Though home advantage has traditionally been anything but that at the World Cup (no host has ever won the tournament apart from Sri Lanka who were co-hosts and won the 1996 final in Lahore) Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, believes his side might be best placed to crack the curse.Under Lara’s third captaincy stint, the West Indies have become a vastly improved ODI side and before losing back-to-back series in the subcontinent, had reached the final of two limited-over tournaments in recent months. The run included a couple of wins against Australia.Lara claims that the West Indies, who won the first two tournaments in 1975 and 1979, have their best chance yet to add a long-awaited third title.”We are looking to get to the semi-finals and then take it from there,” said Lara, who hadn’t recovered sufficiently from a knee injury to take part in Trinidad & Tobago’s Carib triumph at the weekend.”We have a very good record at home, and the players are really looking forward to this major event. We have a fit team that is ready to go and we have the ingredients to do well.”The hosts open the tournament with a tough Group D tie against Pakistan on March 13 at Sabina Park, Jamaica. Thereafter, drawn with Zimbabwe and Ireland, qualification for the Super 8 will be the bare minimum as expectation.As the region welcomes the 12 remaining teams in the coming week, West Indies players are beginning to assemble in the Jamaica capital for a brief camp ahead of the World Cup. The West Indies Cricket Board announced on Sunday that the 15-man squad will be together for the next week before their first warm-up match against Kenya on March 5 at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium.”We will be together for a few days before the World Cup gets going. It’s the greatest tournament in the West Indies, and we are looking forward to doing very well,” Lara added.

Punjab ended the opening day of their third round match against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) on a healthy 325 for the loss of 4 wickets at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex.Winning the toss and batting first, Punjab rode on a 115-run opening partnership between Pakistan internationals Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir. Hafeez scored an aggressive 88 including 12 fours and two sixes before being dismissed by Saeed Ajmal. Nazir scored a characteristic 41-ball 60 with nine fours and a six before being caught behind off Bilal Asad.While Bilal Khilji scored 41 coming in at number three, Misbah-ul-Haq, the returning Punjab captain, shared a useful 79-run fourth wicket partnership with another Test discard Naveed Latif. In sharp contrast to Punjab’s aggressive opening partnership, Misbah battled for nearly three hours over his 43.Punjab will resume their innings with Mohammad Ayub (17*) partnering Naveed Latif who has faced 146 balls for his 64 that includes 11 fours and a single six.Medium pacer Bilal Asad was the pick of the bowlers on a placid pitch as he picked up three wickets in 18 overs while giving away only 44 runs. Saeed Ajmal, the other wicket-taker, gave away 110 runs from his 25 overs.Sind recovered from a dismal 73 for six to post a decent 234 on the first day of their match against North West Frontier Province – Baluchistan at the National Stadium, Karachi.The day ended with the combined NWFP and Baluchistan team scoring 84 for the loss of opener Shoaib Khan (24) in reply. Yasir Hameed was unbeaten on 48 while Raiz Kail was batting on 9.Earlier, the opening bowling pair of Shakeel-ur-Rehman and Nasir Jalil picked up the first four wickets with only 27 on the board, including that of captain Faisal Iqbal for one. Rizwan Ahmed (58) steadied the innings slightly with a 35-run fifth wicket partnership before adding 51 with Mohammad Sami who scored 27.But it was Tahir Khan, better known for his off-spin, whose brilliant 70 helped Sind recover. He added 43 for the eighth wicket with Sami and 60 for the ninth wicket with Farhan Ayub before being running out of partners.Nasir was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 60 runs while Shakeel and Faisal Irfan both picked up three wickets each.

Ryan Watson has been confirmed as Scotland’s new captain, in a widely anticipated move. He replaces Craig Wright who resigned last month when the team were knocked out of the World Cup in the early stages.Watson, the top-order batsman, has played for Scotland since 1996 and admits Wright had left him with a hard act to follow. “It’s a little bit daunting given the success the side has had over the past few years,” he said, “but there will be some new cricketers coming through over time and it’s about overseeing that change. I will try to pick up where Craig left off, bring in some of my own ideas and hopefully achieve the same level of success.”He’s already had a taste of captaincy in the ultimate one-day tournament, leading the team against South Africa in the Caribbean last month when Wright had to return home for personal reasons. At the time Roddy Smith, Scotland Cricket’s chief executive, said he was clearly the man for the job.His next challenge will be to captain Scotland against the county sides in the Friends Provident Trophy, which will give him valuable experience ahead of the first Twenty20 World Cup later this year, where they will face India and Pakistan in the first round.

Left arm spinner Abdur Rehman took another five-wicket haul to help Habib Bank Limited (HBL) take a 79-run lead over the combined North West Frontier Province-Baluchistan team on the second day of the Pentangular Cup match at the NBP Sports Complex, Karachi.Opener Wajid Ali carried his bat for a fighting 131 as resuming on their overnight 14 for one, NWFP-Baluchistan were left clueless against the spin of HBL. None of the other batsmen managed to cross the 20-run mark as HBL, with the title already in the bag, dismissed their opponents for 236. The 21-year-old Wajid batted for over four hours, hit 19 fours and a brace of sixes in his 197-ball knock.For HBL, Abdur Rehman gave away 78 runs for his five wickets while Sulaman Qadir and Imran Farhat grabbed a couple each. At close of play, HBL had moved onto 117 for the loss of Rafatullah Mohmand, who grabbed a pair in the match, and Atab Alam (18). Farhat was not out on 58 and Qadir had moved onto 36.Sind allrounder Rizwan Ahmed hit his third century of the season as his team was finally dismissed for 379 on the second day of the Pentangular Cup match against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the National Stadium, Karachi.In reply, KRL had moved onto 193 for five wickets with the help of useful knocks from almost all their batsmen. Openers Azhar Ali (33) and Mohtashim Ali (61) provided a stand of 66 and even though Saeed bin Nasir was out cheaply for four, captain Mohammad Wasim batted sensibly to be unbeaten on 21 at close.Earlier, Saeed Ajmal took six for 92 as Rizwan and Tanvir Ahmed (90) shared a 168-run sixth wicket partnership to guide bottom-placed Sind to a decent total.

Division One

4th dayDurham overcame some early jitters to complete a six-wicket with over Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street. Graham Onions took two balls to end Yorkshire’s second innings and completed his five-wicket haul, leaving a target of 131. But Darren Gough and Tim Bresnan reduced Durham to 35 for 3 before an aggressive half-century from Michael Di Venuto put them back on course. An unbroken stand of 54 between Dale Benkenstein and Phil Mustard completed the job as Durham sealed a full hand of 22 points.Sean Ervine and Dimitri Mascarenhas defied Kent as Hampshire battled strongly to secure a draw at Canterbury. Five dropped catches – three from Martin van Jaarsveld – didn’t help Kent’s cause. The sixth-wicket pair put on an unbeaten 89, with Ervine reaching his 18th first-class fifty. Jimmy Adams and Michael Brown set a solid platform with an opening stand of 58, before both were removed by Yasir Arafat, who went on to grab four wickets, dismissing John Crawley for 38 and Michael Carberry for 6. But Andrew Hall was the only other striker, with one wicket, as Ervine (56*) and Mascarenhas (33*) did the rest.2nd daySussex picked up their second win of the season with a thumping innings-and-109-run victory over Worcestershire at New Road – in spite of a majestic 108 from Graeme Hick. Worcestershire were reduced to 50 for 4 – Robin Martin-Jenkins removing Steven Moore, Vikram Solanki and Ben Smith all falling in a hurry. Hick was Hick, stroking 15 fours and two sixes, but it was always going to be a lone fight – in spite of a fighting partnership with Gareth Batty (64). Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana Naved each picked up three wickets to dismiss Worcestershire for 303 and condemning them to their fourth defeat in five games.

Division Two

Andy Caddick tore through Gloucestershire’s lower-order to take 6 for 111 and set Somerset up for a convincing eight-wicket win at Taunton. Resuming on 389 for 4 with Marcus North on 101, Gloucestershire slipped to 465 all out leaving Somerset 172 to win. Marcus Trescothick couldn’t open with Justin Langer due to tendonitis in his foot, but Somerset raced to their target in just 32 overs. Langer carved six fours in his bristling 41 before James Hildreth saw his side home with a solid 51.Northamptonshire completed a six-wicket victory against Derbyshire at Northampton, 11 overs into the final day. David Sales went early to leave then tottering in 23 for 4 chasing 79, but Rob White settled any nerves with a 34-ball 43. Stephen Peters remained firm at the other end as Northamptonshire take 21 points for their four day’s work.

The Indian players today had their way on the contentious contracts issue, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) returning to the graded system under which the top five players get a retainership of Rs 50 lakh each annually.The graded system had been abolished after the team’s disastrous performance in the World Cup and replaced by a combination of match fees and bonuses. The BCCI had also capped players’ endorsements by restricting the number of products they could endorse to three and introducing a performance-based payment system. The contracts, due from October 1 last year, could not be signed before the team went for the World Cup in early March.Faced with stiff resistance by the top players such as captain Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly, the board’s Working Committee backed off and chose to revert to the system under which the top 15 players are graded A, B, and C.The committee which met in New Delhi with Dravid being present decided to have the graded system till September this year. The ‘B’ and ‘C’ category players get Rs 35 lakh and Rs 20 lakh each per annum.Meanwhile, the BCCI extended the contracts of Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh, the bowling and fielding coaches respectively, for one year.N Srinivasan, the BCCI treasurer, refused to take questions about the launch of Indian Cricket League (ICL) launced by the Zee Network. But after repeated queries on the subject, when asked if the committee had given permission for Zee to go ahead with their plans, he said, “no”.Incidentally, sources in the board said that no show cause notice would be issued to Kapil Dev and Kiran More, who have been appointed on the board of directors of the ICL.The committee also announced the itineraries for the forthcoming home series against Australia and Pakistan. Australia are scheduled to play seven ODIs between September 29 and October 17. Pakistan’s visit will be a full Test tour, starting with a five-match ODI series starting on November 6, followed by three Tests. The Tests will be played in New Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore.SchedulesAustralia in IndiaSeptember 25 – Arrival in India
September 29 – 1st ODI, Bangalore
October 2 – 2nd ODI, Kochi
October 5 – 3rd ODI, Hyderabad
October 8 – 4th ODI, Guwahati
October 11 – 5th ODI, Baroda
October 14 – 6th ODI, Nagpur
October 17 – 7th ODI, Mumbai
Pakistan in IndiaNovember 2 – Arrival
November 6 – 1st ODI, Faridabad
November 9 – 2nd ODI, Mohali
November 12 – 3rd ODI, Kanpur
November 15 – 4th ODI, Gwalior
November 18 – 5th ODI, Jaipur
November 22-26 – 1st Test, Delhi
November 30 – December 4 – 2nd Test, Kolkata
December 8-12 – 3rd Test, Bangalore

ScorecardSri Lanka A are well on course for a convincing win against MCC at Arundel after their middle order feasted on a friendly attack. Wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva struck an unbeaten 118 while Test batsman Jehan Mubarak and allrounder Gayan Wijekoon contributed useful innings.Ishara Amerasinghe, the seam bowler, then took out three of MCC’s top order as they again struggled with the bat. Craig McMillan completed his second failure of the match when he was caught for a four-ball duck and it was left to former India opener Aakash Chopra to provide the main resistance.MCC were boosted early in the day when they trapped Thilan Samaraweera lbw for 21, but they didn’t have much more to celebrate. Silva and Mubarak added 96, then Silva added another 102 with Wijekoon, as the Sri Lankans built a handsome lead of 248 before declaring.

Cricket Australia has confirmed it would consider a proposal by Allen Stanford to participate in the $23 million Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies next year. The tournament though is yet to be approved by the ICC, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) or ESPN, which has a broadcast agreement with the ICC.According to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, Australia need to complete a Test and ODI series in the Caribbean by June 30, 2008. “Were the West Indies Cricket Board to reach an accommodation on a Twenty20 tournament with the ICC and they were in a position to supply us with more specific detail on any Twenty20 tournament, then we’d be happy to consider it,” a Cricket Australia spokesman told . “And that would be on the understanding that we need to move on to our next commitment on the Future Tours programme out of the Caribbean by June 30.” reported Stanford had approached Australia last year for a week-long Twenty20 knockout also involving India, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The winners would then take on the Stanford Super Stars, a West Indian XI consisting of the best players in the inter-island domestic Twenty20 tournament. The West Indies board met the ICC last week to discuss the event and the issues of payment and the countries involved.

Shaun Tait has been rated a “day-by-day prospect” by Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, as he attempts to prove his fitness for next month’s Twenty20 World Championship. Tait had surgery on his bowling arm in June and an infection in the elbow prevented him from joining his pace team-mates for a camp in Brisbane last week.Australia’s first game is against Zimbabwe on September 12 and Tait will need to start bowling over the next week or two to remain in the squad. “It’s more or less a day-by-day prospect to try to get him up for this tournament,” Cooley told AAP. “He needs to have a workload under him and I’m just waiting for the medical people to hand him over to me.”Cooley was confident Tait could get in shape quickly for the trip to South Africa. “He only needs to bowl four overs a match in Twenty20,” he said. “But common sense says every week that he’s not bowling makes it a bit harder to get that workload under his belt.”While Tait is struggling to recover, Brett Lee has been operating at 75% in his return from the ankle surgery that ruled him out of the World Cup. “Everything is going to plan,” Cooley said. “He’s fit and healthy.”He’s been bowling three-quarter pace. That’s what he needs to be at this stage. You don’t want to be pushing him too hard too early. He needs to go through the full recovery cycle.”

Ricky Ponting wants Australian crowds to show Muttiah Muralitharan due respect if he breaks Shane Warne’s Test wicket record in November. Muralitharan needs nine more victims to pass Warne’s mark of 708, which could happen during Sri Lanka’s two Tests in Brisbane and Hobart.”He’s had his fair share of ups and downs in Australia in recent years, but being the champion bowler that he has been, if he happens to break the world record in Australia I hope he is shown the respect he deserves,” Ponting said at the team camp in Coolum.Ponting said his players were determined to prevent Muralitharan from overtaking Warne’s record on Australian soil, which would also help them towards victory. “In the last series in Sri Lanka he took a lot of wickets, but he got a lot of our tail-enders out. He’s actually come out in public and said we play him better than any other team in the world, and I think the stats probably back that up.”Ponting also contributed to the debate comparing Muralitharan with Warne. “When you add everything up, Murali’s certainly been a great bowler,” he said, “but Warney should be remembered as the greatest bowler of all time.”Warne’s expected replacement in the Australian team, Stuart MacGill, said Muralitharan should not expect any favours from local crowds. “One thing that sportsmen need to get over is that the spectators owe them anything,” MacGill said. “Sometimes we can be a little bit fragile. It [crowd taunting] is not personal. We are never going to see him again – it doesn’t really matter.”