As New Zealand prepare for their World Cup opening match against Sri Lanka, on Monday, their need for success is heightened not only by the possibility of lost points for their refusal to play in Kenya but the daunting opening they have to the competition.No-one on New Zealand’s side of the competition has a draw like it.New Zealand must play Sri Lanka, the West Indies and South Africa, the three other contenders for Super Six berths, in their first three matches.Sri Lanka, by comparison, after their opening game, have the relatively easy road of playing Bangladesh, Canada and Kenya before having two big games to finish the round.While the West Indies play South Africa in their opening match, and then meet New Zealand, they at least have Bangladesh and Canada before they meet the Sri Lankans.And the host side have their West Indian match and Kenya before playing New Zealand.On the other side of the competition Australia meet Pakistan and India in their first two matches before playing the Netherlands.But that is the worst of any country on that side.So, if they weren’t already aware of it, and their planning has been such that the thought has assuredly not been over-looked, they have the knowledge that theirs is the hardest road to the finals.Sri Lanka represent a formidable opponent first up, especially given the side’s inability to deal with them in recent history.However, captain Stephen Fleming goes into this game with the best side available, and that hasn’t always been something that has occurred in the past.When the side last played Sri Lanka, at home in the summer of 2000/01, Shane Bond hadn’t emerged, Chris Cairns was undergoing knee surgery, Lou Vincent and Jacob Oram were fresh faces on the block, and Brendon McCullum was in the cricketing equivalent of nursery school.Since then the side has developed in confidence at India’s expense, in difficult conditions for both sides, at home.They also know what to expect. Whenever they finished their day’s play against India, or had a day off, there was always the television coverage from Australia where the Sri Lankans were playing in the annual tri-series.New Zealand know what they are up against.Bloemfontein represents the sort of challenge Fleming and his men have come to relish and while most pundits are picking Sri Lanka to be a side with the potential to make the semi-finals at least, they should find a highly-combative unit up against them in the opening match for both sides.The key for New Zealand, as always in matches against Sri Lanka, is to make the early breakthroughs when bowling with Sanath Jayasuriya the key wicket, but not the only one, that needs to be picked up quickly.And in the bowling, it is the continual mystery posed by Muttiah Muralitharan that needs to be overcome, especially as he returns from a thigh injury which he will be seeking to put behind him as soon as possible.Sri Lanka has held the upper hand in recent contests but if New Zealand are to advance the importance of this game will not have been lost on them. A potentially epic contest is in prospect.

Facing a summary exit if they stumble again, Pakistan aim to put their World Cup campaign back on the rails in Paarl here against lowly-rated Holland on Tuesday.Paarl is in the wine country in the Western Cape. The weather is dry and hot, and if the forecast is to be believed, likely to remain so with the temperature around 32 degrees celsius.The wicket, though not genuinely dicey, is not an easy one to bat on. It is the venue where Holland made India struggle to just 204 before the latter prevailed, and where Sri Lanka blew away Canada for the lowest one-day international score of 36. That match was over in just 115 minutes, it also was the shortest ODI ever.But Pakistan must banish such thoughts; whatever the conditions, they have to conquer them. There is no option for them but to win against Holland, and win big. And then keep on winning against India on March 1, and Zimbabwe on March 4 to survive and stay in the hunt for one of the three Super Sixes slots from their group.Since they are way down on the points table at the moment, with only Holland and Namibia below them, that is the least they can do to be back in reckoning. If weather and upsets by other teams do not end up thwarting them, it should be enough.But with eight Pool A games still remaining to be played, who knows what might transpire. But their disappointing loss against England may continue to haunt them for quite some time to come.”We have to do it the hard way now”, said the Pakistan coach Richard Pybus, “and I hope that the pressure of the situation brings out the best in the boys and makes our batsmen perform”.With skipper Waqar Younis and manager Shaharyar Khan absent from the regulation pre-match press conference, after conducting a long session at the nets in searing heat, Pybus fulfilled his share of the responsibility by facing the media.Blaming Pakistan’s misfortunes squarely on the batting collapse, he conceded that in the setback against England “some bowlers may have bowled an over or two too many, but the side’s bowling and fielding was competitive. Three wickets in the space of three deliveries early on pulled the rug from under us. The remaining batsmen got sucked into the situation and that further complicated things.”On the possibility of an angry reaction back in Pakistan, which is quite likely if there is no radical transformation in the team’s fortunes, Pybus said that though he and Waqar felt accountable, but he was not overly concerned about that. “We can take care of certain technical aspects, the rest depends on execution on the field”.When asked whether the side lacked the ability and influence of batsmen like Javed Miandad or Saleem Malik, Pybus said: “Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana are champion batsmen. The experienced players between them have more than 1500 one-day internationals. That is the kind of experience no other team has. The bottom line is that they have to perform”.With the prospect of exit looming large, Pybus thought his batsmen need to bat all the way. “I wish I had a magic wand to make our batsmen perform,” he said. Though he was concerned about the non-performing middle-order, he added that the Pakistan batsmen mostly perform in two gears: fifth or reverse, and hoped that from here on it would be the former.Inzamam and Youhana’s woeful run has made things rather difficult for the late order, and it has crumbled under the pressure. “Unlike Australia or South Africa, we lack genuine all-rounders, as we have bowlers who can bat a bit”, said Pybus.In this regard, Azhar Mahmood still remains untried. A genuine batsman with an exciting repertoire of aggressive shots and an under-rated swing bowler, Azhar merits an outing in place of Abdul Razzaq, who seems jaded and has mostly struggled since his comeback from injury.Despite a string of poor scores, Shahid Afridi might retain his place because he adds to the depth in bowling. With the bearded figure of Saeed Anwar showing committment and skill despite not having made any sizable score, and likely to get the nod, the rest of the eleven pretty much picks itself.The toss will again be critical, for Pakistan need to bat through 50 overs to see their top order batsmen recapture a semblance of form, and also to improve their net run-rate. This is far more important than Wasim Akram getting his 500th wicket (which he should have had except for a leg before decision that went the other way) or Shoaib Akhtar blasting the Holland batsmen into oblivion.A contrast of such silken skills and red hot pace, Akram and Akhtar look great when they bowl in tandem, making a chill run down the spines of batsmen. But in reality it is the flowing drives and ferocious cuts and pulls of Anwar, Afridi, Inzamam and Youhana that are the need of the hour for Pakistan.

Although Glamorgan`s match against Cardiff UCCE petered out into a draw, the friendlygave the county professionals some invaluable practice in readiness for theirChampionship fixture against Derbyshire starting on Good Friday.After gaining a first innings lead of 212, Steve James wisely opted againstenforcing the follow-on during the afternoon session, and instead the Glamorgancaptain gave his batsmen further time in the middle against the university bowlers.The county`s batsmen responded in positive fashion, amassing 306-5 in just 44.2 overs,with the highlight after tea being some vintage strokeplay from Matthew Maynard,who struck an imperious century from just 49 balls, with 13 fours and 5 sixes. His secondfifty came from just 17 balls, and this was the second century of the season for the 37 year old,following his fine hundred against Somerset at Taunton. Maynard appears to be inrich form at the moment, scoring 344 runs in the pre-season games and havingonly been dismissed once.David Hemp and Mike Powell also took full advantage of further time at the wicket, andboth hit fluent half-centuries before being dismissed by James Tomlinson, the left-armseamer who is on Hampshire`s staff.Earlier, the students had began the day on 136-4, but they lost wickets at regularintervals during the morning session, although there was some stubborn resistance fromwicket-keeper Ryan Bradshaw, and all-rounder Tom Lambert.Bradshaw, who had previously been on the M.C.C. groundstaff, made an aggressive 22,whilst Lambert compiled a pugnacious 44 before he was the last man out to giveDavid Harrison his fourth wicket. Darren Thomas also picked up three wickets,with Andrew Davies claiming two and Robert Croft one, whilst Alex Wharf bowled acouple of hostile spells and was unlucky not to pick up at least one wicket.There was also the welcome sight before play of Mike Kasprowicz fresh from hisovernight flight from Australia, where he was the leading seam bowler in Shieldcricket last winter.

James Anderson has become the youngest player ever to take a hat-trick for Lancashire, as Essex slumped to 97 for 7 at lunch on the first day of the Frizzell County Championship Division One match at Old Trafford.

Anderson was already a shoo-in for his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord’s next week, but he emphasised his readiness by trapping Nasser Hussain lbw first-ball for 0 with a beautiful inswinging yorker, the second of his three wickets.Darren Robinson had already fallen for 11, caught in the gully by Alec Swann, and Anderson completed the hat-trick with the first ball of his next over, when Will Jefferson was caught behind by Warren Hegg for 19.It was the first hat-trick at Old Trafford since Dominic Cork famously skittled the West Indies in 1995, and the last Lancashire bowler to complete the feat was Mike Watkinson, their current coach, against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1992. Anderson’s achievement overshadowed the Lancashire debut of Carl Hooper, the former West Indies captain, who has gained special dispensation to replace the injured Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh.It was a mixed day for England captains. Essex’s captain Ronnie Irani, who led England’s one-day side in a tour match at Bowral last winter, also fell for a first-ball duck, but Michael Vaughan scored 103 for Yorkshire against Northamptonshire, his first century of the season.

Getting off the plane and stepping straight into English cricket’s Twenty20 Cup did not provide the perfect start for New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming’s season with Yorkshire.Playing against Derbyshire in his first game he was out for a first ball duck, and two days later he scored four off his first ball and was then dismissed off the second.While his New Zealand team-mate Chris Cairns ponders the broken finger keeping him out of action at the moment, he can reflect on 252 runs scored at 42.00 in his four County Championship games to date and 179 runs at 59.66 in his four one-day matches.Ian Butler ended his four-game stint with Gloucestershire with 17 wickets at a cost of 28.11 but his three one-day matches produced only one wicket from 22 overs at a cost of 128 runs.Former New Zealand player Craig Spearman has made a sound start for Gloucestershire with 349 County Championship runs at 38.77, including a century and two half-centuries.In one-dayers he has totalled 504 runs at 56.00, with a highest score of 153, off 123 balls, against Warwickshire.Another New Zealander, Chris Harris made 50 for Lashings in their first game of the season, against Cambridge University. Cambridge scored 209 in 40 overs with Harris contributing 50. Cambridge were unable to do better than 160 for five in their innings.Harris also played for a World XI, along with Andre Adams, in a match against the Netherlands to celebrate HCC’s 125th jubilee. Harris scored 49 not out for the World XI which totalled 225 for nine and then took five for 41 as the home team were all out for 172.Former Canterbury player Darron Reekers was a member of the Netherlands side.Among the New Zealanders playing league cricket in England, Matthew Bell scored 108 for Esher in their winning draw against Regiate Priory in the Surrey Championship premier division.Rob Nicol scored 88 not out and took three for 52 in Rishton’s seven-wicket loss to Haslingden.James Marshall’s 49 wasn’t enough to help Formby who suffered a three-wicket loss to Liverpool in the first division of the Liverpool and District competition, while in the premier division Warren McSkimming scored 27 in Lytham’s one-wicket win over Bootle.Aaron Barnes scored 53 in Colwyn Bay’s six-wicket loss to Southport and Birkdale while Brendon Donkers scored 23 not out in Leigh’s draw with Northern.Reekers’ Quick Haag team suffered a 101-run loss to VCC in the Netherlands league, with Reekers only able to contribute six runs while taking one for 32 from his 10 overs.

John Bracewell, the newly appointed New Zealand coach, feels that it is the right time to accept a job at the international level because of the potential for the side to continue its rise in the world rankings.Bracewell, who left his Auckland coaching base in 1999 to take up a position with Gloucestershire with a view to gaining the experience that would make him a viable international coach, will take up his place on November 1. That means the New Zealand team will tour India under Ashley Ross, New Zealand Cricket’s player development manager, who has been an assistant coach on several previous New Zealand tours.Bracewell told Wisden CricInfo today that one of the most common questions he had been asked by the New Zealand media was about his potential compatibility with Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s captain, who, in recent years, has taken on much more of an all-round leadership role with the side.”Stephen is the world’s leading captain undoubtedly and I am pleased he has decided to take on that sort of role,” said Bracewell. “I am also pleased that he has finally decided he wants to be a top batsman. In order to do both he might want help and that will be my role.”Bracewell, a former offspinner who is one of only three New Zealanders to have taken 100 Test wickets and scored 1000 Test runs, said that he was “pretty excited” about getting the coaching job although he had been a little nervous until he talked to his Gloucestershire players. He did that yesterday and was feeling happier about his decision as a result.”I’m really comfortable with my decision. It is time to move forward for me and time for Gloucestershire to move on. It looks to me, like they say, a good time to come on board with New Zealand. They have a management structure that is really getting things together.”Bracewell said that he wasn’t sure if they were any specific issues in the New Zealand side that he would be looking at from the outset but he said that with rankings systems now in place for both Test and one-day cricket it was important for the side to be continually improving.In Gloucestershire he had been used to dealing with fewer resources than enjoyed by some of the other counties, but the side’s success had come from utilising what resources there were to the maximum.Since he joined the county, it has won the NatWest Trophy in 1999 and 2000, won the Benson & Hedges Super Cup in 1999, the Benson & Hedges Cup in 2000, won the Norwich Union League first division in 2000 and the NUL second division in 1999. The side has achieved a success rate in limited overs matches of 65.7%, with an 84% win ratio in the NatWest Trophy and 75% in the B & H Cup. The county championship record in which Gloucestershire is in the second division had only a 23% win ratio by comparison.While there has been a suggestion that Bracewell will also be the chairman of selectors, thus supplanting Sir Richard Hadlee from the position, Bracewell said that he had never asked for that to happen but if NZC felt they wanted the coach to bear the responsibility of the selection consequences then he had no fear of it. NZC will be announcing their selectors in another few weeks.He admitted that he liked to control his own destiny and he said that it was understandable that the coach should be looked at when people were looking for excuses for why a team wasn’t performing.”New Zealand is a world force in the game,” he said. “It is respected. I always got the feeling when I toured England as a player that we weren’t respected. But I feel now that New Zealand is respected and you can see that when so many players are wanted by county sides. And I also know they wanted others who turned them down.”Bracewell said he was aware that some players were struggling with their games at the moment and he was prepared to work with players in finding out what they wanted. “Some players listen and hear people giving them different messages. I might ring some bells for some of them. But I would be a fool not to pull on any resources that might scratch the itch of a player.”The important thing was for players to want to perform. There would be no place in his sides for players who were half-baked (although in typical Bracewellese his description was a little more graphic) in their thinking and commitment. “It’s such a short time they have to take advantage of their skills and they don’t want to waste that time,” he said. “It’s not me who walks onto the paddock and the players have to get their thoughts together.”By taking on the position, which now involves ending what he described as “one hell of an adventure”, with his family having put down roots in England, he would be reuniting with the man who sent him out into the wider world of coaching. His former boss at Auckland Cricket, Lindsay Crocker, was named general manager of the New Zealand team today.”It was Lindsay who inspired me to go out and take the chance to expand my career and I’m looking forward to working with him again,” said Bracewell. “I intend to finish the season with Gloucestershire and will move to Christchurch then.”

"There’s plenty of hard work for us to do yet". That’s the stern dressing room reminder skipper Richard Dibden will give his BAT Sports team before tomorrow’s key ECB Southern Electric Premier League clash with Havant.A maximum of 38 points from the last three matches will be enough to bring the crown back to Southern Gardens.But, on the eve of the club’s biggest weekend in years, captain Dibden plans a few home truths in his players ears."Everyone seems to think the championship is a foregone conclusion, but that’s not the case at all," he warned."If we lose to Havant it’s back in the melting pot, though we do back ourselves to get the points we need."BAT, who have sold over 1,000 tickets for Sunday’s clash with Lashings, will be at full strength.Havant say their farewells to all-rounder Bev Moynan, whose career as a physical trainer is taking him to Cambridgeshire.Neal Parlane may have 884 runs to his name – and be within 131 runs of breaking Robin Smith’s long-standing Southern League record – but the Kiwi has yet to make his mark against Havant."We got him for 16 in the drawn all-day game at our place and had him caught for four in the SEC Cup semi-final," smiled Havant skipper Paul Gover. "I think we’ve got the Indian Sign over him !"For once, defending champions Havant aren’t BAT’s biggest challengers.Bournemouth, who look to have a home banker against Calmore Sports at Chapel Gate, lie second – and lead the Limited Overs Pennant table.One-time skipper Stuart Rintoul, who scored 121 for Dorset against Devon in the Minor Counties Championship last weekend, is set for a rare Bournemouth appearance.Teenager Nick Park drops out to aid Bournemouth 2nd XI’s Hampshire League promotion cause at Lymington.Calmore Sports are effectively 23 points adrift at the basement but, with Portsmouth still to play, can still retrieve a seemingly lost cause.They need the Hampshire Academy to beat Portsmouth at St Helen’s tomorrow – and for the Young Hawks to produce a far better performance than against Bournemouth last week.Having just won the Time Pennant, they produced a rank bad show in their first 50-over game back and lost by nine wickets.Portsmouth, with a major injury doubt over Matt Keech, have to do without left-hand opener Ben Thane, who has been suspended for 14 days for verbal abuse at an umpire.Thane sat out Portsmouth’s defeat at Bashley last week and completes his ban tomorrow.Third-placed Bashley (Rydal), who visit Andover, may call up Ross Grierson as 35-wicket skipper Matt King and Kevin Nash (30) continue to vye for the Premier 1 bowling prize.South Wilts visit Liphook & Ripsley.

Jonty Rhodes has confirmed that he will be retiring from first-class cricket at the end of the English season.Rhodes, who is currently enjoying a fruitful one-off season at Gloucestershire, quit international one-day cricket after the recent World Cup, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family.”I’m done, I’ve been playing for 14 years and I’ve enjoyed every day at the office, and have no regrets whatsoever,” he told the BBC. “Cricket has been such a major part of my life so it will be nice to have a break and see where the future takes me.”Rhodes, who has studied for a business degree between matches, has already received five job offers for non-cricketing work. He played 52 Tests and 245 one-day internationals for South Africa, after making his debut at the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.As a batsman, Rhodes was a reliable Test cricketer, and capable of explosive hitting in the one-day game, but he will forever be best known for his brilliant fielding. He quit Test cricket in 2000 to concentrate on the 2003 World Cup, which took place in South Africa, but his campaign was cruelly cut short by a broken hand.”It’s sad for cricket that Jonty will not be continuing,” John Bracewell, Gloucestershire’s outgoing director of cricket, told the Press Association. “Having said that, we knew that the odds on him coming back for another year were probably against us. He’s lived up to every expectation we had, both on the field as well as in and around the dressing-room. He’s been a marvellous ambassador for cricket and his standing with the coaches and team puts him with the best of our overseas players.”

Leonardo di Caprio’s histrionics in the movie, Titanic would have won far greater acclaim from critics had it not been for the spiel that a well-oiled public relations machine dished out in the weeks and days preceding the release of the movie. Munaf Patel’s situation is not a far cry from the same. For some time now, he has been touted, alternately, as the pace sensation that will rock Australia and as the greenhorn, raw paceman attracting too much credit. Some even likened him to a spoiled child, getting attention when all that was called for was a rap on the knuckles. On his first-class debut, against the New Zealanders at Rajkot, he proved that the truth lay somewhere in-between.Patel, a big young man of 20, lumbers rather than sprints in to the crease. As he quickens his step, he opens his shoulders, reaches for the popping crease with a pronounced final step and sends the ball down with considerable effort. You’re left almost listening for a Jimmy Connors-esque grunt. The arm is high, but not nearly high enough, as there is a bit of space between bowling arm and right ear. The ball zips out of the hand, and has enough weight behind it to climb considerably when banged in short.It was such a short ball that Mark Richardson received first up, quite literally, on the shoulder, ducking into one that did not quite get up as much as he expected. Perhaps he had been reading about Patel in the local papers as well. From there on, though, Patel settled into an easy rhythm, displaying adequate pace to keep the New Zealand batsmen from committing onto the front foot.His first spell, while economical, did not produce a wicket. When the players walked off the field for lunch Patel’s 7.4 overs (he stepped in to bowl four balls to complete an over after RP Singh twisted his ankle) had cost 21 runs.At lunch, there must have been some talk about the appropriate length to bowl, for Patel began to pitch it up consistently in the second session. While the wicket had something in it for the seamers, both in terms of lateral movement and bounce, there was nothing to fear for the New Zealand batsmen who are more than familiar with conditions that help pace bowling. The effect of switching to a fuller line did not bear immediate fruit as Patel was pummelled for three strident boundaries by Stephen Fleming in the first over he bowled after lunch.Then came a 15-ball spell of three wickets for five runs that vindicated the faith people have in Patel. Fleming looked to leave one outside off at the last moment and nicked the ball back onto his stumps. Scott Styris then tickled one fine and Deep Dasgupta held a diving catch low and to his left. Both these wickets came with a little help from his friends, but Patel could confidently claim his next scalp – the prize one of Nathan Astle – as his very own. A sharp delivery ducking in just a trace trapped Astle in front of the stumps, very first ball.When he returned with the second new ball the inexperience showed, expectedly. After all, this is just his first big game. That would have been the leeway afforded to any other fast-bowling debutant. Patel cannot ask for that, for it is partly the hype that fast-tracked him to this level in the first place. And at the end of the day, as an exercise, it was well worth it.Mark Richardson, who made a dogged unbeaten 128 in over six hours, certainly thought so. “The young Indian lads might have got a bit carried away with the bouncy and carry and bowled a bit short. Perhaps they might have had a bit more success if they had pitched the ball up. The bowlers have promise and certainly have enough pace and bowl a heavy ball.”

Billy Taylor has completed his expected move to Hampshire from Sussex, signing a three-year deal with the club where he began his career.Taylor played for Hampshire’s 2nd XI but was never an offered a contract and so went to Sussex to further his career. He took 21 wickets last season and even though Sussex made it clear they wanted him to stay next season, he insisted on leaving, and has now gone back to where it all started.Tim Tremlett, Hampshire’s Director of Cricket, said: “He is former Hampshire Schools and Hampshire 2nd XI player, a wholehearted cricketer who has improved a lot during his time with Sussex.” He added, “He is a bowler who is always willing to learn and he is looking for a new challenge in the hope of playing regular first-team cricket. It is nice to get him back.””This is a wonderful opportunity for myself”, Taylor told the press at The Rose Bowl today. “I always wanted to play for Hampshire, and it feels like coming home. I was disappointed at not being offered a contract all those years ago, but hopefully I have proved my worth at Sussex. I am much fitter and able to bowl long spells with more pace. I hit the seam much more so I like to take the new ball.” He added, “Coming to the Rose Bowl is fantastic, what a magnificent stadium."