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Stephen Fleming insists he will not copy Sri Lanka’s controversial tactics and rest key bowlers for Friday’s clash against Australia. Both sides are already through to the semi-finals, but the dead rubber will not prevent them from playing their best outfits in their final Super Eights match in Grenada.Fleming said New Zealand would not compromise their chances of making it four straight wins against Australia after a 3-0 Chappell-Hadlee home triumph in February. “We’ll go in with the best possible team bar injury scares,” Fleming said in a clear indication Shane Bond would play. “If someone needs to be rested from an injury point of view we’ll be cautious with that.”We want to continue where we left off against Australia in New Zealand. They’re a tough side if they get on top of you and they’ve got a point to prove.”New Zealand bounced back from defeat by Sri Lanka, their only loss in the tournament, with a five-wicket victory over South Africa on Saturday. Barring an extraordinarily huge win against Australia that would force them to swap first and second places on the table, they will face Sri Lanka in the first semi-final in Jamaica on Tuesday. Australia are set to take on South Africa in the other semi-final in St Lucia on Wednesday.”It’s a great opportunity before the semi-finals start to maintain the standards we had against South Africa,” Fleming said. “Part of the selection [against Australia] is looking forward to Sri Lanka and assessing what conditions we’ll get in Jamaica and Barbados and just make sure the team picked for Australia covers those bases.”Australia, who are defending a 26-game unbeaten record at the World Cup, face a key decision over the allrounder Shane Watson, who is recovering from a calf strain. If he doesn’t take the field against New Zealand it will place a huge question mark over his participation in the rest of the tournament.New Zealand have never won a World Cup, or even reached the final, but Ricky Ponting is in no doubt about their quality. “They love a fight,” Ponting said, “they love a scrap.”

Haafiz Majid Jahangir compiled a career-best 156 as Sialkot came from behind to attain a three-wicket win over Karachi Harbour on the final day of their third-round Pentangular Cup match at the Gaddafi Stadium.Chasing a stiff target of 369, Sialkot finally got there for the loss of seven wickets. Starting from their overnight score of 160 for 2, still needing another 209 runs to win their first match in three appearances, Sialkot were put on the right path by a third-wicket partnership of 145 between Jahangir and Ayub Dogar.Dogar followed his first-innings 77 with another invaluable knock of 61 that came off 150 balls with nine fours. The 25-year-old Majid, playing in only his third first-class match of the season, scored his 156 runs off 351 deliveries in almost seven and a half hours and hit 25 fours.Tahir Mughal (42 off just 43 balls with nine fours), the captain, promoted himself up the order and helped add 74 runs for the fourth wicket with Majid. At 351 for 3, only 18 more runs were required for victory.Sialkot then lost four quick wickets in the space of 14 runs but the issue had already been settled. The win was finally achieved with three wickets still standing. As they had earlier surrendered a first innings lead of 99, they collected only six points instead of the full nine.Sialkot, who are the current national champions, have managed to lift themselves up from the bottom of the five-team table after having started the tournament with two straight defeats. They now have only one match in hand and absolutely no chance of winning the Pentangular.In the fourth-round that starts from Monday (April 17), Faisalabad will play against Karachi Harbour at the Gaddafi Stadium while table leaders National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) will face Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Northamptonshire are on the verge of signing Steffan Jones from Somerset.Steve Coverdale, the chief executive, confirmed that “negotiations are very advanced and we hope we’ll have something finalised in the next few days.”Jones, 29, has been at Somerset since 1997 but has been told he can leave the club and he has reportedly been offered a two-year deal by Northants.If they do capture Jones, he will join other new faces Usman Afzaal and Martin van Jaarsveld at the club, but whether Jones was the “big-name signing” Coverdale promised earlier this week is doubtful, so watch this space.

The Sri Lankan cricket board has been advised of the results of Muttiah Muralitharan’s suspect-bowling-action assessment, but they are yet to release the details publicly. Bruce Elliott, the biomechanist at the University of Western Australia who supervised last week’s tests, said on Monday that he had passed on the main findings to the Sri Lankan board.Elliott said he would complete a written report later this week and send it to the board. “They know what the numbers are,” Elliott told Reuters in a telephone interview from Perth. “Just the pure numbers at the elbow. That’s the key to the issue, I suppose, but that’s where we are with that.”I don’t know what the Sri Lankan board will be doing. I would hope theywould tell me that they would let us make it public, or they would make itpublic. Now really it’s up to the Sri Lankan cricket board and the ICC.”Muralitharan’s bowling was assessed after he was reported by Chris Broad, the match referee, during the recent Sri Lanka-Australia Test series. The legality of Murali’s doosra, which spins in the opposite direction to his stock ball, had been called into question.Elliott’s team analysed data relating to six doosra deliveries from a test session in Perth during which Muralitharan wore only reflective markers on his upper body.The Sri Lankan board is responsible for reviewing and, if necessary,remedying Muralitharan’s bowling action with the assistance of an ICC-appointed expert before submitting a report to the ICC within six weeks of Broad’s announcement on March 28.Muralitharan’s action has been the source of controversy ever since he was no-balled for throwing by Darrell Hair in a Test match at Melbourne in December 1995. He was later cleared by the ICC after biomechanical analysis – again at the University of Western Australia – which concluded that his bent-arm action created the “optical illusion” of throwing.

A total of 182 000 people attended the 15 events which were held in the first week of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, a figure which the tournament’s executive director Dr Ali Bacher has described as “very pleasing”.On reviewing the attendance figures for the tournament’s first 14 matches and the Opening Ceremony, Bacher said: “We are particularly pleased with the attendance and support for the tournament so far. The figures are especially good when one takes into account the fact that this is term time for schools and universities, as well as a busy time of year for all businesses.”He noted that particularly good crowd attendances had been reported for the Bangladesh-Canada match at Kingsmead in Durban (10 482) and the Canada v Kenya match at Newlands in Cape Town (12 590).”The South African public and overseas visitors have been supporting the tournament exceptionally well. We have a maximum attendance of about 800 000 for all 47 events of the tournament which are held inside in South Africa (46 matches and the Opening Ceremony) and we believe we will reach our target of about 700 000 for those particular events,” Bacher said.A total of 24 169 people attended the Opening Ceremony at Newlands, with a crowd of 24 180 watching the South Africa v West Indies match there the next day. The biggest crowd of the tournament so far has been the 31 305 who filled the Wanderers in Johannesburg to watch South Africa play New Zealand last Sunday. (This was also one of the biggest crowds ever at a cricket match in South Africa.) The Australia-India match at SuperSport Park in Centurion was watched by 17 694 people and the Australia v Pakistan match at the Wanderers by 27 057.Bacher has praised the South African public for their conduct at the matches that have taken place, as well as thanking the tournament Volunteers and the South African Police Services for the outstanding roles they have played in ensuring the smooth running of the tournament.”So far we have seen very good behaviour from the crowds around the country,” said Bacher today. “There have been no pitch invasions, and very little drunken behaviour.” He said that the principle of closing the bars for an hour-and-a-half after the break between innings had been well received and had helped to alleviate alcohol-related crowd problems.”I have personally tried to speak to as many spectators as I can, and their feedback to me has been tremendous. Most people have complimented the volunteers and the security officials and have stated that the event so far has been world class,” Bacher said.Bacher did, however, ask spectators to arrive at grounds early to avoid long queues at security checks and turnstiles. “For the two hours before the match, the public can watch the teams warm up and train on the playing field. It is worthwhile getting there early – especially to the bigger grounds and bigger matches. Not only will spectators find they get through the gates quicker, but they can watch the players long before the game starts.”Organisers have requested that spectators try to arrive at the ground for day matches by 8am and by noon for day/night matches.Bacher also sounded a warning to anyone who bought tickets illegally outside the grounds. “As soon as tickets are reported lost or stolen, they are cancelled on the system. Many fans who have bought tickets from illegal ‘touts’ outside the gates have wasted a lot of money on tickets which don’t get them into the ground. I appeal to the public not to buy tickets from any unauthorized source.”

Sri Lanka’s under performing middle order burst back to life at thePremadasa International Stadium today, as the home side completed afive-wicket victory against New Zealand in the fourth match of theCoca Cola Cup.New Zealand had dominated an overcast day until Marvan Atapattu andRussel Arnold rescued the Sri Lankan innings with a 110-runpartnership for the fifth wicket. After Atapattu was run out, SureshPerera joined man of the match Arnold and the pair took their side tovictory in an unbeaten 103-run stand from just 98 balls.When New Zealand scored 236, having won the toss and batted, historysuggested that Sri Lanka would lose the game; firstly, because theKiwi total was the highest of the tournament thus far and, secondly,because no side had previously won batting second.Sri Lanka’s chances looked even slimmer when the New Zealand openingbowlers impressed for the second game in a row with a metronomic newball burst, which reduced Sri Lanka to 27 for four in just the ninthover of the innings.Captain Sanath Jayasuriya was trapped leg before wicket as he wanderedinto an inswinger from Kyle Mills; Romesh Kaluwitharana was turnedinside out by an outswinger in the same; Avishka Gunawardeneslashed straight to the Velcro like hands of Chris Harris; and MahelaJayawardene was run out without scoring.Atappatu and Arnold, both short of runs so far in the tournament, setabout repairing the early damage with a string of positive strokes,especially Atapattu, who looked far from the stodgy anchor that he issupposed to be.In fact, the pitch, which was also used on Sunday, never displayed thehorrors that we saw in the second game between India and New Zealandand the Sri Lankan batsmen were able to hit 22 boundaries in theirinnings.Atapattu’s flowing innings came to an abrupt end when he chanced hisarm once too often and, returning for a second run, was run outdespite a desperate dive. He had scored 66 and Sri Lanka were 137 forfive with 16.1 overs remaining.The body language of the Kiwi’s perked up and they rightly sensed thatthe breakthrough could pave the way to victory. Such wistful hopesthough were dashed, as Perera followed Sunday’s man of the match awardwith the finest innings of his career and probably the first of manyhalf centuries in international cricket.Arnold played cleverly and maturely for his unbeaten 91 from 116balls, but Perera unveiled some scorching strokes, just when the runrate was creeping above seven an over.Suffering from a bruised hip, which necessitated the confusion of arunner (amusingly Jayawardene, who had been run out second ball), andwith 40 runs needed from the final five overs he went into overdrive,carving the bowlers over cover and straight down the ground.Craig McMillan, acting captain in place of Stephen Fleming, who spentmost the day clutching his stomach in the team hotel, was particularlyharshly dealt with and conceded 35 runs from his 3.3 overs. UltimatelySri Lanka cantered to victory with nine balls to spare.Earlier in the day the Clear Black Caps had attacked the seamers inthe first 15 overs and made full use of the fielding restrictions.Bouncing along at nearly six runs per over, the first wicket fell withthe score on 70.Nathan Astle followed his 117 last week with another robust 54 today,though he will be kicking himself for being bowled by Arnold’s firstdelivery. In fact, Arnold proved to be one of the most economical ofthe Sri Lankan bowlers, conceding 22 runs from his six overs andtaking two wickets.McMillan (38) impressed against the spinners, shuffling outside theline against Muralitharan, though the off spinner had the final saywhen he bowled him, Lou Vincent (30) batted solidly, and Adam Parorefinished the innings in style with 37 from just 25 balls.

Alan Mullally chose a good day to pick up a career best nine wickets, with England playing a test match just 77.4 miles up the road, but, by the close of play Hampshire were still struggling to catch the Derbyshire’s first innings score of 310.Mullally added four wickets to his overnight haul finishing with 9-93, with Peter Hartley taking the wicket of Matthew Dowman who had added just nine runs to his overnight score when his luck finally ran out.Hampshire started their reply badly, and at 53 for four, the follow on target seem a distance. White was lbw to the first ball of the innings, emulating the fate of Stubbings in the Derbyshire innings, a feat that had statisticians and the wonderers asking whether this had been done before. Will Kendall was strangled down the leg-side off Munton and Stephenson was lbw to the in-form Dean pushing forward. Jason Laney then edged Dean to second slip, and the batting horrors of Hampshire’s season were raised again.Robin Smith, batting despite some pain in his hamstring joined Kenway in an attempt to bring things around. Smith grafted well through some indifferent light that forced Derbyshire to bowl their spin attack, rather that persevering with seam. Paul Aldred enticed Smith lbw to a ball that kept low and he departed for only his second half century of the season.Kenway held on with Mascarenhas but much work has to be done to salvage something for the visiting side.

Paul Millman, Kent’s chief executive, has appealed to players’ associations across the world to hold talks with India’s Twenty20 leagues as well as the ECB to avoid a possible legal showdown over the status of players in county cricket.Kent are concerned that Justin Kemp and Azhar Mahmood, currently playing in the unofficial Indian Cricket League, may be unavailable to them if regulations outlined by the ECB last week prevent them from honouring their county contracts. There is also uncertainty over the future of Yasir Arafat, who has yet to receive Pakistan Cricket Board clearance to re-join Kent. “If Pakistan put a stop on Yasir Arafat and the ECB prevented Azhar and Justin from joining us then the consequences would be catastrophic, we would be left in a hole,” Millman said. “But should we be allowed to sign two out of the three, then I think we’d have a fighting chance.”This is moving rapidly, even as we speak, but as we stand we have filed our player registration applications for Kemp and Mahmood – Justin as a Kolpak signing and Azhar as a newly-qualified British citizen, and we await the board’s response.”There are so many different interpretations floating around right now it’s difficult to know which to believe and it’s not my job to pre-empt what the ECB’s stance will be. All I hope is that pragmatism will prevail, otherwise this will end up in the courts.”If these Indian leagues truly want to help cricket, they must find a window to play their games that doesn’t conflict with the international programme or with domestic schedules in other countries.”Millman told the Kent Messenger that Kemp’s “preference was to play IPL, but because that clashed with county cricket, he turned it down”. He continued: “I’ve spoken with Justin extensively. He’s locked in hotel rooms with dozens of other potential county cricketers out there in India who are all left feeling a bit rudderless.”We have lots of documentation going back to 2006 stating Justin’s intent to play county cricket for us long-term. He’s just turned 30 and has said to me on a regular basis his greatest wish now is to play cricket for Kent. All he was looking to do was supplement that with off-season opportunities, as most overseas players look to do. Since then the war has escalated and retribution is being sought against players are about to go out on the pitch over in India.”Millman concluded by asking FICA (The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations) and the PCA (Professional Cricketers Association) to broker a solution.

March 28
Jamaica police were reportedly ready to launch a second autopsy on Woolmer’s body in a bid to quash media speculation that he might have died after hitting his head on the bathroom sink rather than have been murdered; that followed comments from an unnamed Pakistan board official who said: “We believe that the autopsy by the pathologist may have had error counts and [the police] are now considering having a second autopsy to confirm the cause of death”;March 27
Jamaican police were reported to be searching for three mystery fans who they want to question; they also said that an examination of Woolmer’s laptop showed no evidence of anything to do with match-fixing; Mark Shields, the deputy police commissioner, explained that the meal Woolmer had in his room was also being examined. “We are looking at whether his food was drugged, the meal was thrown away after he put the tray outside his room, but we are conducting toxicology and tissue tests,” he said. Pakistan were officially eliminated from the police investigation into the murder.March 26
Pakistan start their long journey home, but not before police had again questioned three members of the group. A Pakistan official complains that the team have been kept in the dark over the investigation.March 25
As investigations continue, reports that the murder was related to match-fixing continue, Lord MacLaurin, the former head of the England board, launches a stinging attack on the way the ICC is run.
Shaharyar M Khan – A gentle man, a superb coach
News – Inzamam controlled the team, not WoolmerMarch 24
The “>police order an inquest. It emerges that Woolmer was preparing to write a book on his time as Pakistan coach, in addition to one he had just completed on coaching in general. A clearly emotional Pakistan side play their final match, beating Zimbabwe.
News – Bob’s loss hurts more than elimination – Inzamam
March 23
Speculation abounds, with match-fixing groups widely rumoured to be involved in the murder. There are calls for the “>World Cup to be cancelled, while others suggest the tournament is played in Woolmer’s honour. The PCB reveal Woolmer had sent an email shortly before he died resigning as coach. The Pakistan side are questioned and undergo DNA testing as part of the routine enquiries. Officials deny the squad have been asked to stay on in Jamaica after their final game. Michael Vaughan, England’s captain, admits he has a “gut feeling” that there is still corruption in the game.
News – Woolmer had decided to retire
News – Academy to be built in Woolmer’s honour
News – Musharraf honours Woolmer
March 22
Police confirm that they have launched a murder investigation. “The pathologist’s report states that Mr Woolmer’s death was due to asphyxiation as a result of manual strangulation,” Karl Angell, a police spokesman, says. “In these circumstances, the matter … is now being treated by the Jamaica police as a case of murder.”March 21
Shields reveals that Woolmer’s death is now being treated as “suspicious” although he refuses to go further. Two Jamaican newspapers run headline stories claiming that a senior police source says Woolmer was murdered.
News – Bob was more than a coach – Rhodes
March 20
The first autopsy is inconclusive and the pathologist asks for more tests before the cause of death can be identified. The police refuse to be drawn on rumblings in the media that there is more to the death than meets the eye: “Any sudden death is treated as suspicious till we can say otherwise,” says Mark Shields, Jamaica’s deputy police commissioner.March 18
News filters through that Bob Woolmer has been found unconscious in his hotel room, within hours it is confirmed that he has died. Tributes pour in from across the world.
Obituary – Woolmer: a creative and adventurous coach
Tributes – ‘He gave his life to cricket and died for it’
Osman Samiuddin – Thanks Bob, you did make a big difference
Comment – The price of passion
Kamran Abbasi – The tragedy of Bob Woolmer
Audio – ‘Woolmer changed the way we played’ – Cullinan
Audio – Cricket world poorer with the passing of Woolmer
Timeline – An eventful life, a premature end
Gallery – A life in pictures
Archive – Wisden Cricketer of the Year – 1976

Faisalabad comfortably defeated Sialkot by the convincing margin of 130 runs, on the final day of their Pentangular Cup match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, and took a big lead over the other participants at the top of the table with the full 18 points from two matches.After having set Sialkot a stiff victory target of 389 on Friday, Faisalabad bowled them out for 258. While Samiullah Niazi, the left-arm seamer, captured four wickets for 73 runs, opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez employed his offspin effectively to take three inexpensive wickets and hasten Sialkot’s demise. Hafeez, following his scores of 113 and 60, polished off the Sialkot lower order with figures of 3 for 16 from 5.4 overs.Only opener Majid Jahangir and middle-order batsman Shahzad Malik showed some resistance, contributing scores in the 80s, although their fourth-wicket stand together amounted to a modest 66 runs. Majid faced only 108 balls for his 80, hitting 14 boundaries. Shahzad remained unbeaten with 83.Faisalabad will now meet National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) — this season’s Patron’s Trophy champions — in their third-round match at the Multan Cricket Stadium from Tuesday. NBP have played one match in the Pentangular and gained nine points from an outright win.Sialkot, who have been defeated in both their matches so far, have the opportunity to redeem themselves, as they will be playing their next game against Karachi Harbour at Lahore, also from Tuesday.