The duration of the World Cup, which spanned 47 days, has been questioned by Aleem Dar, the Pakistani umpire who stood in the final of the tournament. His comments come after the umpires and the match-referee were severely criticised for failing to apply the rules correctly in the rain-affected final at the Kensington Oval.”It was a bit too long and in the end tired out the players and umpires,” he said. “I think the World Cup should be of shorter duration.”Dar, however, defended himself when asked what went wrong as heavy rain and bad light interrupted the final, by saying the confusion did not occur because of the on-field officials (Dar and Steve Bucknor). “I think there was a communication breakdown and we acted on instructions from outside. But the feeling was that the match had to be completed on the reserve day but the captains told us this is the rule,” he clarified. “At times mistakes do happen. The ICC and match officials have done the right thing by apologising for the mistake made in the final.”Dar, who has supervised 37 Tests and 88 ODIs, was standing in his first World Cup final while Bucknor was officiating his fifth successive final.

The long-awaited showdown between the government and the Kenya Cricket Association failed to happen after a judge at Nairobi’s High Court decided there was not enough time to hold the hearing and rescheduled it for March 7.Last week Milton Makhandia, a High Court judge, ordered Ochillo Ayacko, the sports minister, and the KCA to appear in court at the same time in a bid to resolve the bitter dispute. The minister has been trying to suspend the KCA and replace it with a cross-party “normalisation committee”, while the rump of the KCA executive is battling to retain control of what remains of the association.While the delay might suit the court, it is certain to thrust Kenyan cricket even further into crisis. As long as the KCA remains even nominally in charge, it will not receive any financial support from the ICC, sponsors, or the bulk of the Kenyan cricket community. Almost all coaches have been sent home, and it is understood that the board has no money to meet debts.Furthermore, the ICC Intercontinental Cup tie against Namibia which is due to take place in Windhoek on February 25 now risks becoming a total farce. Many of Kenya’s leading players are on strike, while others haven’t even been told they have been picked for the squad and are unlikely to be able to play at such short notice. While central funds are available to get players to and from the game, and also to accommodate them there, there is no money for other expenses or back-up.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The one-off ODI between Scotland and Pakistan was abandoned due to persistent rain without a ball being bowled. The match was due to start at 10:45am local time but was delayed due to a wet outfield caused by overnight rain. As the teams arrived, the officials decided to have an inspection at 12noon local time after which the playing conditions were to be decided.Minutes before the inspection, however, heavy rain resulted in an early lunch that never finished as the umpires and the match referee deemed that the outfield and the weather would not improve in time to get in the minimum requirement of 20 overs.Pakistan now travel to Glasgow where they take on India on Tuesday in their second and final ODI on this short tour of Scotland.

Scorecard

Bangladesh overpowered Nepal by eight wickets to win the inaugural ACC Women’s Tournament in Johor Bahru. Tajkia Akhtar, Bangladesh’s captain, said: “It’s a victory for the whole nation and the cricket system.”Nepal chose to bat under cloudy skies hoping against hope to put some kind of defendable total against the strongest bowling attack in the competition. The pace of Panna Ghosh was kept out but at the end of the eight over, Shamima Akhter pierced Ritu Kanoujiya’s defence with a yorker to start the collapse. Two more wickets fell soon after.Thunder rumbled intermittently and the moment lightning was seen, the umpires suspended play at the end of the 12th over with Nepal 12 for 3.Heavy rainfall meant play was held up for more than four hours, the two dressing rooms vying with each other to sing the loudest songs to pass the time. When play resumed, the match was scheduled for 18 overs a side.In the six overs they had left, Nepal showed they could play shots. “We’re going to get better,” said Nepal’s manager afterwards. “We have the right spirit and want to succeed. We didn’t know what to expect when we came to Malaysia now we know that to reach the level of Bangladesh we have to be more attacking.”Nepal’s bowlers certainly attacked in defending 26. Bangladesh’s captain fell in the first over and the bowlers bowled a tight line with Nary Thapa getting some late swing. Batting wasn’t easy but two sparkling off-drives from Chamely Khatun – the first, in spite of a heavy outfield simply skated to the boundary – saw Bangladesh home.”The team have all worked so hard and done so much in preparation for this tournament that we really deserve to win,” Akhtar said. “Our coach, ‘Sir’, [Zafrul Ehsan] has been great. I hope we can soon play better countries.”Nepal won admirers too, and “they could reach Bangladesh’s level within two years,” Rumesh Ratnayake, the ACC’s Development Officer for Nepal, said. The second ACC Women’s Tournament is expected to be played at a similar time next year.Player of the tournament: Panna Ghosh (Bangladesh)Batsman of the tournament: Neisha Pratt (Hong Kong)Bowler of the tournament: Nary Thapa (Nepal)Wicketkeeper of the Ttournament: Mina Khatun (Bangladesh)

Nick Cook, the former England left-arm spinner who had a sensational start to his career, has urged Monty Panesar to remain focussed on his cricket and not get carried away with his early success. Having been the first coach to spot Panesar as a 16-year old in Northamptonshire, Cook was thoroughly satisfied the way an “uncut diamond” had turned into a “rare gem”.Cook stormed onto the international stage with 32 wickets in his first four Tests, in 1983-84, but saw his career fizzle out soon after. “Because of his background of being a Sikh, Monty has a better chance of staying grounded,” he said. “Perhaps guys like me listened too much to the press and had their off-field antics. Monty is absolutely focussed and his cricket is still right at the forefront. And he has to make sure he remains there.”Hardly anyone had heard of Panesar back in 1998 and Cook’s only regret is that he did not put money on him becoming the first Sikh to play for England . “He came to Northampton as a 16-year old after Brian Reynolds, our scout, spotted him. His first game was pre-season against Oxfordshire where he bowled on a flat pitch that was very good for batting. He turned it and bounced it square. And to my regret, I should have rang up Ladbrokes and said, ‘I got somebody who will play cricket for England and he’ll be the first Sikh to play.’ After seeing him for one day, I knew he had a great chance. Turned it, bowled it at pace, fantastic fingers, hands like buckets.”One of the umpires for the Indians’ tour game against Sri Lanka A, Cook felt Panesar should bowl at a fastish pace and not listen to those encouraging him to slow it down. “People say he bowls too quick but that’s absolute rubbish,” he said. “If a spin bowler can get a bit of drop, some loop and turn … he’s going to be a better bowler. My thoughts when I see any bowler – get it down there as quickly as you can, provided you have loop and can turn it. Monty can do that 2-3 mph quicker than most. As he gets older he’ll learn how to bowl it slow now and again. It’s far easier to get people to take pace off it than put pace on it. I’ve never seen a really slow, slow bowler who turns it square and gets good people out. Bishan Bedi gave it plenty of flight but he could also bowl a quick ball.”

Does he see any similarities between his bowling style and Monty’s? “Apart from two or three years of my career I wasn’t a big spinner of the ball,” said Cook, who began his career with a five-wicket haul (and eight in the match) against New Zealand at Lord’s in 1983. “I was more a containing sort of bowler whereas Monty was a massive spinner of the ball. The fact that we bowl slow left-arm is where the resemblance ends.”Cook’s honeymoon period ended after the first Test of the England-Pakistan series in 1983-84, after his memorable 11-wicket effort at Karachi. The next series, against the all-conquering West Indies, hastened the end. “That was a bit of a watershed series, shut me down. You had Greenidge, Haynes, Gomes, Richards, Lloyd and Dujon. They kept coming at you one after the other. Sometimes we got the top order out but Dujon, Harper and even Marshall took the game away. They just whitewashed us.”He survived just two more series after that, another away tour to Pakistan and the home series against Australia in 1989, and was enshrined in Ashes history when David Boon swept him for the winning runs . It was a moment when England surrendered the urn, heralding a 16-year period of Australian dominance.

Shaun Udal, the former England offspinner, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket. Udal, who represented Hampshire for nearly 20 seasons, was given a guard of honour by his team-mates after the side’s Pro40 match against Lancashire at Old Trafford.Udal, 38, said he made the correct decision, taking into account his value to the side. “I wanted to go out on a high as a decent player, instead of being a player who did not deserve his place on the staff,” Udal told the . “My final game was very emotional, but I feel I have made the right decision.”He was out of contract at the end of this season, but had previously hinted that he would consider playing on if Hampshire offered him another deal. However, with Shane Warne a permanent fixture in the side, after his international retirement, Udal has played only five Championship matches in 2007. The club are also keen to push forward the development of Liam Dawson, a left-arm spinner, who has played for England Under-19.Udal played four Tests and 11 one-dayers for England. Though he made his ODI debut in 1994, during England’s home series against South Africa, he had to wait 11 years to get a call-up to the Test side. He played his first Test at the age of 36, against Pakistan in Multan as the lone spinner following an injury to left-arm spinner Ashley Giles.However, he is best remembered for bowling England to victory in the third and final Test against India in Mumbai the following year. His figures of 4 for 14 sparked India’s collapse in the fourth innings and the win helped England square the series. But that was his last international match.

Paul Nixon, the former England wicketkeeper, has agreed a new three-year deal with Leicestershire whom he will captain from next season.Jeremy Snape, Leicestershire’s current captain, will stand down from his role and focus on his role as a one-day specialist. Meanwhile, Jim Allenby has extended his contract by another two years and the club’s head coach, Tim Boon, has also agreed to stay at the club until 2010.”Paul Nixon will be a role model captain with his sheer professionalism and enthusiasm,” Boon said. “Jim Allenby has made tremendous strides forward as a player over the last two years, and has the potential to become a good captain in time.”

The day-time temperature in Hyderabad is around 32 degrees Celsius. It gets hotter inside a stadium filled with tens of thousands of noisy fans and when there’s no love lost between the two teams, the contest could well and truly boil over. India and Australia play each other in the third of seven ODIs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday, and if the walk matches the ample talk from both teams, it could be a bumpy but exhilarating ride.Australia are likely to be strengthened by the return of their captain Ricky Ponting, who missed the first two games because of a hamstring strain he sustained during the ICC World Twenty20. Australia’s one worry has been their tendency to lose quick wickets at the start – 18 for 2 at Bangalore and 8 for 2 at Kochi – and Ponting’s inclusion, most likely at the expense of Brad Hodge, will allay fears of the middle order having to bail them out again. Ponting hasn’t played an ODI since the World Cup final and even though he didn’t contribute much in Australia’s Twenty20 campaign, his captaincy and presence at No. 3 and will undoubtedly bolster his team.”I’m hoping to play,” Ponting said. “Everything is looking positive for me at the moment. I went to the ground and had a good workout at the nets yesterday. There are a few other things with the physio and physical trainer to do, but if I get through that I will be up for selection.”Nathan Bracken, the left-arm medium-pacer, has also joined the squad after attending the birth of his son and has a strong case for selection, although fitting him in is trickier than Ponting. Bracken has an excellent record in India where he’s taken 29 wickets in 14 ODIs at an average of 17 and an economy rate of just over four an over, but the attack that Australia fielded in Kochi performed superbly. They completed an emphatic 84-run victory by dismissing India for 222 and the one spot that Bracken could fill is that of the allrounder James Hopes.The ability of the Australian middle-order to recover from poor starts and the pin-point accuracy of the bowlers is what has given them a 1-0 lead. They were well prepared and executed their plans perfectly, a fact that Yuvraj Singh, the Indian vice-captain, admitted to on the eve of the third ODI. Yuvraj fell to one of those traps in Kochi, spooning a drive to Matthew Hayden, who was strategically placed at short cover.India also face a selection dilemma with Sourav Ganguly passing his fitness test. A hamstring injury had ruled him out of the Kochi game and Robin Uthappa took his place, scoring 41 off 30 balls. If Ganguly was to return, it would have to be in place of Gautam Gambhir or Uthappa, unless the team management implement their rotation policy and rest either Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid.Yuvraj, however, said “rotation is part of the future plan but we’ll play our best XI tomorrow”. Whether the best XI included Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly, or just two out of those three, he didn’t say.India frittered away a strong start in Kochi and allowed Australia’s middle-order to reach 306. The offspinners – Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar – were particularly ineffective, conceding 87 off 15 overs between them without a wicket. Their batsmen failed to string together partnerships and the chase never gathered enough momentum to challenge the target.India were outplayed with bat and ball but matched Australia sledge for sledge in the second one-dayer. Yuvraj admitted the verbal jousting between the teams got out of hand during the first two games and wanted “more cricket and less talk” on Friday. The intention is all very well but will emotions be kept under check when the pressure mounts? Don’t bet on it.TeamsAustralia (likely) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Brad Haddin, 7 Brad Hogg, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Stuart Clark.India (likely) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Sourav Ganguly, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt, wk), 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ramesh Powar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Sreesanth.

Scorecard
Centuries by captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and Malinda Warnapura helped Sri Lanka A to a 56-run win over Zimbabwe Select in the first one-dayer in Bulawayo.Chasing 320 to win, Zimbabwe lost Vusi Sibanda in the fourth over, caught behind by Kaushal Silva off Nuwan Kulasekara. Brendan Taylor and Chamu Chibhabha kept their team in the hunt, putting on 91 runs for the second wicket before Chibhabha was run out. Taylor fell soon after, bowled by Dammika Prasad. Tatenda Taibu, on whom a lot of Zimbabwe’s hopes rested, started off in an aggressive vein, smashing two sixes and a four, before falling to the left-arm spin of Rangana Herath for 31.Zimbabwe lost their way, the batsman failing to build on their starts – all except Timycen Maruma and Blessing Mahwire, who did not bat, reached double figures – as wickets fell in regular intervals. Stuart Matsinkeyeri’s 43 was in vain as the target proved to be beyond their means. Prasad was the stand-out bowler, taking 3 for 36, and Sri Lanka claimed a convincing win.Earlier, Sri Lanka lost an early wicket after being sent in, Perera nicking Mahwire to Taibu. But Mahela Udawatte and Warnapura added 64 runs for the second wicket at almost a run a ball to help Sri Lanka gain momentum. Udawatte fell for 43 when he edged Chibhabha to the wicketkeeper. Dilshan’s arrival at the crease upped the rate, as he and Warnapura went on to add 175 runs off 166 balls.Warnapura fell immediately after reaching his century, which came off 102 balls, when he was stumped off the part-time bowling of Taibu, who had given his gloves to Taylor. Dilshan was there to see his team past the 300-run mark, before he was caught by Maruma off Gary Brent for a 104-ball 111, which included two sixes and seven fours.

Australia have not downgraded the threat of Muttiah Muralitharan despite delivering a significant obstacle to his hopes of breaking Shane Warne’s Test wicket-taking record in Hobart. Muralitharan was limited to two breakthroughs for the match and he needs seven in the final game of the series in Hobart, which starts on Friday, to beat Warne’s 708.It is unlikely to worry Muralitharan if he falls short as Sri Lanka’s following Test is against England on his home ground in Kandy. Australian crowds have treated Muralitharan harshly throughout his career, including shouting “no-ball” when he bowled in Brisbane, and the occasion would gain more appropriate significance if it occurred in Sri Lanka.Mahela Jayawardene, the captain, said the race to the record was not a concern for Muralitharan. “If he doesn’t get it in the second Test I’m sure he’ll play quite a few more Tests,” he said. “Even for Murali it’s not an issue.”The chase appears to be more of a deal for Australia, and Ricky Ponting is determined that Muralitharan will depart Australia empty handed. Ponting helped Muralitharan edge closer when he was stumped in the first innings, but he felt the Australians coped with his repertoire.”I knew if we played him well we’d go a long way to having our noses in front for the rest of the series,” Ponting said. “Now we’ve played him here, we’ve got to do it again in Hobart. I’ve made no secret of it that I’d like to see him leave Australia without the record.”However, Ponting warned Muralitharan was capable of getting the seven wickets in one go. “He’s taken a whole lot more than that in a single match before,” he said. “Hobart is somewhere that probably will favour slow bowlers late in the game and it’s somewhere where we might bat twice, so he’ll have two cracks at us.”