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Adrian Le Roux, who has taken up the position of physical trainer with the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) after vacating the similar post he held with the Indian cricket team, has termed his decision as a personal one. Speaking to Wisden CricInfo from South Africa, Le Roux said: “I sat down with my family and we decided that the opportunity to work for one’s own country will be something that I might not get again. It has nothing to do with the BCCI or the Indian cricket team … it’s just a personal one.”The Indian board had offered him a one-year extension after the World Cup, but Le Roux clarified that there had only been a “verbal conference with the BCCI”. Refuting statements by the Indian board officials that they were kept in the dark, Le Roux said that he informed the BCCI as soon as he made up his mind to take up the South African offer. “Once I had my talks with the UCBSA, I sent an e-mail and a fax to the BCCI office informing them of my decision.”Le Roux also clarified that the issue of late payment of salary had no role to play in his decision. He stressed that his relationship with the board and the players had been excellent. “In my opinion, I’ve done a good job for them, and we’re good friends. I have a very good working relationship with the board and the players.”Le Roux was unhappy with reports in the Indian media which suggested that he had “dumped” the Indian team. “I don’t think that’s the correct phrase to use. It’s an opportunity that I have [to work with the South African team], and it’s a long-term career decision.”Le Roux was offered a one-year contract with the Indian board after working with the team on their tour to South Africa in 2001-02. Along with Andrew Leipus, the physiotherapist, he improved the fitness levels of the Indian team significantly. Now, the Indian board have the onerous task of finding a replacement.

Matthew Elliott will make his long-awaited return to cricket in next week’s ACB Cup match against Tasmania in Hobart. Elliott has missed the Bushrangers past three ING Cup matches, as well as last week’s Pura Cup match against NSW due to severe bruising of his right knee.Bushrangers coach David Hookes said the match came at a perfect time for Elliott to gain some match practice. “It’s a great opportunity to get Matty down to Hobart and for him to get some much-needed match practice prior to our last two Pura Cup matches. He’s been a little frustrated by the slower than expected recovery of his injury, but Matty’s such an important part of the side. We felt it was too big a risk for him to play any earlier than this”.Melbourne’s Liam Buchanan retains his place in the side after scoring a brilliant 208 in this week’s match at the Junction Oval with the ACT.VICTORIA v TASMANIA
17 -20 February, 2003
TCA Ground, HobartVICTORIAMatthew Elliott (c), Liam Buchanan, Robert Cassell, Adam Crosthwaite, Brett Harrop, David Hussey, Nick Jewell, Brendan Joseland, Michael Klinger, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Chris StreetTASMANIAScott Kremerskothen (c), Chris Bassano, Graeme Cunningham, Xavier Doherty, Andrew Downton, Ben Hilfenhaus, Shane Jurgensen, Tim Paine, Adam Polkinghorne, Shannon Tubb, Nathan Webb, Luke Williams

Jacques Kallis (RSA) needs 85 runs to complete 6000 ODI runs
Jonty Rhodes (RSA) needs 65 runs to complete 6000 ODI runs
Thomas Odoyo (KEN) needs 125 runs to complete 1000 ODI runs
Makhaya Ntini (RSA) needs 9 wickets to join the 100 ODI-wicket clubJacques Kallis (RSA) needs 112 runs to complete 500 World Cup runs
Jonty Rhodes (RSA) needs 146 runs to complete 500 World Cup runs
Lance Klusener (RSA) needs 162 runs to complete 500 World Cup runs
Herschelle Gibbs (RSA) needs 135 runs to complete his 500 World Cup runs
Steve Tikolo (KEN) needs 137 runs to complete his 500 World Cup runsLance Klusener (RSA) needs 7 wickets to join the 25 World Cup wicket-club
Shane Pollock (RSA) needs 8 wickets to join the 25 World Cup wicket-clubAllan Donald (37) is six wickets behind leading World Cup wicket-taker Wasim Akram (43)

With their batsmen coming good, Himachal Pradesh defeated Jammu &Kashmir in their Ranji one-day match at Jullundar on Monday.Winning the toss, Himachal Pradesh opted to bat. Although they lostRajiv Nayyar early, opener Sandeep Sharma put on 66 runs with AmitSharma for the second wicket. Sharma combined again with Sangram Singhto post 158 runs for the fourth wicket.Himachal Pradesh ended their innings on 304/7, with Sharma making 92and Sangram a quick 93 off 97 balls. The bowlers then swung intoaction; GP Singh (44) top-scored in a total of 209/7 as HimachalPradesh’s bowlers restricted Jammu & Kashmir admirably. HimachalPradesh thus registered a 95-run win to start their Ranji one-daycampaign.

He might be winning, but New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming surely knows that his luck with pitches on offer in the National Bank Series must be getting close to running out.Luck was with New Zealand as it out-lasted the Indians to claim a three-wicket win in a pathetically low-scoring match at Eden Park today where 108 scored in 32.5 overs lost to 109/7 scored off 37.4 overs.Fleming said the pitch had been “very testing” and because of the negativity that was surrounding the pitches that negative factor was just as dangerous as the pitch itself.”It was two-paced, the ball would hold and there was balloon bounce,” he said.Fleming made the point that New Zealand had not been doctoring pitches as some reports had claimed. The conditions had not been asked for. What New Zealand wanted was pitches with more bounce.Fleming said he was surprised by the qualities the pitch showed.”I thought it would be a good wicket. It took me by surprise,” he said.Fleming said he hoped the wicket in Auckland was not an indication of what lay ahead for the remainder of the series because he was sure the batsmen in both sides wanted to be able to express themselves in their build-ups for the World Cup.As New Zealand’s wickets tumbled, they were 52/6 at one stage, he admitted to nervousness, but it was more for batsman Kyle Mills. He believed his players had the ability to do the job but was nervous for them in their execution.He praised the efforts of Jacob Oram while he added that the Indians were only one performance away from cutting loose and it was his hope that he could keep them down for as long as he could.Oram, who was named man of the match as much for his five-wicket bag while bowling as for batting effort in scoring 27 not out in 96 minutes of anxious batting, said he took a lot into his innings from his experience in seeing New Zealand to victory in the second Test in Hamilton.He said it had involved a little bit of grit that he hadn’t seen in himself in the past. It wasn’t really his game to work the ones and twos as circumstances have required him to do in these matches, but he admitted enjoying finding this new aspect to his game.Oram and Mills had merely said to each other all the way through that they would see each other again at the end of the over.

National first league Champions Old Hararians recovered from their disappointing start to the season with a 39-run home win over Bulawayo Athletic Club in the second round of matches.OH, who lost their opening game to Kwekwe Sports Club by seven wickets, opened the batting and compiled 220/6 in a 45-over match. Opener Ryan Butterworth top-scored with 96 while all-rounder Paul Strang weighed in with 50. Trevor Penney took three wickets for five runs off 2.1 overs while Nyasha Chari claimed three for 38 off nine overs.While Old Hararians got back to winning ways, it was a different case with Bulawayo side Queens Sports Club, runners-up last season, as they slumped to their second successive defeat of the new season. Queens, who lost to Mutare Sports Club in the opening week, suffered an embarrassing 82-run home defeat to Kwekwe Sports Club.The only success story of the Queens performance was the bowling of former national team paceman Mpumelelo Mbangwa who took four for 35 off 10 overs in Kwekwe’s total of 240/8. The hosts were dismissed for 158 in 47.3 overs with spinner Raymond Price claiming four wickets for 30 off 10 overs.Takashinga continued their fine start to the 2001/02 Castle Lager National First League season with a 47-run win over visiting Bulawayo Sports Club at Eaglesvale on Sunday. It was the second straight win for the Highfield-based outfit who won only two matches during the whole of last season. Last week Takashinga beat another Bulawayo side, Bulawayo Athletic Club, by six wickets.On winning the toss, Takashinga batted first and made 267/8 with opener Tatenda Taibu top-scoring with 102. The Sixth-Form Churchill High School student featured in a 70-run first wicket partnership with EltonChigumbura, who made 23. Givemore Makoni made a quickfire 65 batting at number five, smashing seven sixes. Dash Vaghmaria, the BSC captain, was the pick of the visitors’ bowlers with four wickets for 37 off 10 overs.In reply, Bulawayo Sports Club were dismissed for 220 in 47.1 overs. Taibu was once again the best bowler for Takashinga, taking four wickets for 41 off 6.1 overs. Taibu had been the wicketkeeper until the middle of the innings when he handed over the gloves to Alester Maregwede.Mutare beat Old Georgians by 21 runs, their second win in as many matches. Mutare batted first and were dismissed for 229 in 49.5 overs with Richard Sims making 51. The hosts could only score 208/9 off their allotted 50 overs. Former national team vice-captain Guy Whittall was the pick of the bowlers with three for 27 off 10 overs, while colleague Alistair Campbell took three for 54 off 10 overs.At Alexandra Sports Club, the hosts beat Harare Sports Club by 35 runs, while Universals recorded their first win of the season, beating Macdonald Club by 33 runs in Bulawayo.Results from the Second Round of National First League played on 28 October, 2001.Winstonians v Bulawayo Sports ClubWinstonians won by 47 runs.Winstonians 267 for 6T Taibu 102, G Makoni 65, W Chawaguta 37D Vaghmaria 4 – 20B.S.C. 220 all outT Sibanda 38, M Kenny 35, M Ranchod 31T Taibu 4 – 41Mac Club v UniversalsUniversals won by 33 runsUniversals 294 for 9 in 50 oversC Coventry 63, D Matambanadzo 30, B Mahwire 97, N Chouhan 37Mac Club 261 for 9 in 50 oversW Siziba 55, H Price 35, S Wilson 56*D Mutendera 3 – 58Alexandra Sports Club v Harare Sports ClubAlexandra won by 35 runsAlexandra 220 all out in 49.5 oversB Benhura 39, C Anticevich 57*, S Marillier 35A Hoffman 3 – 35H.S.C. 185 all out in 46.2 oversB Taylor 33, M Brundle 49G du Plessis 3 – 41, C de Grandhomme 3 – 26Old Hararians v Bulawayo Athletic ClubOld Hararians won by 40 runsO H 220 for 8 wickets in 45 oversR Butterworth 96*, P Strang 50N Mukondiwa 3 – 54B A C 181 all out in 43.1 oversG Manchip 32, C Williams 62N Chari 3 – 38, T Penney 3 – 5Queens Sports Club v Kwekwe Sports ClubKwekwe won by 82 runsKwekwe 240 for 8 in 50 oversT Duffin 41, D Viljoen 70, D Houghton 35M Mbangwa 4 – 30Queens 158 all out in 42.3 oversR King 32, N van Rensburg 48, O Msundire 32C Sanders 3 – 30, R Price 4 – 30Old Georgians v Mutare Sports ClubMutare won by 21 runsMutare 229 all out in 49.5 oversR Sims 51, K Went 47, L Soma 31A Mackay 3 – 48, B McCoun 3 – 37O G 208 for 9 in 50 oversL Malloch-Brown 31, B Rogers 67, W Mwayenga 31A Campbell 3 -54, G Whittall 3 – 27

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced that the EnglandManagement Advisory Committee (EMAC) is to be disbanded following a structural review.Following a meeting at Lord’s, the ECB’s Management Board voted to replace EMAC with a new seven-strong panel to be known as the International Teams Management Group (ITMG).The new group’s remit will include all international teams and the NationalAcademy. It will be chaired by a non-executive who will be elected by the First Class Forum and have a seat on the Management Board.Executive members of the ITMG will include the ECB Chief Executive, Tim Lamb, Director of Cricket Operations, John Carr, Performance Director, Hugh Morris, Finance Director, Brian Havill plus the England Head Coach, Duncan Fletcher, and the Chairman of Selectors, David Graveney.Tim Lamb and David Graveney both currently serve on the England ManagementAdvisory Committee, which is chaired by Brian Bolus, together with four other non-executive members.The decision to disband EMAC is one of the principal recommendations made bythe ECB Structure Working Party which has on-going responsibility for reviewing the Board’s constitutional and governance process.Announcing the decision, Tim Lamb said: “This move, following the earlierdisbanding of the International Affairs and the Development of Excellencesub-committees, will help to further streamline our administrative anddecision-making procedures, and this has been clearly recognized by theManagement Board.”

Corey Collymore has silenced an entire country over the last week or so.Written-off by cricket fans as past his best, Collymore’s selection in the Barbados team was questioned since his return from the World Cup in South Africa.The lion-hearted 25-year-old fast bowler from St Peter made everyone eat their words in the semifinals of the Carib Beer International Shield with a five-wicket haul against Trinidad and Tobago.Collymore stepped up to the plate again yesterday when Barbados were struggling to dismantle the strong Jamaica batting side in the final. Back to his incisive best and delivering outswingers at will, Collymore prised out Test scalp Marlon Samuels and the dangerous Ricardo Powell in one probing spell yesterday morning that turned the match on its head.He ended with five for 44 in 21 probing overs and stormed back late in the day to grab the wicket of Samuels for the second time in the match. It was proof that Collymore was really back with a bang.

Australian captain Steve Waugh admitted one blow from New Zealand’s Chris Cairns was the difference between a loss and a draw for his team during a dramatic day of high stakes in the first Test at the Gabba today.The match finished in a draw under lights not long after Cairns was caught on the long-on boundary by Ricky Ponting, ending an irresistible campaign by the New Zealanders to steal the Test.Waugh said if Cairns’ swipe had cleared the boundary, New Zealand would have won a Test which was brought to life by the rival captains after rain had ruined theprevious three days.Waugh and Stephen Fleming made bold declarations on the final day, engineering a finish which seemed unlikely when a torrential downpour swamped the Gabba onthe fourth night.New Zealand was set 284 to win from 57 overs and fell short at 6-274 following valuable knocks from Cairns (43 from 38 balls), Fleming (57), Mark Richardson(57) and Nathan Astle (49).The final day had it all, including 459 runs – the highest in the last 47 years of Test cricket.But that was a backdrop to the overall plot, which included the likelihood of an Australian win, the probability of a tame draw and then the real chance that NewZealand would knock over cricket’s best team only after they had been invited to the party by Waugh.”You’re here to entertain and enjoy yourself and you’re trying to win a Test match if you can. I don’t see any point playing out a dull draw,” Waugh said.”They definitely had their chances and I guess if that ball went for six they probably would have won the game so it was a fine line.”It was an ending that seemed unlikely when New Zealand began the final day at 5-186 in its first innings, trying to avoid the follow-on mark of 286.They squeaked past that with two wickets to spare and Fleming immediately called his players in, waiting for a response from the Australians.They obliged with 2-84 from 14 overs before Waugh called a halt midway through the day, setting up a one-day style chase on a perfect Brisbane afternoon.The foundations were laid before Cairns lit up the Gabba with 43 from 38 balls, dragging the Kiwis within 21 runs of victory with just 18 balls remaining.Fleming’s approach was refreshing for an Australian public which has put up with touring teams which have worked on safety-first cricket, with some even refusing to play under lights in Test matches.”It’s about the traditions of a game and it’s about breaking new mould and if you can create entertainment, I’m massively for it,” Fleming said.”I’m convinced it’s the way Test cricket has to go entertainment-wise.”The fifth day was extended to 105 overs because of the previous rain delays, and it was rewarded with plenty of action.But it was still headed for a draw until Cairns and Craig McMillan (23 not out from 22 balls) scared the wits out of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath in the finalovers, taking 31 runs from two overs.But McGrath pulled the shutters down when he bowled a wide line outside off-stump, just inches inside the legal width, and Waugh later defended the tactic.”We did it when we had to and New Zealand did the same thing,” Waugh said.”There was a lot of wide stuff from their bowlers. It’s Test match cricket and you’re not going to hand out a victory on a platter.”They had to work hard for it – that’s what it’s all about.”Both teams head for the second Test in Hobart on Thursday week, with New Zealand resigned to life without paceman Dion Nash.He will return home tomorrow with an abdominal muscle injury, but he braved the pain today for an invaluable 25 not out in the first innings.

Sourav Ganguly’s suggestion for a best-of-three finals in one-daycompetitions betrays the depths to which his confidence levels haveplunged. A final offers the most capable assessment of the mentaltoughness of a team and how they react under pressure, because thereis no second chance. The ability to raise one’s game to suit theoccasion and peak at just the right time, is an essential ingredientof a good team. Ganguly’s remarks are a telltale sign that he knowsthe team is simply not good enough at the crunch. Rather then doinghis damnedest to resolve the problem, he’s suggesting means toavoid dealing with it. “We have to learn to win under pressure” headmitted immediately after the final, but that can be done only byplaying when the pressure is the maximum, not by diffusing it acrossthree matches.The defeat at the Harare Sports Club last Saturday was India’s seventhloss in a row in a tournament final. It all began with the Pepsi Cupagainst Pakistan at Bangalore in April 1999. The Indian bowlers letthe game slip away in the first session by allowing Pakistan to hoist291. Any hopes of making a match of it hinged on getting a decentstart but when the Indian top order collapsed to 63/5, there was noescape route. Against the same opponents in the Coca-Cola Cup inSharjah less than two weeks later, India won a useful toss but losttwo wickets in the first over without a run on board and were rolledover for 125 to gift the match on a platter.In the Coca-Cola Cup in Singapore in September the same year, Indiaposted a challenging 254 despite losing Tendulkar for a duck in thefirst over. The bowlers had West Indies on the mat at 67/4 and later128/5 but were clueless in the face of a ferocious assault by RicardoPowell. Precisely one month later India entered the LG Cup final inNairobi having swept all their matches in the round-robin league.After restricting South Africa to just 235, the batsmen fumbled agreat opportunity to succumb by 26 runs with two and a half overs leftunused.The next episode in the gloomy sequence also occurred at Nairobi’sGymkhana Club Ground in October 2000. It was the climax of the ICCKnockOut and India were delighted to be inserted after losing thetoss. Ganguly and Tendulkar added 141 for the opening wicket but themiddle order lost its way. Still, 264 was a competitive score and whenNew Zealand slumped to 132/5, the signs were propitious. A crucialrun-out miss relieved Chris Cairns who proceeded to shut India outwith a marvellously paced effort. Later in the same month, a 245-runthumping ensued at Sri Lanka’s hands in the Champions Trophy inSharjah, a collective abdication of duty of monstrous proportion.Looking at the pattern, India have conceded 290 or more on three offour occasions they’ve bowled first which puts the batsmen underenormous pressure rightaway. To have a ghost of chance, the cardinalrule is to keep wickets in hand even at the risk of falling behind theasking rate early on. But the top order has usually tried to do toomuch too soon, with negative results. This was exemplified againsta West Indies attack last week having just three specialist bowlers.The Indians had a gilt-edged chance to step up the ante in 20remaining overs of part time spin bowling but Sodhi and Dighe wereleft high and dry and just failed to close it on their own.Batting first, India erected the foundations of victory with 250 plusscores two out of three times. In each instance, they quickly prisedout the opponent’s upper half but threw it away in the last 25 overswith a combination of loose bowling, lax fielding and unimaginativecaptaincy. It’s been suggested that one reason the Indians freeze inlive match situations is because they don’t simulate situations ofcomparable pressure in the nets. But more alarmingly the Indians seemto be using defeat as a stepping stone for further defeat. Perhapsthey ought to take a leaf out of author Richard Bach: “That’s whatlearning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we loseand how we’ve changed because of it and what we take away from it thatwe never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curiousway, is winning.”