent together when he was very young, getting a firm grounding in the game. Charles started to play at Whitestone School when in Grade 3, and the following year played for the schools colts team. He spent two years in the colts and two in the senior side; his most memorable performance at Whitestone was when he took a hat-trick bowling leg-breaks. Nowadays he rarely bowls, having taken up wicket-keeping to add to his batting skills.In his final two years at junior school he represented Matabeleland Schools in the national primary schools cricket week, scoring a couple of fifties but failing to make the national side at that level. He progressed to Christian Brothers’ College (CBC) in Bulawayo, and was selected for the national Under-14 team, following through into the Under-16 and Under-19 teams. His best performance here was 94 against Northerns in the South African Schools Coca-Cola Week. He played first-team cricket for CBC for two years, after scoring a century against St John’s College of Harare at Under-16 level.When in Form One at CBC he played club cricket for BAC teams for the first time, beginning with their third team and working his way up quickly. He freely admits the bowlers were too quick for him at that stage. It was at BAC that he was encouraged to take up wicket-keeping, and now considers himself a regular keeper, although Warren Gilmour has kept the gloves at provincial level. He never kept wicket at school, but at national age-group level he became the understudy to Tatenda Taibu.Charles left school after completing his O-levels at the end of 2000, but did not take up employment immediately, concentrating on his cricket. He applied to join the CFX Academy in 2002. He also enjoyed a tour of Kenya with the Zimbabwe development team. As a batsman he feels his main strength is on the off side. Chuck has continued to play a major role in his development, correcting faults and encouraging him; “He’s always been there for me, and chips in money whenever I go on tours.”Charles also names Win Justin-Smith of CBC and the national Under-19 manager who has helped him over the years with coaching, although he resisted his attempts to turn him into a full-time leg-spinner. “Shane Cloete helped me out quite a bit on the Kenya tour,” he adds. “There were quite a few things I was doing wrong then. Steve Rhodes has helped me a lot with my wicket-keeping.”Charles made his mark on club cricket on 4 November 2001 with a remarkable innings of 155 for Universals against Alexandra Sports Club in Harare. He was staying in Harare in preparation for the Under-19 tour to South Africa and then to the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, to save frequent travelling from Bulawayo for training, and so temporarily joined a local club.”I went out there and decided to be as positive as I could,” he says. “And it came off. I enjoyed it. There was a very nice pitch to bat on at Alex, although it started to move around a bit at the end, a bit of turn.” The bowling attack was not very testing, though, as the national players were all overseas and none of the home side’s bowlers had played first-class cricket. But a batsman still has to take his opportunity when it arrives, and Charles did that with both hands.Cricket heroes: “As batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh.”Toughest opponents: Eddo Brandes. “He swings the ball around and has good height, and I’m not the tallest of people! He’s also a very experienced bowler.”Immediate ambitions: “I want to make Zimbabwe A as quickly as possible and hopefully go on to the national side. I want to take up cricket as a career. If I keep on working hard I think I could become a good keeper, but obviously batting is my strength. After the Academy, if I get in, I probably will go back to Matabeleland and do a bit of coaching there. By that stage I hope to be quite close to the Zimbabwe side.”Other sports: “I like to play a bit of squash, and I’d like to start playing golf. I do quite a bit of gym in Bulawayo. I sometimes played rugby at school, but didn’t take it seriously at all.”

England lead India by 131 runs with all their second innings wickets intact after an enthralling third day in the second Test at Ahmedabad. Ashley Giles took five wickets as India were bowled out for 291, despite a glittering century from Sachin Tendulkar and 75 from VVS Laxman. At the close England were 15 without loss.An expectant Ahmedabad crowd got an early taste of Tendulkar as Richard Dawson was swept to the midwicket boundary in the first over of the morning. Dawson made way for Giles after just one over, but it was Matthew Hoggard who made the breakthrough when Rahul Dravid was caught behind by Jamie Foster, playing an indeterminate stroke outside the off stump to leave India on 86 for 3.Sourav Ganguly’s arrival prompted Nasser Hussain to call up Andy Flintoff, and the Lancastrian immediately obliged as the Indian captain edged a ball that was slanting across him to the safe hands of substitute Martyn Ball at first slip.As England’s bowlers kept a tight line, Tendulkar and Laxman remained largely on the defensive. But Tendulkar greeted the return of Dawson with boundaries in consecutive overs, one driven exquisitely through extra cover, the other cut behind square as the bowler dropped marginally short.In pleasantly cool conditions and in front of the largest crowd of the game so far at the Motera Stadium, Tendulkar completed a patient 50 by cutting Hoggard to the boundary backward of point. It was already a vital contribution, but the landmark signalled a change of tempo. India’s hero now showed why he is widely regarded as the world’s premier batsman, with a delightful display of artistry.Tendulkar’s class shone through as he worked two Hoggard deliveries outside the off stump for boundaries between mid-on and midwicket. Hoggard’s rueful smile was respectful as well as phlegmatic. It was the last over of his spell, but Dawson’s re-introduction met with the sternest of receptions, as Tendulkar drove him imperiously over the long-on boundary.As Tendulkar twinkled, Laxman was primarily supportive. The hundred partnership came off 175 balls, with the taller man contributing just 23. To a rapturous reception, Tendulkar then swung Hoggard away behind square leg to reach his 27th Test hundred. His second 50 had taken just 55 balls.It took a rare blemish to dismiss him, as he drove Hoggard without quite getting on top of the delivery. To England’s delight Hussain held on to the catch at the second attempt at mid-on. Virender Sehwag announced himself with some wristy legside flicks, but Craig White soon won a marginal lbw decision from umpire Jayaprakash as Sehwag was hit just above the knee-roll playing from the crease.With the door now ajar, Ashley Giles wasted no time in kicking it open. He produced a gem of a delivery to dismiss Anil Kumble, bowled off stump as the ball turned out of the rough around middle and leg. In Giles’ next over Harbhajan drove recklessly to Flintoff at cover. Javagal Srinath was then caught off bat and pad by Mark Butcher at silly point.Tinu Yohannan held an end up briefly as Laxman played some mighty strokes through midwicket, but India’s innings ended on 291 when Laxman went for 75, trying the stroke once too often and holing out to Mark Butcher. Giles ended with Test-best figures of five for 67.As England batted for just three overs before the close, Marcus Trescothick was fortunate to take four to fine leg from an inside edge off Yohannan. An authentic cut gleaned four more to third man, and England finished in firm control of the match at 15 for no wicket, 131 runs ahead.

Opener Sridharan Sriram struck 78, giving Tamil Nadu the upper hand in their Ranji Trophy league match against Kerala at Chennai on Thursday.Kerala scraped past the 200-run mark thanks to the efforts of K Rejith Kumar, who converted his overnight 40 into 69 valuable runs. He was the ninth wicket to fall, with the score on 221. Indian pace sensation Tinu Yohannan was the last wicket to fall, leaving Kerala dismissed for 223.Tamil Nadu’s openers started slowly, with Sriram playing in his usual vein and fellow opener Sadagoppan Ramesh trying to play himself back into form. The usually fluent Ramesh made an unbeaten 41 off 188 balls, striking no boundaries in his knock. He lost Sriram with the score on 118, but took Tamil Nadu through to the close of play with a considerable advantage. He was accompanied by Hemang Badani, who was unbeaten on 4.

When India faced off against England in the Reliance Cup semifinal atBombay in November 1987, rarely could they have taken the field in aone-day international with so many factors in their favour. Thedefending champions, they were playing at home, had won fivesuccessive games, and were up against opponents who had manylimitations. Pakistan had beaten England twice in the group matches,and everything pointed to India registering a one-sided victory.Kapil Dev won the toss and sent England in to bat. Graham Goochdominated the scoring from the start, but India still claimed twowickets for 79 in 22 overs. Mike Gatting then joined Gooch and the twoadded 117 runs for the third wicket in 19 overs. Both batsmen adoptedthe bold policy of sweeping and pulling the two left-arm spinnersManinder Singh and Ravi Shastri. As future events proved, this was themajor turning point.Gatting on 56 finally swept Maninder onto his leg-stump; he faced 62balls and hit five fours. In his following over, Maninder removedGooch as well, but the opening batsman had scored 115 off 136 ballswith 11 boundaries. Allan Lamb countered the double blow by hitting anunbeaten 32 off 29 balls, and England were able to post a highlyrespectable 254 for six in 50 overs.India suffered an early blow when Philip DeFreitas bowled SunilGavaskar (4) with the total on 7. This was to be Gavaskar’s lastappearance for India in international cricket. KrishnamachariSrikkanth (31) and Navjot Singh Sidhu (22) put the innings back ontrack with a second-wicket partnership of 51 runs. The run-rate,however, could not be improved, thanks to accurate bowling andbrilliant fielding, and neither Srikkanth (55 balls) and Sidhu (40balls) managed a single boundary. Neil Foster removed both and, at 73for three, India were in some trouble. But Mohammad Azharuddin andChandrakant Pandit (in for Dilip Vengsarkar) initiated a recoveryprocess by adding 48 runs for the fourth wicket. After Pandit (24)became Foster’s third victim, Azharuddin and Kapil gave a fillip tothe scoring rate with a flurry of strokes.At 168 for four, India seemed well on course to victory. BothAzharuddin and Kapil were settled, there was plenty of batting tocome, and the required run-rate was below six an over. There was noneed for any mock heroics, but it was at this stage that Kapilexecuted a stroke he was to regret all is life. Carried away by hisown impetuosity, the Indian captain, who had hit 30 out of the fifthwicket partnership of 47, heaved Eddie Hemmings high and straight toGatting who had just then stationed himself on the mid-wicketboundary.In retrospect, this shot cost India the match. Even though Azharuddinand Shastri took the score to 204 before the sixth wicket fell, theIndians were strangely directionless. Hemmings, who had been hit byAzharuddin and Pandit for 27 runs from his first three overs, nowstruck back with a vengeance. He had Azharuddin leg-before for 64 (74balls, seven fours). Shastri was still determination personified, butpanic and recklessness now set in. With five wickets gone and 10 oversin hand, India were looking for five runs an over. But in a flash,Kiran More (0), Manoj Prabhakar (4) and Chetan Sharma (0) left, andShastri too finally gave in. When on 21, he swung at Hemmings,resulting in a skier that was gratefully accepted by wicket-keeperPaul Downton.Astonishingly, India lost their last five wickets for 15 runs in fiveovers, and the end came with a suddenness that was shattering for thepacked Wankhede stadium crowd, as well as millions watching ontelevision all over the world, to stomach. Hemmings, who had looked soinnocuous initially, took four for 21 in 34 balls and England,scarcely believing their good fortune, trooped out exultant victors by35 runs.

South African fast bowler Allan Donald is almost certain to miss the remainder of the Castle Lager/MTN Test series against Australia at the Wanderers with a hamstring strain.Donald broke down during the first day of the first Test match and had to be helped from the field. It is understood that the hamstring is not torn, but some bleeding has been detected near the in jury.It is estimated that Donald will not be able to play for three weeks which would effectively rule him out of the remainder of the series. South Africa are already without captain and Donald’s regular new ball partner Shaun Pollock who has strained muscles in his side and the most obvious replacement, Nantie Hayward, has torn medial ligaments in his left ankle.Hayward, who was sent home from Australia to rest the injury, is at the centre of a growing internal row at the United Cricket Board. Despite the wishes of South African team physiotherapist Craig Smith, Eastern Province approached the UCB medical committee, headed by Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka, for clearance for Hayward to play in last weekend’s SuperSport Series match against Western Province.The injury was further aggravated during that match and Hayward is now expected to be out of the game for a further six weeks.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Zimbabwe threatened to make good their skipper’s threat of putting a 450-plus score on the board. However, a threat alone, without a show of force, is never worth much. Just when the support cast decided to click, the lead actor dropped out. Without a big knock from Andy Flower, it was evident that there was no way Zimbabwe would do better than their eventual 248/8. No disrespect at all to Stuart Carlisle and his fighting 77, though; he did his bit admirably.Zaheer Khan, fresh from his consecutive 10-wicket hauls in domestic cricket, generated good pace on a wicket that is better suited to a game of clay-court tennis than three seamers charging in and trying to snuff out defensive batsmen. Flat, dry, and with cracks that threaten to open up and beckon to the tweakers from as early as the morning of the third day, this is a standard Nagpur wicket.To his credit, the Baroda left-arm seamer made the best use of what little movement there was early on before using the old ball to reverse-swing prodigiously. Bowling from over the wicket to the right-handers, Zaheer Khan managed to get a good angle going away from the batsmen, ending the day with figures of 3/45. Anil Kumble, a bit lucky at times, backed up well, taking 3/72.Nasser Hussain, in England’s recent tour of India warned of “turgid cricket.” Carlisle has said to the press that he wanted to “attack like the English.” He means it. Despite a lot of people writing off Zimbabwe, Carlisle the batsman took his job very seriously indeed. Maybe there were no flashing drives, no powerful horizontal bat shots, and the spectators may have been less than thrilled with Carlisle’s approach, but it did the visitors a world of good.Carlisle, living upto the new-found responsibility of being captain, showed that he was not overawed by the reputation of India being tigers at home, and he certainly is not alone in that respect in this Zimbabwean team. The Royal Bengal, thus, looks to be highly endangered, struggling to survive these days. Hitting tweaker Harbhajan Singh over long-on for a six was only the icing on the cake – a wholesome, sumptuous one, rather than the rich kind associated with flat batting wickets.Keen to stick around in the middle, Carlisle negotiated the swinging old ball with care until a comedy of errors sorted him out. The visiting captain edged an off-break from Harbhajan Singh, only for keeper Deep Dasgupta to grass the catch. The batsmen should never have contemplated a single. Never run off a misfield, they say; but perhaps in Zimbabwe, they do not have any old sayings about running off dropped catches. Before Carlisle could make the 22 yards to safety at the bowler’s end, Shiv Sunder Das had fired the ball across for the bowler to whip off the bails, saving his East Zone colleague the blushes. A captain’s knock of 77 (204 b, 10×4, 1×6) came to a sorry end.Aside from Carlisle’s knock, there were two events that Zimbabwean scribes can write home about. Depending on whom you support, and whether you want the good news or the bad news first, here they are.”Flower blooms,” “Andy blossoms,” “Indian bowlers wilt” and similar horticultural headlines were dashed by a searing in-swinging yorker from Zaheer Khan. Andy Flower’s 3 will please the Indians no end. Nightmares of the last series, when Flower averaged an uber-Bramanesque 270, will slowly recede into the background.The good news for Zimbabwe was the tidy half-century that Alistair Campbell helped himself to. Batting with elan, the tall left-hander timed the ball sweetly to the fence on nine occasions. On 57, Campbell must have had visions of another century at Nagpur. After scoring a boundary and a brace, with the adrenaline running high, Campbell slapped a cover drive to VVS Laxman at short cover. The sharp catch was held, and Zimbabwe had lost their second wicket.That apart, the batting card did not make healthy reading Trevor Gripper, Gavin Rennie, Grant Flower, Heath Streak and Tatenda Taibu all failed to reach even 25.Travis Friend provided some welcome entertainment towards the end, thrashing the ball around to all parts to reach 33 off just 31 balls with six hits to the fence. In doing so, he injected some life into Zimbabwe’s batting display. That might have brought a smile to the Zimbabwe camp, but it will not be enough to take the visitors to a comfortable score in this Test match.

Man-of-the-Match Paul Collingwood is hoping to have clinched his place in England’s World Cup squad after his maiden one-day international century carried England to their second successive win over Sri Lanka.The Durham all-rounder rescued England from the perilous position of 122 for six to ensure a total of 258, which proved more than enough for victory.”It’s been a good day,” Collingwood said afterwards. “I came in at a difficult situation and managed to get ones and twos and (Craig) White played a great innings as well.”We just knew we had to bat the overs out and we were trying to get out to 46 to 47 overs and then a slog, but we were pleased because we managed to get three, four, five an over throughout that period,” he told Sky Sports.Asked whether he believed his World Cup place for February and March is secure, Collingwood replied: “Let’s hope so. Obviously I got dropped for the first two games and that was disappointing, but I went in the nets and thankfully it’s gone well since then.”Meanwhile Nasser Hussain described Collingwood’s performance as “exceptional”, and believes England can take heart from another win ahead of the fourth Test, which starts in Melbourne on Boxing Day.”Two wins in a row lifts spirits,” said the England captain. “We knew we could beat Sri Lanka. We’ve worked hard and we knew if we played to our best we had a good chance, especially on the two wickets we’ve played on.”We’re not kidding ourselves because we’ve got a lot of work to do but it’sbetter to win than to lose. We need to win – this isn’t a tournament any more,we need to win every game after the winter we’ve had.”Hussain was delighted with Collingwood’s hundred, which followed his crucial 110-run partnership with Craig White.”We discussed it when I was batting with him that it just needed one partnership and we were back on track and, unfortunately, I let him down and acouple of others were not able to stay with him,” explained Hussain.”We got to last chance saloon with our last recognised batsman in Craig Whitebut luckily the two of them batted very sensibly and took the runs that were onoffer – he’s a talented lad and I’m pleased for him.”Hussain, who had some sharp words for his side after two dropped catches during the Sri Lankan innings, also drew encouragement from further impressive bowling displays from youngsters James Anderson and Steve Harmison.”They’ve got things that you need at this level. For example Anderson’s slower ball gives us something that we haven’t had before, as well as Harmison’s pace and bounce.”But I wouldn’t get too excited. After taking such a drubbing in the tour every game against Sri Lanka has become like a semi-final, and I just think I needed to let them know that we need to play well all the time and take our chances. It’s nicer to go into the Christmas period with two wins under our belts.”Sri Lanka’s captain skipper Sanath Jayasuriya pointed to dropped catches as the key reason for his team’s defeat.”I think we bowled well but the fielding was not up to the standard. We dropped so many catches and you can’t afford to do that. We dropped their important batters and paid the price.I think 260 was still gettable but we lost a wicket early on again. When we were here before in 1998 we won a few matches but we need to be more positive.”

When they sit down to do business next, the quartet will not be able to keep out a flood of memories. Trevor Hohns, Andrew Hilditch, Allan Border and David Boon must have what seem like the least enviable jobs on the planet. The four have to decide whether Steve Waugh is still good enough to play Test cricket for Australia.And they are being dared to answer in the negative by the man who conjured up one of the most magical days’ Test cricket in a long time. If they choose to drop Waugh, they will be seen to be sullying an international icon, they will be blamed for robbing Australian cricket of a national treasure. The word blasphemy will be close to the lips of cricket fans around the world.When he walked out to bat, Steve Waugh did not just have the English bowlers to take on. He had done that for more years than many of the aforementioned cricketers would care to remember. But he also walked out to waves of rapturous applause from a packed house at the Sydney Cricket Ground that has seen more centuries than noughts from its heroes. It was almost as though Waugh loomed larger than life.With intense media scrutiny, public debate and the most microscopic selectoral eye following his every move, the elder Waugh was almost back to where he began, when he walked out to bat at that other stage, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, against India, in 1985-86. It was as if he were an unknown quantity once more. There was loose talk that the man making a record 156th Test appearance for Australia had to prove himself.With Australia under pressure at 56/3, the stage was set for England to further their advantage in the game. Nasser Hussain licked his lips at the prospect of avoiding a 5-0 whitewash. Matty Hayden, Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting were all back in the hut. Andy Caddick was thumping his chest, getting the ball to sing and finally threatening to give back as good as he’d got all series.All this and more appeared to go through Steve Waugh’s tougher-than-nails mind as he half sprinted out to the middle. Sachin Tendulkar speaks of a `zone’ he gets into when batting, where the sounds of the crowd are shut out with the intense concentration of playing the next ball. Whether the deafening roar of the fans was wasted on Waugh, we will never know.What we do know, thank heavens, is what happened next. Moving back and across, head stiller than a marksman assessing his target, weight transferring seamlessly to the back foot, Waugh dismissively sent a ball scurrying to the fence backward of square leg. He adjusted his pads, composed himself and began to work the ball into the gaps. From simply nudging, the so-called Ice Man quickly graduated to punching holes in the off side field. The power came more from a strength of character than musculature. The placement came from a need to take control of the situation and the will – where did that come from?Certainly not from the need to reach 69 runs, the mark that would see him join Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border, in cricket’s most elite club. But big as it may seem to every cricketer who has held a bat at the highest level, the mere lure of scoring 10,000 Test runs could not have spurred the 37-year old to what happened on the day.Of course, the mark was crossed. Of course, Australia had clawed their way back from the brink. Of course the pressure was almost back on England. All that was virtually guaranteed with Steve Waugh on a crusade.What happened on the last ball of the day, however, was not quite as simple. More toughness than panache, more utility than entertainment, Steve Waugh is not the sort to play to the gallery, going for the big hit to reach a milestone. He would rather see off the last over safely and start afresh on the next day.That might have been true, on another day.This, though, was Steve Waugh’s day. When the fourth ball of the final over – a flat one from Richard Dawson, was squeezed to cover for three, a collective sigh of disappointment escaped the lips of spectators at the SCG. Adam Gilchrist, alert as ever to the occasion, clipped one through midwicket to hand the stage back to Waugh for the final ball of the day.Hussain took his time arranging his field, bringing men close to the bat to increase the pressure. As he went up to speak to his spinner, much in the same way as Ian Healy spoke to Shane Warne before the last ball of the day, a nervous smile creased his face. There was no doubting it. A lesser man would have been swayed. But Waugh drove inside out through the off-side, made sure the century was his and punched the air, smiling to himself. Yes indeed, Steve Waugh smiling on a cricket field. Sir Donald Bradman’s tally of 29 Test tons had been equalled. The final moment was the sort of climax that only Waugh deserved.And yes, this certainly makes it harder for the selectors to drop Steve Waugh. Several former cricketers and journalists are already talking as though Waugh is playing in his last Test. He’s too old, they say. Too suspect against short pitched bowling. Not the quickest on the field, they say.But what will the Hohns-led quartet have on the top of their minds when they have to make the choice that will decide Steve Waugh’s future? Well, David Boon wont need to look much further than the four lines he had the honour of singing in the Australian dressing room at every victory that Steve Waugh led his side to…

And you can’t help feeling that Steve Waugh will be on a plane to the West Indies. And leave the game when he chooses to do so.

Coach Dav Whatmore believes that Sri Lanka’s recent experience of SouthAfrican conditions could provide them with a crucial advantage in their WorldCup opener against New Zealand on Monday.Sri Lanka were whitewashed in the Test series and then hammered 4-1 in theone-day series that followed but Whatmore believes that crucial lessons werelearned.”We needed to go through the pain and heartache in South Africa and inAustralia to get an understanding of those conditions,” said Whatmore. “Itwill hold us in good stead despite the confidence being knocked a bit.”New Zealand, meanwhile, last played at home where they swarmed all over theIndians, winning the seven-match series 5-2 on lush, green tracks ill-suitedto the limited overs game.Whatmore questions whether that was ideal preparation for the World Cup:”They won on bowler friendly wickets. It is not going to be easy to adjustin such a short space of time.”The Sri Lankans hope that the pitch will be similar in pace to the turgidsurface that assisted their spinners during their second warm-up gameagainst Free State last week.With off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan having recovered from a thigh injury,Sri Lanka will bowl a minimum of 20 overs of spin during the match.Sri Lanka have an excellent recent record against the Black Caps having won13 of the last 16 matches played since 1997 but Whatmore still rates themhighly.New Zealand are not a team of big stars, but bits and pieces players who doit fairly well and with good team spirit. They have a good history ofstarting competitions well,” said Whatmore.Whatmore predicts that result will be crucial: “Its a must win situation. Itwill give the team a big boost if we can get away to a win. It will probablybe the match of the round in our pool.”New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is unperturbed by his side’s previous form against Sri Lanka, pointing instead to their reputation as starters.”We usually start tournaments well,” said Fleming. “We’re going to do wellbecause we believe in the squad we have.”The return of explosive all-rounder Chris Cairns also adds to substance to abatting line-up that relies heavily on the class of Nathan Astle.Cairns will not bowl during the early games having not regained full fitnessafter a long-term knee injury.The all-rounder also has confidence in his teammates: “In the last twotournaments we had a good side and thought we would do well, but this onehere, with the side we’ve got we’re quietly confident.”The preparation’s been fantastic and it’s the best unit I’ve been involvedin, that’s for sure.”Sri Lanka (from):S Jayasuriya (captain), M Atapattu, M Jayawardene, K Sangakkara, A De Silva,R Arnold, J Mubarak, A Gunawardene, H Tillakaratne, M Muralitharan, C Vaas,D Fernando, P Gunaratne, P Nissanka, C Buddhika Fernando.New Zealand (from):S Fleming (captain), A Adams, N Astle, S Bond, C Cairns, C Harris, CMcMillan, J Oram, S Styris, D Tuffey, D Vettori, L Vincent, B McCullum.