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It is a measure of the hold it has on the sporting psyche of the people of Melbourne that yesterday’s 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Cricket Ground evoked so many personal memories of Test cricket’s first venue. The ground at the centre of Melbourne’s two greatest sporting passions – cricket and Australian Rules football, not necessarily in that order – is not the Field of Dreams; rather it is the Place des Memories.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground © Melbourne Cricket Club

Few other sports grounds in the world can boast of being arenas for such contrasting pursuits. Lord’s may be the spiritual and administrative home of cricket, with all that that entails, but what do they play there in the winter? The same can be said of most other respectable Test cricket grounds. Certainly there may be the odd game of lower-grade sport, but in Melbourne they attract even bigger crowds in the winter than they do on Boxing Day in the summer.What could be more appropriate that, on the Saturday following September 23 – the date in 1853 marking Lt. Governor CH La Trobe’s permission for the Melbourne Cricket Club to occupy the “Police Paddock” – the 2003 version of the AFL grand final should be played? Although the MCG may have seen great feats in the peculiar Victorian game that has spread around, but little further than, Australia, the staging of the final to cricket fans is a reminder that gentler, warmer days are ahead as the cricket season opens.For it is with cricket that the populace of the Commonwealth associates the MCG. In a country that has made an art-form of ground and governing-body acronyms – the SCG, the SACA and the WACA grounds, to name a few – the MCG is probably the best-known and most revered of all sporting venues.The MCG is the only cricket ground in the world to have also been the main stadium for the Olympic Games – in 1956. That was made possible by the vast reaches of the original ground, which could easily accommodate an athletics track and all subsidiary requirements for field events. There is also something symbolic about the fact that its playing surface is big enough to test even the greatest throwing arms in the game. The open space of the ground is representative of the huge, dry hinterland that gives the country much of its wealth, history and folklore.The MCG’s place in cricket history is assured for any number of reasons – cricket’s first Test venue, Donald Bradman’s favourite ground, host of more Tests (95) in Australia than any other venue, and of more Australian Test wins (52) than anywhere else. A total of 155 Test centuries have been hit there, and Bob Cowper’s 307 against England in 1965-66 remains the only triple-century scored in a Test in Australia. The highest partnership on the ground is the 346 between Jack Fingleton and Bradman in 1936-37 against England. The best bowling figures belong to Wilfred Rhodes, who took 15 for 124 in the 1903-04 Test, while the best in an innings is Sarfraz Nawaz’s 9 for 86 in the 1978-79 series. No great surprise surrounds the fact that Bradman scored most Test runs on the ground – a total of 1671, at the considerable average of 128.53, including nine centuries. Dennis Lillee, no doubt responding to the chants of Bay 13, was far and away the ground’s most successful bowler, with 82 wickets at 21.92.In the more modern one-day internationals, there has not been quite the same amount of time to build up an aura, but that hasn’t diminished the quality of play. The best score achieved in 50 overs was 338 for 6 – against the West Indies in 2000-01 – while England hold dubious honour of recording the lowest score of 94 in 1978-79. Mark Waugh’s 173 in that earlier match against the West Indies is the highest one-day score, while the 225 between Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting against England earlier this year is the best partnership. Curtly Ambrose, in a 1988-89 match against Australia, took 5 for 17 to achieve the best bowling figures.In first-class cricket, Bill Ponsford made the ground his own during a remarkable career. Of the five highest scores on the ground, he has four of them. He first scored 429 against Tasmania in 1922-23 and five years later scored 437 against Queensland and also 336 against South Australia in the same season. Eight years later, he was still at it, scoring 352 against New South Wales. Bradman was the other contributor to the top five, with 357 for South Australia in 1935-36. Meanwhile, the best bowling in an innings belongs to Peter Allan, the fast-medium bowler from Queensland, who took all 10 Victorian wickets for 61 runs in the 1965-66 match.Individual performances are all very well, but there have been other occasions of particular significance. The Centenary Test of 1976-77 was a magnificent event, which had as its crowning glory the repetition of the same score as in the first Test of them all. It was followed soon after by the underarm match of February 1, 1981, a controversial act directed by Greg Chappell that poured new life into the hitherto benign trans-Tasman cricket relationship. New Zealanders might also recall what some observers described as the greatest of all outfield catches, taken by the man who is now New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive, Martin Snedden, off Greg Chappell; the appeal for the catch was subsequently turned down by the umpires.Only a few days after, there was Sunil Gavaskar’s attempt to get his partner Chetan Chauhan to leave the field, after Gavaskar was doubtfully given out lbw. More recently, umpire Darrell Hair’s calling of Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in the summer of 1995-96 added to the list of notorious events at the MCG.Perhaps the final irony in the MCG’s history of achievement is that arguably the best-ever innings played on the ground did not come in an official Test. Sir Gary Sobers’ 254 for the Rest of the World was rated by Bradman as the best he had ever seen. Bradman was entitled to his opinion, of course, and the MCG has certainly provided enough choices for the sports-mad Melbourne citizens to choose their own favourites.

“It is one thing to be guiding the side to victory against an attack comprising the likes of Chigumbura, Brent, Utseya and Price. However to replicate that effort against Ntini, Pollock, Steyn and Nel will be deserving of region-wide rejoicing.” © Getty Images

At least there are no expectations to live up to.Having seen off the challenge of Zimbabwe after the stumbling in the opening match, no-one should be under any illusions as to the huge step-up in the standard of competition awaiting the West Indies on their arrival in South Africa today.Yesterday’s washout of the fifth and final one-day international in Bulawayo may have deprived the tourists of the chance to extend their ODI winning streak to four matches (the last time they enjoyed such a run of success was against India at home last year). But even the most emphatic of victories would surely not have deluded them as to the enormity of the challenge over the next eight weeks in a country that has been their most barren frontier.In four separate visits to the country at the very southern tip of the African continent, beginning with a triangular tournament in early 1993, the Caribbean cricketers have managed just a solitary victory over their hosts on each trip.On that first journey, Brian Lara’s unbeaten hundred saw Richie Richardson’s team to a nine-wicket victory after two earlier losses to Kepler Wessels’ side and confirmed a place in the final, where they cruised past Pakistan to continue their winning form from the triumphant tour of Australia.Doesn’t it seem like only yesterday that we were hailing the return of our conquering heroes who had rallied from losing the second match, winning the fourth (by one run) and fifth (by an innings) Tests to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy, having earlier defeated the Aussies to claim the tri-nation limited-over title? The subsequent success in South Africa was merely the icing on the cake, but it has proved to be the first and, so far, last time that the West Indies, as a team, lifted any sort of silverware there.

Forget about relatively plain sailing in Zimbabwe. Just staying afloat in South Africa will be a monumental task.

On the calamitous 1998/99 campaign, Lara’s side lost all five Tests and six of seven ODIs, the exception being the second fixture in East London where hundreds from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carl Hooper saw the visitors to what was then a series-levelling victory. If nothing else, the fact that the tour opens on Friday with a Twenty20 match against a Makhaya Ntini Invitational XI at the same Buffalo Park ground should give the former captain some happy memories.Ironically, the next journey to South Africa opened with a notable triumph, Lara unfurling another majestic hundred as the West Indies scrambled a three-run victory to stun the hosts in the first match of the 2003 World Cup in Cape Town. It all went downhill thereafter for the two-time former champions with Hooper, much to his chagrin, replaced as captain by Lara after the team failed to advance to the Super Six stage of the tournament.Just ten months later, the West Indies were back in town for a full tour , and while it was not as catastrophic and emotionally deflating as five years earlier, the tourists still only had one victory to show after losing the four-Test series 3-0 and then succumbing 3-1 in the limited-over contest.That one day of joy was in the penultimate match of the tour as Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lara led a run-feast in glorious afternoon sunshine at Centurion that saw the much-maligned tourists overhauling a target of 298 with five overs to spare, displaying an imperiousness that belied the overall results of yet another failed campaign in that part of the world.And just to rub salt and pepper into wide open wounds, the memories of losing to both the mighty South Africans (despite Gayle’s historic hundred) and the lightly-regarded Bangladeshis in Johannesburg on the way to being dumped out of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup less than three months ago are still painfully fresh.So let’s not get carried away, either by sheer ignorance of those unavoidable realities or the supreme yet baseless optimism that this West Indian side is capable of doing what none of the earlier versions managed to achieve with much more experience and talent.Dwayne Bravo seems to be responding well to the responsibilities of leadership in Gayle’s enforced absence through injury, but he surely doesn’t need reminding that the geographical proximity of Zimbabwe to South Africa bears no relation to the world of difference between the two national teams.It is one thing to be guiding the side to victory against an attack comprising the likes of Chigumbura, Brent, Utseya and Price. However to replicate that effort against Ntini, Pollock, Steyn and Nel will be deserving of region-wide rejoicing.It’s not that it can’t be done. Why, just over a year ago another pulverising Gayle hundred led the West Indies to a rampaging victory over Graeme Smith’s side in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in India. But, as has become commonplace with almost everything associated with our cricket in more than a decade of struggle, maintaining a consistently high level of performance has proved frustratingly elusive.So now there’s a new captain (who is injured), a new deputy (who must expect to be thrown in at the deep end), a new coach (who was amazingly allowed to skip the Zimbabwean leg of the tour), a returning manager (Clive Lloyd was in that role in ’98/99) and just two survivors from the last time we defeated South Africa in their own backyard (Gayle and Chanderpaul).Forget about relatively plain sailing in Zimbabwe. Just staying afloat in South Africa will be a monumental task.

Bangladesh could have a new coach in place in time for their tour of New Zealand in December, after the Bangladesh Cricket Board named Gordon Greenidge, John Dyson and Colin Miller on a new three-man shortlist.The team has been without a full-time appointment ever since their long-term coach, Dav Whatmore, stepped down following a successful World Cup campaign in April. Whatmore stayed on in an interim capacity for the visit of India in May, and since then the former Under-19 coach Shaun Williams has overseen the squad’s preparations.The new appointment has been an arduous process and last month three candidates – John Harmer, Dave Houghton and Jamie Siddons – all withdrew from the race. But now the BCB has set a new deadline of the end of October, with three new names in the frame.”Hopefully, we can give you some good news next week,” Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, chairman of the cricket operations committee, told Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper. Greenidge, who coached the team at the 1999 World Cup, would be returning for a second stint, although the Australian duo of Dyson, the former Sri Lanka coach, and Miller, the former Test offspinner, are very much in contention.”Gordon [Greenidge] is looking through our international schedule for the next two years while [John] Dyson has also communicated with us after returning from his holiday,” said Lipu. “We also added the name of Miller to our list. We can reach a concrete decision next week.”

The best seats in house: if you have £8000 to spare © Getty Images

If anyone has a spare £8000 the final set of debenture seats for the Grandstand at Lord’s have gone on public sale. On offer is the right to purchase the best seats in the ground for all international and showpiece domestic matches from 2008 to 2015.Prime seats would be guaranteed for England’s two Tests a season, plus any one-day internationals hosted at the ground, along with the domestic one-day final and Middlesex’s home Twenty20 matches.Funds raised by the scheme will be spent by the MCC on promoting the game at home and abroad as well as on the continued redevelopment of Lord’s.”This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who loves cricket to become a season-ticket holder at the best cricket ground in the world,” said the MCC chairman Charles Fry. “Lord’s has played a huge part in the history of cricket and the MCC continues to encourage the game in all its aspects on a worldwide basis.”The projects we have completed, and those we are considering, reflect the MCC’sdetermination to continue investing in Lord’s to ensure that our famous Groundretains its unique attraction and world-class status.”In 2008 Lord’s will host the first Test against New Zealand from May 15 and the opening encounter against South Africa from July 10 along with two ODIs.

Ian Bell: in line for his Test debut© Getty Images

It used only to be Australians who suffered from dead-rubber syndrome – that most infuriating of conditions whereby a dominant side could write off a failure to complete a clean sweep by claiming that the match never mattered anyway. Now, however, it is England’s turn to put complacency on the backburner, as they assemble at The Oval to push for a record-equalling seventh consecutive Test victory.With nine wins and one draw in their last ten matches, England are on a roll, the like of which they have never before experienced. Only twice in their history have they won seven matches in succession – against Australia between 1885 and 1888, in the early days of the Ashes, and against West Indies and Australia in 1928-29, when Percy Chapman was captain and a young Harold Larwood was thrusting his way to prominence.History is clearly beckoning, but understandably Duncan Fletcher, England’s no-nonsense coach, is putting all such thoughts out of his charges’ heads. “it is important that the guys now believe in their ability,” Fletcher told Sky Sports, “but they mustn’t be too arrogant about this. There are better sides, and against those better sides, if we played badly as we did [on occasions at Old Trafford], we are going to come unstuck.”There were “windows” in England’s performance, Fletcher felt, that might have been exploited by stronger opposition – most notably their crass use of the new ball on Saturday morning, and their top-order subsidence in the fourth innings. But, he added, that fact that England went on to win so handsomely was a good sign. “We realise that even though we do play poorly, we can still knuckle down and produce a result.”This is a side that wins, is happy and enjoys playing cricket, but the crucial part is to realise that this game might just come back and bite you,” Fletcher warned. “You have to be very careful when you win like this. People might just think things are getting too easy.”England should have little time for complacency, however, and an injection of new blood should underline the importance of the match if, as expected, Ian Bell makes his Test debut in place of the injured Graham Thorpe. “I can’t wait,” said Bell. “I know a few of the guys quite well, and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”Bell was first drafted into the England set-up on the tour of New Zealand in 2001-02, but has had to back up his immense promise with a torrent of runs. After a lean couple of seasons, he has burst back to form with 1455 runs in 14 county matches for Warwickshire, including four centuries and a 96 not out in five consecutive innings. He knows full well that a place on the winter tour to South Africa is there for the taking, if he can grasp his chance in the same way that Andrew Strauss and Robert Key have done this season.England’s major concern, as ever, centres around their man of the moment, Andrew Flintoff, whose troublesome ankle is continuing to gnaw away at the selectors’ consciences. Flintoff sent down 32 overs in the Old Trafford Test, and dismissed Brian Lara in both innings, but Michael Vaughan is aware that he cannot afford to overburden his talisman, especially with the Champions Trophy around the corner. “Realistically we won’t want to bowl him too much,” admitted Vaughan, “but he’s such a good bowler and he gets you key wickets at key moments. You have to bowl your best bowlers in these situations.”Compared to the cares that dogged his predecessors, Vaughan’s dilemma is a minor quibble. Since he assumed the captaincy little more than a year ago, England have won 12 out of 18 Tests. Nasser Hussain (17 wins in 45) and Michael Atherton (13 in 54) must be spitting into their microphones in envy.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Robert Key, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Ian Bell, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Steve Harmison, 10 Matthew Hoggard, 11 James Anderson.

*Kerala let off the hookKarnataka let slip a wonderful advantage to bowl out Kerala for a lotless than their final total in their Ranji Trophy league match atBangalore on Tuesday.Winning the toss, Karnataka put Kerala in to bat. They had theiropposition in all sorts of trouble at 57/5 and then 128/6, withVenkatesh Prasad blowing apart the top order with three wickets.Skipper Sunil Oasis put together 47, but it was not until SreekumarNair collaborated with KN Ananthapadmanabhan that Kerala lookedcertain to cross the 200-run mark.Bowled out finally for 228, off 67.3 overs, Kerala lost a good chanceto post a big total and put pressure on Karnataka. The home side madeit through to the close of play without losing any wickets; Karnatakawere 14/0 at stumps.*Goa and Hyderabad share Day One honoursHonours were even on Day One of the Ranji Trophy match betweenHyderabad and Goa at Panaji on Tuesday.Hyderabad, winning the toss, put their opposition in to bat. A 37-runopening stand saw off the initial jitters, but it was really the 84-run partnership between Tanveer Jabbar and Amitabh Velaskar that sawGoa regain some momentum. After opener SV Kamat’s 73, Jabbar’s 60 wasthe next highest score.Batting resolutely, Jabbar hit nine fours and a six in his 109-ballknock. He was supported amply by Velaskar, who made 37 off 104 balls.At the close of play, Goa were 237/5; for Hyderabad, Venkatapathy Rajuwas the most successful bowler, taking 2-33 off 23 overs.*Careless batting sees Tamil Nadu collapseSome careless batting and running from Tamil Nadu batsmen spurred acollapse in their Ranji Trophy league match against Andhra Pradesh atVishakapatnam on Tuesday.Winning the toss, Tamil Nadu skipper Robin Singh opted to have firststrike. His openers did not let him down, with Sridharan Sriram andSadagopan Ramesh posting a 55-run stand for the first wicket. Anothermini-partnership followed between Sriram and C Hemanth Kumar.After the latter was run out, however, things took a different turn.Three more wickets followed, with KS Sahabuddin taking two of them.Only Hemang Badani could stay at the crease; at the close of play,Badani was unbeaten on 40. He was accompanied by TR Arasu (5) as TamilNadu ended the day on 179/5.

Otago’s two Under-15 representative sides have been named for the annual series with Canterbury, the teams featuring a good mix of players from throughout the Otago Cricket Association’s area.The sides will meet in a pre-tournament match in early January before hosting two Canterbury selections in Dunedin later in the month. The matches will be played over two days.This summer’s teams are:Otago Under 15 Blue: Kieran Noema-Barnett (captain, Dunedin), Shaun Fitzgibbon (vice-captain, Southland), Chris Reinds (Central Otago), James Russell (Dunedin), Nick Cape (Dunedin), Tim McDoull (Dunedin), Hamish Skelt (Southland), Kieran Parker (Central Otago), Craig Sneddon (Dunedin), Rafferty Fox (North Otago), David Lil (North Otago), Tom Cooney (North Otago). Coach: Darren Smith. Manager: Murray Fitzgibbon.Otago Under 15 Gold: Kyle Paterson (captain, Central Otago), Dion McCall (vice-captain, Central Otago), Ryan Henaghan (Dunedin), Michael Higgens (Dunedin), Brayden Hill (Central Otago), Robert McNally (North Otago), Andrew Parata (Dunedin), Mark Beer (Southland), Tim Riley (Southland), Graham Taylor (Dunedin), Tim Thomas (Central Otago), Blair Cooper (North Otago). Coach: Ian Paterson. Manager: Ian Rutherford.

The Chairman of the Tasmanian Cricket Association, Denis Rogers AO today announced the following appointments within the structure of the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers for Season 2003/2004.

Daniel Marsh: Vice-Captain
Shane Watson: Deputy Vice-Captain
Dene Hills: Assistant Coach-Batting
David Saker: Assistant Coach-Bowling

Ricky Ponting has been re-appointed as the Captain of the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers.In announcing the appointments the Denis Rogers said: "Over the past months we have been reviewing our position and the Cricket Committee decided to appropriately address the challenge of re-building Tasmanian cricket. It was decided we should strengthen the coaching area in the senior structure from a batting and bowling point of view."The Chairman added upon the appointment of the Assistant coaches: "In our midst we had two relatively young men who have played a lot of 1st Class cricket and have been high achievers and we thought there was nothing better than to appoint Dene and David."This appointment of dual assistant coaches is a first in Australian cricket, with both being responsible for dedicated specific aspects of the game within the coaching environment.The Cricket Committee and the Board of Directors unanimously agreed that the leadership on the field be Ricky Ponting (Captain), Daniel Marsh (Vice-Captain) and Shane Watson (Deputy Vice-Captain).Mr. Rogers said of this announcement: "We are delighted with all these appointments and all concerned are looking forward to their challenges."Brian McFadyen, Head Coach of the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers expressed his delight with the new structure saying: "We needed to improve upon our support structure for the team and I am very excited with the support given to me this year and with this structure for the future. We are now a step ahead of the other states with the luxury of two full time assistant coaches with specific roles to develop the on-field performances of the team."Commenting on the appointment of Dan Marsh, McFadyen said: " Dan is a well respected person and player, he possesses an articulate knowledge of the game and has all the attributes of a good leader. He deserves the opportunity to Captain in Ricky’s absence."Upon the announcement of his elevation to Vice-Captain, Daniel Marsh who was in Adelaide with relatives after the birth of his daughter Ella said: "It is a fantastic honour to be named Vice-Captain of the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers and I am looking forward to the season ahead. With such a young squad of players I am sure that it will be an exciting one. To have people of the quality of Dene Hills and David Saker as assistants to Brian McFadyen can only be positive for Tasmanian cricket. With Shane Watson as Deputy Vice-Captain we have a good mix of people in the leadership positions."Shane Watson was extremely excited about his new role, which he hopes will lead to further leadership opportunities down the track. He was looking forward to helping the team move in the right direction and working with Brian, Dene, David and Daniel.Dene Hills and David Saker were equally looking forward to their new roles in the coaching area.Hills said: "I am proud to be wearing the badge in a different form. I played with a lot passion and I love Tasmanian cricket. I would hope that my experience at a 1st Class level and the passion I bought to the team will rub off on the current members of the Tigers."David Saker added: I believe we have produced some good bowlers in recent years and I am looking forward to the opportunity of working with some promising young bowlers and hopefully producing Australian bowlers for the future."Both believe they will work very well together. They also expressed a belief that their respective specific roles of batting and bowling inter link and they will assist each other in providing the best possible preparation for each and every player and the team in order for them to achieve the highest possible standard of performance.Profiles:Dene Hills: Assistant Coach- BattingDene Hills retired from 1st Class cricket in 2002/03. He is without doubt one of Tasmania’s most successful and celebrated batsmen. A left handed opener with a tight technique and a penchant for making big scores, Hills formed the other half of that famous opening pair, Cox and Hills. Dene played over 100 matches for Tasmania and was named Sheffield Shield Player of the Year in 1997/98. He served his state with distinction and his 265 in 1997/98 remains the highest by a Tasmanian. Dene is a Level 3 qualified coach and has recently coached the South Hobart-Sandy Bay Cricket Club in the TCA Grade competition after many years as a senior player and mentor at the University Cricket Club.David Saker: Assistant Coach- BowlingDavid Saker joined the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers in 2000/01 after a distinguished career with Victoria. And retired in 2002/03. David was a whole-hearted and resilient cricketer who was respected for his tenacity and determination as a player throughout the country. His leadership and competitive nature is sure to provide a good blend within the coaching staff. Saker has played 72 1st Class matches and 43 Domestic One-Day matches as a right-arm fast-medium bowler and was named Cascade Tasmanian Tigers Player of the Year in 2001/2002. He is a level 2 qualified coach.Daniel Marsh: Vice-CaptainDaniel Marsh first moved to Tasmania from South Australia in season 1996/97 and has since established himself as a respected cricketer of note and a senior member of the team. Daniel was named Cascade Tasmanian Tigers Player of the Year in 1999/2000 and was Man of the Match for the Prime Minister’s X1 against England in 1998/99. Marsh has played 87 1st Class matches and 62 Domestic One-Day matches. Coupled with his powerful stroke play in the middle order, all round skills as a left arm orthodox spin bowler and safe hands in the slips, his leadership qualities and experience have been utilised on many occasions in both forms of the game.Shane Watson: Deputy Vice-CaptainOriginally from Queensland, Watson moved to Tasmania in the 2000/2001 season and immediately enhanced his reputation as an exciting young all-rounder. In the following 12 months he caught the National selectors’ eyes and made his Limited Overs International debut against South Africa at Centurion Park in South Africa in 2001/2002. Shane has played 16 1st Class matches, 20 Domestic Limited Overs matches and 21 Limited Overs Internationals for Australia. He is currently making a full recovery from a back injury sustained during last season, which kept him out of Australia’s victorious World Cup campaign.

Where is South African cricket going? From the only team in the worldcapable of matching the all-conquering Australians, the side has been on a slippery slope for two seasons, and events in England suggest that nothing is in place to stop the slide.On top of the disastrous World Cup campaign, the sacking of Shaun Pollock and the Lance Klusener debacle can be added the retirements of Alan Donald, Jonty Rhodes and Gary Kirsten. Their absence has left a void causing nervousness amongst the loyal core of supporters who hanker for the glory days inspired by coach Bob Woolmer and now deceased and disgraced former captain Hansie Cronje.Eric Simons, the coach, and Graeme Smith, the newly appointed captain, made promises of improved performances, including inflicting scars on the England team. But South Africa were shown to talk the talk without being able to walk the walk – they walked away from the recent NatWest Series bruised, battered and comprehensively beaten.Feelings of joy and national pride from only a few years ago have beenreduced to anger, frustration and a sense of hopelessness.The miscalculation of the Duckworth-Lewis system in the vital World Cupmatch against Sri Lanka that denied South Africa a place in the Super Six highlighted the sharp decline. The coach should have taken fullresponsibility for that mistake but it was the captain, Pollock, who was stripped of his duties.The chopping block did not end there. Klusener became the next victim on the pretext that he needed to rest. When he was not given a national contract it became obvious that he would not be going on the England tour.Smith’s comments about Klusener being a disruptive influence raisedspeculation that lack of form wasn’t the reason for his omission from the squad. An average of 91 and five wickets during the World Cup compounded the speculation.The United Cricket Board (UCBSA) stood by Cronje. At the same time they supported Herschelle Gibbs. Support for the same player after a marijuana session and subsequent after-hour behavioural problems led to the appointment of a mentor.Klusener, however, was not even given the courtesy of a telephone call. This, after he was given an indication that he would be receiving a contract and a call-up for the tour to England. Where was the UCBSA support and rehabilitation then?The capabilities of the coaching staff should also be questioned.Glaring faults seem to be ignored in both the batting and bowlingdepartments while the fielding capabilities of a team recognised as the best two years ago can now only be described as average.Makhaya Ntini has 31 Tests and 80 one-day internationals under his belt and he still lacks the ability to bowl a slower ball. Jacques Kallis was a feared and respected bowler; today he is the one targetted by batsmen. Pollock’s loss of pace is a concern. At 30, he should be in a position to add a yard or two to his pace, especially if he is to continue to open the bowling for South Africa.The rebuilding and recovery process requires a solid foundation starting with administration, management, coaching and selection in order to create unity and trust amongst all concerned. Strong leadership throughout the structure is imperative if South Africa is to regain its cricketing glory.

Shane Warne may not be too special at winning the toss, he has lostthree out of three so far this season, but it has not stopped his teamfrom excelling for their new leader, taking a handsome advantage intothe second day of their Frizzell Championship Division Two match againstLeicestershire at The Rose Bowl.It was slow going for the visitors on an overcast day after theircaptain had chosen to bat first, and for the majority of the pre-lunchsession, the rate did not go above 1.5 runs per over. The first wicketfell with the score on 22 (after 18 overs), when the nagging Mascarenhasbroke through Robinson’s defence, followed soon after when Tremlett hadthe dangerous Aussie Brad Hodge caught behind for 1. Udal trappedStevens lbw, but despite 11 runs coming off the last over of the morningsession, Hampshire held the upper hand, and this was to be doublyincreased within a space of 21 balls after the break.Warne and Mascarenhas each took a brace of wickets as Leicestershireslumped to 70-7, a loss of 4 wickets for 1 run, including that ofMaunders who had withstood the force from the start. It was nearly anhour before Hampshire took another wicket, when Tremlett picked up hissecond of the day. Leicestershire were soon all out for a paltry 139.Derek Kenway and Michael Brown took the score to 23-0 after 6 overs andtea, and moved on afterwards to 48 before Kenway who had struck fourfours, edged deFreitas to the wicket keeper. Will Kendall joined Brownplaying sensibly to a ball that was still swinging, but they surviveduntil rain forced off the players with 7 overs still to go in the day.Hampshire will be looking to press home their advantage on Thursday,especially with the weather being a little unkind.