Middlesex 216 for 4 (Shah 105*) beat Scotland 89 by 127 runs
ScorecardMiddlesex moved clear at the top of the National League second division, as Scotland continued to flounder in the basement, after a match which encapsulated perfectly the differences between the teams. Led by an unbeaten century from their former captain, Owais Shah, Middlesex romped to victory by 127 runs, after bowling Scotland out for a meagre 89.Shah, who clubbed nine fours and two sixes in his 119-ball 105, made light of tricky conditions at the Old Deer Park in Richmond, in a match where no other batsman exceeded Nick Compton’s 33. After the early loss of Ben Hutton, Paul Weekes dropped anchor with 20 from 50 balls, and when he fell, Jamie Dalrymple followed suit to keep Shah company. Compton added some late impetus to lift the total to 216 for 4.That proved to be more than enough. Only two of Scotland’s batsmen reached double figures as Middlesex’s bowlers ran amok. The only batsman to hang around for any length of time was their Indian opener, Sridharan Sriram, but by the time he retired hurt for 19 from 52 balls, the match was already in the bag.

Martin Snedden, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, has insisted that the board will conduct a rational analysis of the team’s performance in England, rather than jump to hasty conclusions.According to a report in The Press, a New Zealand daily, Snedden said: “We must look at this rationally and methodically rather than reacting too quickly. The thoughts you get from the heat of the battle are often different to those you get a few weeks later with some time for things to sink in.”Because it is an England tour people seem more intensely interested in it than perhaps going to the subcontinent. I can understand people reacting emotionally to the losses and that’s good because they have a passion for the game.” New Zealand were thrashed three-nil in the recently concluded Test series, and have lost five of their last eight Tests.The media in New Zealand have been especially critical of the decision to send only a 14-man squad for the Test series. Two of the bowlers in that line-up, Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey, weren’t completely fit when they left for England, prompting critics to suggest that back-ups for them should have been ready. However, Snedden dismissed that factor being one of the reasons for the defeat. “People have latched onto the squad number and the injury issue but no-one has been able to establish a plausible link between them costing the team those matches.”What also irked many experts was the decision to send six support staff with the line-up, but Snedden explained that he was satisfied by the explanation provided by John Bracewell, the coach, for the composition of the squad. “He [Bracewell] believed there was enough cover and depth in most areas except perhaps the spin bowling,” Snedden said. “But he reasoned that conditions early season in England do not favour spinners. While several players were over in England, like James Franklin and Mathew Sinclair, it was arguable whether Wiseman was required.”Even with the 14 players Kyle Mills had little match play because there was only three first-class games before the first Test, so what would the 15th have been doing?”The situation with Shane Bond was that we believed it would be better to have him on the tour than staying at home in winter. We hoped in a best-case scenario he might play the second and third Tests and were moving in that direction until he sustained the setback in the last county game before the first Test. Then we just ran out of time.”Bracewell subsequently blamed the pitches for the debacle, but Snedden had a more straightforward explanation. “As hard as it is for us to accept, sometimes our players don’t perform to their best and the opposition plays better.”

Graeme Smith has warned that South Africa’s selectors are going to start taking a firmer line on players who do not perform consistently during South Africa’s upcoming tours. Following the tour to Sri Lanka in August, South Africa travel to England for the Champions Trophy, to India for a Test series, and back home for five Tests against England.”This year’s going to be more cut-throat. We’ve got to start delivering,” Smith told in South Africa ahead of the team’s four-day training camp in Pretoria. “The leeway now is gone. There are three tours coming up and there’s going to be nowhere to hide for anyone, including me. I’m aware of that and I’m looking forward to that challenge.”All of us can improve from last year, can become more consistent, can become harder, can win more games for our team, can handle situations better under pressure,” he added. “There are a lot of us who can look at ourselves and improve.”I want to see us taking bigger steps in getting certain positions right, handling pressure well in one-day cricket. If we need to defend 60 in 10 overs at the death we’ve got guys who can do it. If we need to get 100 off 110 balls with four or five down we’ve got guys who can finish those games for us. That’s where we’ve let ourselves down, especially in the last year in those crunch 50-50 situations.”This will be Smith’s first tour of Sri Lanka, and he will be leading the side in two Tests and five one-dayers. South Africa drew their last Test series in Sri Lanka in 2000, but were thrashed 3-0 in the one-dayers, and struggled against Muttiah Muralitharan’s spin on his home turf in both formats.”I know we lost badly there the last time,” added Smith. “We’ve got six or seven guys who have been there before and speaking to some of them, they say they got a major wake-up call, they didn’t realise how much it would turn. So we’ve had a bit of experience.”

The MCG could lose out on its annual one-day international if a South Australian proposal is approved by Cricket Australia. For many years, the MCG and the SCG, in Sydney, have staged a final each in the tri-series which is an integral part of the Australian summer, but declining attendances at the MCG have resulted in the South Australian Cricket Association asking for the Melbourne final to be rotated between the Adelaide Oval, the Gabba in Brisbane and the MCG.SACA would like the new roster, which guarantees Sydney a final, to come into existence the season after next. According to the Melbourne’s The Age, Cricket Victoria have cited extenuating circumstances for the drop in spectator interest – a wash-out one year, 44 degree temperatures in another, and a final without Australia.Cricket Victoria has also refuted SACA’s claim that it could stage the final more profitably by selling out the far smaller Adelaide Oval. Sydney finals are usually packed affairs, with the SCG’s capacity being less than 50,000, but the MCG has found it difficult to pack in a full house (80,000) even when the more popular sides like England and India visit. quoted Geoff Tamblyn, Cricket’s Australia chairman as saying, “Cricket Victoria will defend its position to host the final.” The state is banking on the fact that it has an agreement with the MCG to provide at least eight days of international cricket each summer. Were the one-day final to be removed from the roster, there would be just seven such days on the calendar.

Steve Tikolo has delayed making a decision whether to stand down as Kenya’s captain in the light of their poor performances in the ICC Champions Trophy. In the aftermath of the loss to Pakistan at Birmingham, he told the media that he was ready to quit but he appears to have reconsidered his position following his return home.Tikolo was still insistent that he wanted to pass the reins on to a new captain and concentrate on his batting, but there are signs that he might wait until later in the year.Sharad Ghai, the board’s chairman, said that he was surprised by the original announcement. “We had talked about it," Ghai said, "and even if he felt the captaincy was affecting his batting, I thought he would come back home and at least lead the team through the Intercontinental Cup." Kenya meet Namibia in the Africa-group decider in Nairobi next month.Tikolo repeated his criticism of the ICC over their treatment of the team during the tournament. "Had it been Australia, England or South Africa batting under the conditions that we were in, the game could have been stopped," he explained. "There is no fairness in some of these things.”

Somerset are set to announce that they have signed two South Africans – Graeme Smith and Albie Morkel – as their overseas players for the 2005 season.Smith, who captains South Africa on their tour of India starting this week, has been linked with the county for several weeks, and news that he was just waiting for South African board approval before confirming was not a surprise. It is expected that he will replace Michael Burns as Somerset captain.”It’s a fantastic opportunity for me and Albie, and playing county cricket is something I have always wanted to do,” Smith told Reuters. “My first loyalties are to South African cricket and the UCB, and they have yet to approve the deal,” he added. “I’m hopeful they will see it as beneficial for all of us.”The intention is that Smith would arrive at Taunton in May, straight after South Africa have finished their tour of the Caribbean.Morkel, an allrounder who bowls right-arm fast-medium bowler and bats left-handed, has played three one-day internationals for South Africa. Their new coach, Ray Jennings, is a big fan and recently predicted that he would become a world-class allrounder.

Kenya’s ignominious exit from the ICC Intercontinental Cup, where they were comprehensively outplayed by Scotland at Abu Dhabi, highlighted just how rapid their decline has been. Less than two years ago they appeared in a World Cup semi-final. The springboard and opportunity that should have provided has sadly been squandered in a spectacular and avoidable fashion.Since that March day at Durban, when they were beaten by India, nothing has gone right for Kenyan cricket. Sponsors have been lost and not replaced; the Kenyan Cricket Association (KCA), bedevilled by accusations of mismanagement and financial irregularity, has fallen out with almost everyone connected with the sport, not to mention attracting the concern of the government; there have been constant rumblings of unrest among the players, culminating in the recent and ongoing strike; civil war has erupted between the board and the two main domestic leagues; Maurice Odumbe has been banned following a hearing into his links with bookmakers. Attempts to paper over the cracks with rhetoric worked for a while – but no longer. Even the ICC is thought to be increasingly concerned at the situation.The outburst on Monday by Ramesh Bhalla, Kenya’s team manager, that most of the striking players were over the hill and wouldn’t have made it to the current team anyway has been exposed as utter rot. The scale and manner of the drubbing by Scotland indicated that few of the new-look side are anywhere near being of a decent enough standard to play one-day internationals. Kenya’s dream of Test cricket, so close to becoming a reality in recent years, is now in tatters.For all the bullish noises made by the KCA, it has to shoulder the blame for the lack of decent cricket available to its players. Despite backing and financial support from the ICC, it has failed to ensure that its top players actually get to play, even though they are on contracts and so are paid to sit at home. The KCA’s own league is a nonstarter, as is its one-day competition. From today, the next match Kenya are scheduled to play is not until next July, when theIntercontinental Cup resumes.The effective civil war between much of Kenya’s established cricketing fraternity and the board is at the root of the problem. The KCA continues to maintain that its efforts are producing results, but local administrators argue that the few decent players coming through are because of the hard work of enthusiastic amateurs and actually in spite, not because, of the board. There remain concerns about funding, and recently the ICC stepped in when it wasrevealed that money it was providing to the board for development was instead being used to pay players’ salaries. That action indirectly led to the strike.So where now? What is obvious is that little will change under the current administration. Too much has happened, too much muck has been thrown both at and by the KCA for it to be able to turn the alarming decline around.For the sake of Kenyan cricket, there must be fair and transparent elections and all the dealings of the new regime have to be open to public scrutiny. Only then will investors and sponsors – and there are plenty in the wings – feel confident to step forward and start to help the rebuilding. As it stands now, finding out about the detail of the board’s operations is nigh-on impossible.Sadly, there is no sign that change is on the agenda. The KCA has started a review of its constitution, but that is already being discredited by accusations that it is not fair or even within the board’s remit. Critics believe that it is little more than an attempt to keep the exiting regime in power. More court action seems inevitable.Dispiriting though Scotland result is, some good might come out of it. At last the wider cricket world can see how dire the situation is, and that can only accelerate calls for change. That the KCA has to reform is inevitable. The only hope is that the damage done is not already terminal.

According to Glenn McGrath, Shoaib Akhtar’s king-size run-up has more to do with his love of playing to the gallery than a desire to bowl fast. McGrath weighed into the issue after Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, had earlier pleaded with Shoaib to cut down on his approach, which slowed the game down and also drastically reduced the chances of him bowling long spells.And while McGrath accepted the fact that Shoaib, on his good days, could run through a side, he pointedly suggested that he was also capable of bowling “a heap of rubbish”. McGrath took 8-24 in the second innings at the WACA in Perth, demolishing Pakistan with the steepling bounce and accuracy that has underpinned his charge to 472 wickets in just 104 Tests.And while Shoaib laughed off suggestions that he pare down a run-up that starts in the shadow of the sightscreen – “Can a plane take off without a run-up?” he asked enigmatically – McGrath told the that the response was typical of Pakistan’s premier bowler. “He’s a showman, and that’s what he loves,” said McGrath. “Cutting that run-up down might take a bit away from that and take a bit away from who he is. Maybe that’s why he’s holding on.”I don’t know what I can say I am, a jump-jet or a helicopter or something. I think he could bowl just as quick off a shorter run. They say it’s [Akhtar’s run-up] 33 metres. Mine’s 23 metres and he looks a good 17 or 20 metres behind me, so I’d say it’s 40-plus. When you’re bowling 6-minute overs it puts pressure on the other guys to get through their overs, plus you can only get through three or four overs at top pace before you really start feeling the pinch.”McGrath also reckoned that Shoaib needed to take fresh stock of his priorities, given how much the team relied on him. “From a personal point of view, my goal was always to be the best bowler, not so much the quickest, whereas I’m sure Shoaib’s major and only goal is to be the quickest bowler in the world, if not of all time,” he said. “He’s the type of bowler that can just rip through sides. He’s got that potential there but then he’s got the potential to bowl a heap of rubbish as well.”But having gone through a none-too-subtle sledge ahead of the Boxing Day Test,McGrath admitted that, ultimately, run-ups were dictated by a bowler’s sense of well-being. “At the end of the day, a run-up has got to feel good for the bowler. I shortened my run-up and it felt ordinary, so I had to go back to my old one. Shoaib might be the same.”

HD Ackerman has been named as Leicestershire’s captain for the 2005. He replaces the Australian Brad Hodge, who joined Lancashire in October.Ackerman, 31, currently plays for the Lions in the SuperSport Series in South Africa. He has captained Western Province, Gauteng and South Africa A in the last five years. He played four Tests in 1997-98, and scored 161 runs in eight innings. He has on a three-year contract with Leicestershire and, under the Kolpak ruling, will not count as an overseas player.”I am delighted and honoured,” Ackerman told reporters. “It is a whole new challenge for me. I hope I can help to bring out the best in all the players at Leicestershire.”Darren Maddy will continue as vice-captain.

Waqar Younis’s spell as Pakistan’s bowling coach has ended before it even began.Yesterday, Waqar told reporters that he wanted the role for the long term. “If it is only for the India series,” he said, “it will be waste of time.”But that cut no ice with the Pakistan Cricket Board who rejected his suggestions, insisting the appointment was for the one series only.Waqare, who was believed to be asking for a two-year deal as well as compensation for the loss of income as a commentator, was not interested in the PCB’s terms. “It would have been a great honour, but I think they never wanted me, ” he told reporters. “There was no mention of the money when I talked to the PCB, but I wanted a long-term contract because you need time to work on bowlers.”