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Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, believes his team can shrug off their controversial World Cup build-up and clinch a second title to add to the trophy they won in 1992.Pakistan go into the 2007 tournament without injured strike bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif as well as influential allrounder Abdul Razzaq. But Inzamam insists he wants to mark his final World Cup with a victory to add to Imran Khan’s memorable triumph 15 years ago.”Every great player has his time, they serve their time, that’s life, that’s the way it is so when the time comes, so be it,” said Inzamam ahead of his team’s two warm-up matches against Canada on Tuesday and South Africa on Friday. Inzamam, second only to Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time list of highest one-day international batsmen with 11,665 runs, also insisted he could recover the kind of form which he enjoyed on his 1992 World Cup debut.”I am confident and I have worked hard in the nets and I am looking forward to the World Cup and I will do my best at this level,” he said. Inzamam played down the significance of losing Shoaib, Asif and Razzaq, and believed Mohammad Sami, Yasir Arafat and Azhar Mahmood will prove adequate replacements. “I believe in our team and we believe in ourselves and definitely we will try do well in the World Cup,” he added. “In one-day internationals, every team is tough but one man can change the outcome of a game and one good game can change the whole scenario.”After their warm-up games here, Pakistan head to Jamaica for their opening Group D matches against West Indies. Ireland and Zimbabwe are the other two teams in the group.

Cricket Australia (CA) says a decision on whether the national team will tour Pakistan later this month is expected to be made by the end of the week. Creagh O’Connor, CA’s chairman, and his counterpart with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Nasim Ashraf, are scheduled to have a talk by telephone this week to discuss the situation with the tour considered in major doubt.Australian players have expressed reservations over the security situation in Pakistan following a spate of suicide bombings. “Clearly the clock is ticking and there is a sense of expectation where we will reach a point certainly no later than this week on working out exactly what is happening,” CA spokesperson Peter Young said.The proposed tour has been compressed into a month, starting on March 29, and PCB officials have said they are against moving Australia’s tour outside of Pakistan because of its long-term impact on cricket in the country. The Australian team has not played in Pakistan for a decade.In 2002 a series that was scheduled for Pakistan was shifted to Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. The PCB has promised to provide extra security for the Australian players. Cricket officials met with Australia’s foreign ministry in Canberra last week to get the latest updates on the situation inside Pakistan before making their tour decision.

ScorecardFile photo: Pieter Seelaar top-scored for Netherlands with a crucial 49•Peter Della Penna

Late innings resiliency with both bat and ball ensured Netherlands escaped with a six-run win over UAE at Abu Dhabi on Friday to wrap up a two-match WCL Championship sweep for the visitors on Friday. The latest victory vaulted Netherlands past Hong Kong to the top of the WCLC table with 10 points to Hong Kong’s nine. The Dutch are currently undefeated in six games with 10 points coming from four wins and two no results.Netherlands scratched their way to 216 after being sent in thanks to Pieter Seelaar, whose 49 at No. 7 helped the Dutch rebuild after the double-blow of losing Roelof van der Merwe and Wesley Barresi in the space of three overs reduced the visitors from 108 for 4 to 112 for 6 in the 30th. Seelaar added 76 for the seventh wicket with Michael Rippon in the biggest stand of the innings and hung around until the final over before he was ninth man out but not before giving his side a defendable total.In reply, UAE were cruising at 158 for 3 after 37 overs, needing 59 more to win at a little more than four per over, when Timm van der Gugten shifted momentum in the match by removing Shaiman Anwar for 71, ending a 103-run partnership with Mohammad Usman. Van der Gugten struck again later in the over to nab Saqlain Haider for 1 and Usman was dislodged for 52 by Mudassar Bukhari off the first ball of the 42nd to make it 178 for 6.Still, UAE only needed 39 to win off 53 balls, but the run rate was choked successfully by Bukhari, Rippon and Ahsan Malik. In his first tour back since being reported at the World Twenty20 Qualifier for a suspect bowling action, Malik’s impact continued to show as he claimed 2 for 18 in his second spell of 3.3 overs at the death.Entering the final over UAE needed 13 to win with the last pair of Rohan Mustafa, on 21, and Manjula Guruge at the crease. A dot was followed by a six from Mustafa to bring UAE within one shot of leveling the score but Malik struck on the next ball, having Mustafa caught by Bukhari to end the match.

Turning the momentum
Touring captains usually arrive in Australia under pressure but it was AnilKumble who applied it to the home side on day one. Australia’s openersreached 135 when Kumble unbalanced Phil Jaques with a wrong’un that thebatsman didn’t spot before achieving something unthinkable by out-classingMichael Hussey with a similar delivery. Talk in Australia prior to the Testcentred around how the Indians would react to Brad Hogg’s variations, butKumble created the immediate problems, taking three batsmen with googliesand two with legspinners.Beware of the captain
It took a sublime 144 from Sourav Ganguly, their captain, to revive India onthe last trip in 2003-04. This time it was again their leader dealing theopening blow with five wickets. It was the second time Kumble earned a spoton the honours board at the MCG, emulating Bhagwat Chandrasekar, hisstate-mate, who also claimed five in an innings twice.Hogg’s happy holidays
Boxing Day looked as if still Christmas for Hogg. As he sung thenational anthem, Hogg could not stop smiling at the thought of playing hisfirst Test since 2003. He, however, had to wait for action and after Australiaelected to bat, he settled down with a book in the first session. Hogg was calledlater in the day, made 17, and is looking forward to bowling into thefootmarks that will grow from the work of the game’s large contingent ofleft-armers.Everywhere man
It seems impossible, but Shane Warne may have increased his presence at theMCG since last year’s Boxing Day when he took his 700th wicket in his finalTest on his home ground. Twelve months later, he is donating items to theMelbourne Cricket Club in the morning, playing with the schoolchildren onthe oval at lunch, being appointed to a leadership role with CricketAustralia and completing a stint in the Nine commentary box. But thatwasn’t all. Cartoon figures of Warne are shown on the sight-screen and thescoreboard promoting a beer company, so he can’t escape even if he doesn’tturn up for the rest of the game.He’s not a Victorian
After having Warne to cheer for the past 15 years, Melbourne supporters wereleft without a local to celebrate and had to adopt. Ricky Ponting and AndrewSymonds received the greatest roars from the crowd of 68,465 when theywalked out to bat, but there was also loud support for each Indian wicketand the arrival of Sachin Tendulkar for his over before tea.Curator escapes a sledge
Concerns have been raised over the MCG’s drop-in pitches following dreary domestic games this season and Matthew Hayden spent a lot of time talking about the surface at stumps. However, he wasn’t complaining too loudly and when asked if he thought the wicket was Test standard he said: “It’s hard to argue with that when I’ve got six hundreds on it. I’d be a game man to sledge the curator.”

To widespread frustration, Cricket Kenya has postponed the three-day part of its Elite League on the eve of the first round of matches.Originally, the three rounds of three-day matches were to have started earlier, but the whole event had to be delayed because of the domestic upheaval which followed December’s presidential elections. The one-dayers, which should have been played over two weekends, then had to be extended to a third because of a conflict with Nairobi’s 45-over competition.In a media release, CK said that onset of the Long Rains had led to the tournament being postponed until June. The first round will now take place between June 6 and 9 with the second and third rounds starting on the following Fridays.”The rains which have pounded the city heavily over the last one week have left most of the grounds waterlogged and the groundsmen have found it difficult to prepare for these matches,” Tom Tikolo, the board’s CEO explained.

Resuming the innings on 219-2 after the tea interval, Lancashire lookedintent on building a big score quickly.Flintoff smashed his way to a half century off only 59 balls whilst Crawleywas playing the anchor role at the other end. Flintoff’s ability to hit hardand straight lofted drives featured strongly in his innings which was fullyappreciated by the spectators.His innings came to an end when he was caught at silly mid-off off a thininside edge. A wicket was desperately needed by Leicestershire at this point and once again their leading wicket taker this season, Anil Kumble, duly obliged.This brought Ganguly to the crease and he did not find life easy at thebeginning. Infact, he faced 17 balls before scoring.Leicestershires troubles seem to be mounting as not only were they missingtheir opening bowler Jimmy Ormond for most of the day through injury, butPhil Defreitas then pulled up in a delivery stride and did not bowl for therest of the day.With Lancashire now only a few runs behind it will be interesting to see howthey will play this game tomorrow. Their overall run rate per overthroughout the day was 3.6 and they should look to maintain and improve onthis from the start tomorrow.

Adrian Le Roux has resigned as South Africa’s fitness trainer. He has been with the Proteas for just over four years and before that he was involved with Free State cricket and the Indian national cricket team.He will be returning to Bloemfontein where he will take up a position with a medical company, SA Biomedical. But he will act as a consultant for Cricket South Africa (CSA) from time to time, including in the appointment of the new Proteas fitness trainer and in CSA’s high performance programme.He said: “A number of factors lead to my resignation. I’ve been touring with professional teams extensively over the last six years. This obviously affects your family life and it is now time to move closer to home and take on some new challenges.”The last six to 12 months have made me take the final decision having contemplated this step in my life over this period of time.”A big thanks must also go to the players I have worked with during my tenure, they always kept things interesting. It has also been a pleasure and a privilege working at the highest level of the sport. To the coaches and members of the support staff, I’d like to thank you too. It has been a great experience.”Gerald Majola, the board’s chief executive, said: “Adrian’s resignation is a big loss to the Proteas set-up as he is one of the best fitness trainers in world cricket. We are most grateful for his input over the past four years, and respect his decision to move into a new field close to his home base.”

Former Cambridge University allrounder Richard Halsall will be appointed as England’s first full-time fielding coach, according to a report in The Times. The Schofield Report, published in May, recommended such a position be made permanent.Halsall has been working on a part-time basis with Sussex, as well as coaching the England Under-15 side. He also helped the England women prepare for their tour of India earlier this year.He is currently working as head of physical education at Wellington College but will have to give that post up if appointed by the ECB.

In what turned out to be a low-scoring semi-final round, Tamil Nadu imploded for 59 to hand Bengal a 55-run win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.Chosing to bat, Bengal began poorly, being reduced to 8 for 2 in the fifth over. Coming in at No.4, captain Manoj Tiwary counterattacked, stroking five massive sixes in an innings of 69 off 44 balls. He did not find a reliable partner though, as wickets continued to tumble at the other end. The second highest contribution of the innings came from wicketkeeper, Wriddhiman Saha, with 19. Lakshmipathy Balaji was the pick of the Tamil Nadu bowlers, picking up two wickets at 4.50 runs an over.Chasing a target that required them to score at less than a run a ball, Tamil Nadu fell behind right away. Ashok Dinda was on a hat-trick in the first over of the innings, after bowling Anirudha Srikkanth and getting Ganapathi Vignesh to edge to the keeper for a golden duck. Tamil Nadu never recovered, losing three wickets with the score on 11, to be reduced to 11 for 6 in the seventh over. The only sizable contribution came from Arun Karthik, who was unbeaten on 35 off 26 balls when the innings folded on 59. Medium-pacer Sayan Mondal wrecked the middle order with four wickets and a run out.Bengal will meet Madhya Pradesh in the final at the same venue on March 16.Madhya Pradesh set up the final clash with Bengal, defeating Haryana by two wickets with one ball to spare in a thrilling second match of the day at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.Being asked to bowl, Madhya Pradesh knocked over the top half of the Haryana line-up in a hurry, to leave them 23 for 5 in the seventh over. Cameos from Nitin Saini, Joginder Sharma and Amit Mishra made sure Haryana played out their 20 overs though, finishing with 115 for 9. Madhya Pradesh’s pace trio of TP Sudhindra, Anand Rajan and Amarjeet Singh shared the wickets around.Madhya Pradesh’s reply was built around a 47-run fourth-wicket partnership between Udit Birla and Harpreet Singh, after Sharma and Kuldeep Hooda made early inroads. There was no much resistance otherwise, but Madhya Pradesh did just enough to edge out Haryana in a nail-biting last over that included Birla’s wicket, a run-out and a first-ball boundary from No. 10 batsman Sudhindra to seal the victory.

Wasim Akram is set to hold another coaching camp for Pakistan’s fast bowlers at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore later this month.Akram overlooked a similar camp last year in Lahore, where he fast-tracked a number of promising young fast bowlers into national selection. Sohail Tanvir was the most prominent find from last year, though Akram also rated highly Mohammad Aamer, the left-armer who has been impressive for Pakistan U-19s recently.The camp is expected to get underway from May 26 and a PCB official told that Akram will train several young pacers who are either a part of the Pakistan team or are knocking at the doors of international cricket.Mudassar Nazar, a former Pakistan opener and head of the NCA, is currently finalising the details of the camp that is expected to last around six days. All leading pacers of the country, except for the ones currently competing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will take part in the camp, just a few days before the Pakistan team leaves for Bangladesh for a tri-nation ODI series also involving India in June.Akram’s media commitments since he retired in 2003 have taken priority over his coaching work, though as a travelling, freelance bowling guru, he has had considerable success, especially with young Indian fast bowlers such as Irfan Pathan. Last year’s two-week camp was the first time Akram had officially worked in a coaching capacity and though he enjoyed the experience, he wasn’t sure whether it would be a full-time commitment.