LAHORE – The inevitable first tentative steps towards rebuilding a Pakistan team for future encounters are likely to be taken within a day or two. The PCB chairman, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia called over the selection committee headed by Wasim Bari on Wednesday to put its collective heads together and name a squad of 20 going forward, starting with a three-nation event at Sharjah from April 1.The squad is likely to be announced on Thursday.Not yet having recovered from the World Cup trauma, which came close on the heels of about eight months of under-performance and under-achievement, was the so-called last straw on the camel’s back. The selectors are neither under any obligation nor under any public pressure to retain the non-performing stalwarts.Hence, their sacking is imminent. Most of these veterans – Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi and probably Saqlain Mushtaq as well – have not just been disappointing in the 2003 World Cup. Before the global event, other than skipper Younis these super stars were mostly picking and choosing tours they wanted to take part in and matches they wanted to play at will, making the selection process and team-building that much more difficult.It was about time they paid for their shenanigans. And with the PCB in an unforgiving mood, some of them would definitely be dumped for good while the others still not past their ‘shelf-life’ date, may eventually get another opportunity. But, a source in the Board revealed, it would not come any time soon. For the moment, the total concentration is on rebuilding the team with the door firmly shut on those who were more interested in politicking than performing.Having already retracted his post-World Cup retirement plans, Rashid Latif, however, is likely to be an exception. He may not just survive the axe, but is also the frontrunner for captaincy. Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan, the two candidates previously under active consideration for the job, are thought to be too raw and under-prepared to take on the onerous responsibility. Since the two youngsters did not fit the bill, informed a source, it was considered prudent to go for an ‘untainted’ senior.That is where Rashid came into the frame for another stint as skipper, though the arrangement is at best likely to be short term.A squad of 20 for the moment is not a bad idea, provided the selectors have their preferences for the eleven and the 16 sorted out. This can only be done if the selectors have done their home work and thought out the combinations in their entirety. Otherwise, it would mostly be left at the mercy of tour selection committee to make the eleven. And in recent times we have seen some diabolically whimsical selections on tour, which kept the team unduly unsettled.The good thing is that the new outfit would initially cut its teeth on low-bounce wickets at Sharjah (in April, against Sri Lanka and South Africa) and Sri Lanka (in May, against hosts and New Zealand) before going to England for a three-match bilateral series.Of the likely discards, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar are the two who still surely have some cricket left in them. But Inzamam (with a dubious world record of 35 run outs, and only 19 in six outings in the World Cup) badly needs a break to rediscover his touch and get into the right frame of mind to be of use again, while Akhtar must only be played on form and not just fitness. He also needs to reform himself big time and pledge to focus on nothing but cricket while on tour.Can a Pakistan team consisting of an overdose of young cubs still make its presence felt in short order? It would be difficult, but not impossible, but the Board and the fans should keep faith even in case of a string of reverses. After all, with the primadonnas around, the results were no different anyway.

At Montgomery Primary School in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, current England and Warwickshire CCC player Nick Knight today launched an inventive new scheme intended to provide a major boost to school sport.In a move aimed at improving the provision of PE and sport in schools and making children more active, thereby helping to counter the unprecedented rise in child obesity, innovative playground markings were unveiled which will not only encourage boys and girls to play more sport in their breaks but, importantly, to help teachers better deliver PE lessons to their pupils.Making the long overdue step from old-fashioned chalk marks on playground walls, these new brightly-coloured, multi-faceted markings will allow matches and training for a variety of sports – including cricket, football, netball and hockey – catering for a wide-range of sporting tastes.Numbered targets will also help with numeracy skills while the layout of the targets within the playground will facilitate more organised practice sessions.It is hoped that these imaginative markings, devised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and implemented by Highway Safety Systems Ltd (HSS), will be replicated at schools throughout the country.David Leighton, ECB Primary Schools Development Manager, said, The ECB and HSS aim to encourage Local Education Authorities and Head Teachers throughout the country to adopt the markings in a bid to encourage greater activity in school break-times and better use of existing school outdoor spaces.In-Service Training is offered by the ECB, free of charge, to teachers at the schools that implement the playground markings.

Pace bowler Glenn McGrath is on his way back to the West Indies tore-join his Australian cricket team-mates after his cancer-stricken wifedeclared she wanted some normality back in her life.McGrath returned from Australia’s Caribbean tour after his wife Jane wasdiagnosed with secondary cancer in her hip earlier this month.The diagnosis relates to the breast cancer she fought in 1997, when sheendured six months of chemotherapy before being cleared of cancer inJune 1998.It was not originally known when or if McGrath would re-join the team inthe West Indies, with Australia taking a 1-0 lead in the four-Testseries.Australia is in a commanding position midway through the second Test asit tries to retain the Frank Worrell trophy.But McGrath’s decision to re-join the team came after a specialist saidhis wife’s condition was not as bad as first feared.She will still undergo radiation therapy but is expected to make a fullrecovery.McGrath said his wife wanted to get back to a normal routine and thatmeant her husband playing cricket.”She started treatment last week and that’s gone very well,” McGrathtold Channel Nine.”And Jane just wants a bit of normality back in her life and for her,that’s me playing cricket.”McGrath will available for selection for the third Test starting inBridgetown on May 1.

Scotland’s stunning start to their National League season suffered a setback today at The Grange, when Derbyshire beat them by six wickets in a rain-affected match. But it was by no means a walkover for Derbyshire, as Scotland continued to show that they can handle life with the big boys.Jon Kent led the way for Scotland with a gutsy 85 from 93 balls as Scotland reached 206 all out from 44 overs. Conditions then got worse as Derbyshire’s innings was altered to 139 from 27 overs, and despite a blazing 35 from 19 balls from Shahid Afridi, they were never comfortable chasing the runs. And when Michael Di Venuto was out for 5 and the score was 67 for 2, Scotland felt they could be in with a shout, especially in the appauling weather.However, Dominic Hewson, who had earlier taken 4 for 25, settled Derbyshire’s nerves and guided them home with five overs to spare, smashing 29 from 18 balls in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 44 runs with Chris Bassano.

Otago Cricket is resuming its off-season coaching programme for coaches this winter with the first stages starting on July 6.New Zealand Cricket’s Level One prgramme will be held at the Otago Cricket High Performance Centre at the Edgar Sports Centre on July 6, 13 and 20.The Level Two programme will be held on July 25-27, then on August 2-3, also at the HPC.Any enquiries about the courses should be made Otago Cricket’s director of coaching, Mike Hesson.

Close to 30 coaches from around India gathered in Chennai for the MRF Coaches Seminar, where there was a chance to pick an unusual list of cricketers. Not the ten best batsmen of all time, not the ten best bowlers, not captains. Initiated by Sandy Gordon, probably the most influential sports psychologist involved with cricket, this diverse group of coaches attempted to define that much sought after concept – mental toughness – in the Indian context.The group of coaches assembled included chairman of selectors Brijesh Patel, Madan Lal, Ashok Malhotra, Nari Contractor and Chandrakant Pandit among other former Indian cricketers. In an interactive session that followed his speech, Gordon asked the group to identify ten Indian cricketers – in recent memory – who they believed were mentally tough.Although by no means exhaustive, the list makes interesting reading:Sunil Gavaskar
Mohinder Amarnath
Dilip Vengsarkar
Kapil Dev
Sachin Tendulkar
Ravi Shastri
Rahul Dravid
Anil Kumble
Bishan Singh Bedi
Gundappa ViswanathThere were a few murmurs in the room as the names of SrinivasVenkataraghavan, Vinoo Mankad and Syed Kirmani failed to make thecut.As ever in the background, Indian coach John Wright watched withinterest and, before he knew it, was put on the spot. When askedabout mental toughness in the Indian context, Wright underscoreda vital point. “Just like there’s so much skill in Indiancricket, there’s mental toughness too. There’s belief andconfidence when we play at home. But we tend to be mentally tough, rather than just mentally tough. Take the caseof the last home series against Australia – we were mentally verytough.”He went on to reinforce a point Gordon made repeatedly. “We haveto make the players understand that mental toughness is alearning process. We have to show players that they candevelop these mental skills. Kaif and Yuvraj at Lord’s (inthe NatWest final against England) was a case of that. Eventhough we were four down and chasing a huge target they threw allthe negatives out of the window. That was mental toughness.”

Jacques Kallis will miss the second Test against England which starts at Lord’s on Thursday, but will return in time for the third Test which starts at Trent Bridge on August 14.Gerald de Kock, the South African team spokesman, broke the news. “We don’t know yet when he will be rejoining us but he will be back beforethe third Test,” he said.At the same time it was announced that Andrew Hall, a member of SouthAfrica’s one-day party but not originally included in the Test squad, had been called up. Hall, 28 on Thursday, has been playing county cricket in England for Worcestershire.

After being ruled out for the entire season with a shoulder injury, Paul Collingwood has been passed fit to play for Durham in their Frizzell County Championship match against Hampshire, starting at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday.Collingwood played a key role for England during the World Cup and had been in line to make his Test debut this summer. But he suffered a dislocated right shoulder on April 16, while playing in a pre-season friendly against Lancashire. It had been feared that he would be ruled out for the entire season, but has made an impressive recovery.Collingwood, 27, has scored 874 runs at 32.37 in 38 ODIs for England, including one century against Sri Lanka. He has also taken 16 wickets with his medium-pacers, with best figures of 4 for 38 against New Zealand at Napier in 2001-02.

My India Tour We were babes in the woods during our first tour of India in 1955-56. We had tremendous problems with the hot weather, food, water and clothing. As a team, we were not that bad, in spite of a strong Indian line-up boasting stars like Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Manjrekar, Polly Umrigar and Pankaj Roy. These guys were fantastic players, and as new-comers we were star-struck.India didn’t have many spinners during those days, with Subhash Gupte being the lone quality legspinner. Although he was a big spinner of the ball, he didn’t like getting hit, and I could sense it easily as I was a reasonably good hitter of the ball and could handle slow bowling relatively well.Throughout the tour, we encountered new and strange things – sometimes not to our liking. For instance, the crowds – they came in large numbers, were noisy, and they had a perfect sense of timing when it came to bursting crackers out of milk-bottles. During the second Test at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay, the crowds used to time the bursting of the cracker just when a New Zealand batsman was about to play the ball – interesting, but dangerous.We were also traumatised by the inexperience of the umpires; the count was something like 17 (decisions against New Zealand) to one (in favour), which I should say was one-sided. But that sort of thing was common across the globe during those times. The wickets were spinner-friendly, and lack of quality spin bowlers in our line-up added to our burden.But our on-field miseries were offset by interesting happenings off it, and the hospitality of the Indians was magnificent throughout the tour. Everybody wanted to serve us well wherever we went, so we had social gathering virtually every evening. In return, we would make sure not to disappoint our hosts and attend these functions, which you don’t see these days as players are happy to be tied up in the cosy confines of a team hotel.One memorable function which comes to mind was the evening in Benares, along the Ganges, with the Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram – the Indian Board president – where the dinner service was all gold, served in dishes made of pure yellow metal – something we would never experience again. Then there were the elephant-and camel-rides, which again were new.So we had a jolly good time once we settled down a bit. We managed to draw three out of five Tests and picked up quite a few pointers, which came in handy during our next series there (1964-65). I learnt to appreciate India and all its history; in fact I visited the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort and the beautiful city of Jaipur during that trip. If only we could have done better in the matches, it would have been much more beautiful.Other
‘You could score a hundred if you keep your head down’ – Bruce Taylor’s tour in 1964-65.
Much more than cricket – Glenn Turner’s tour in 1969-70.
‘It was like a sauna’ – Richard Hadlee’s tour in 1976-77.

Australia held their nerve to win a humdinger against New Zealand in the TVS Cup. A crucial factor in this was the 70 runs Michael Clarke made. He scored quickly and did not allow the bowlers to dominate. He was especially good against Daniel Vettori, usually New Zealand’s best bowler in the subcontinent. A key factor was his footwork. To every ball, he moved his feet early and well. He looked to come onto the front foot as much as possible and was even happy to dance down the wicket and drive. No wonder then, that he took 20 runs off Vettori coming down the wicket.

Another big performer on the day was Jacob Oram (81). He took New Zealand out of the woods after an early collapse, but could not ensure a win. When Oram came in to bat at number seven, New Zealand were in trouble at 86 for 5. They needed to rebuild, and Oram did just that. To begin with he concentrated on playing straight back down the ground, and hit 19 runs in the `v’ between long-on and long-off. After he got set, he targeted midwicket, and scored 25 runs in the zone – more than anywhere else. Ultimately, though, it was still not enough.