Who we go put? Well, here’s my choice, Wavell Wayne Hinds. In just over a month from now the West Indies cricketers, barring any unforeseen disagreements relating to salaries, sponsorships or sunglasses and jewelry allowances, will be assembling for a training camp in Barbados ahead of the tour of New Zealand. Assuming they really have the interest of the regional team at heart, the Ken Gordon-led West Indies board must be thinking of a leadership change and should have already discussed the options informally. Yes, we are coming up to Christmas, but the spirit and the spirits of the season should not dull the senses to appreciating that dragging their feet on the captaincy issue will only further stymie any serious effort at re-establishing a culture of discipline, commitment and real teamwork in the senior West Indies squad.For those who only see things on the basis of race and perceived slighting or disrespecting of their own, there is no point trying to explain that advocating the replacement of Shivnarine Chanderpaul as captain by Hinds is purely a cricketing decision. So let’s move on.At 29, Hinds has already showed in his leadership of the Jamaican team that he has some appreciation of what it means to be in charge of players who are friends and contemporaries at the higher level. As I understand it, he made it clear to Chris Gayle that his status as the established opening batsman in the West Indies side (imagine that, with his technique!) did not exempt him from the Jamaicans’ “no jewelry” policy during their highly successful 2005 regional first-class season. Telling a player to keep his prized diamond stud in the dressing room is not exactly a ringing endorsement of leadership, yet it does suggest that Hinds understands what a team ethic is all about, that very often individual desires and aspirations have to be sacrificed for the common good. Most importantly, he does not hesitate to lay down the law, which, at the end of the day, is what captaincy is all about.The previous panel of selectors had obviously seen the captaincy potential in Hinds when, with Carl Hooper, then regular captain, returning to Australia for knee surgery, they recommended him as deputy to Ridley Jacobs for the brief series in Bangladesh three years ago. Whether under the helmet at short-leg or somewhere in the outfield, his body-language is always positive, always aggressive, loudly urging on his team-mates and quick to offer advice.During last month’s tour of Australia, he impressed observers with his confident manner when representing the West Indies at a pre-series function in Brisbane. It may appear irrelevant, especially for a team struggling so desperately on the field, but a captain should also be a bit of a statesman, as much at ease in a jacket and tie in front of the microphone as with the burgundy cap pulled on in the dressing room.However, and this is a significant point, he has not been able to establish a regular place in the West Indies side more than five years after making his Test debut against Zimbabwe at the Queen’s Park Oval. After 44 Tests, his average (33.54) is modest, although he started this year with a double-century against South Africa at Bourda and scored half-centuries at Kensington Oval and Sabina Park against Pakistan later in the season. Like his compatriot, Gayle, his technique is far from ideal, and the sight of Hinds lunging into an extravagant drive only to edge a catch to the slips has become a familiar one in recent years. So there is no point dancing around it. In an ideal world, Hinds would not be on the short-list for the captaincy.But, in case we haven’t noticed, these are far from ideal times in West Indies cricket despite a few encouraging performances Down Under. Chanderpaul is out of his depth as captain, going back to Brian Lara at 36 is not an option and Ramnaresh Sarwan’s overall demeanour does not suggest that he can cope with such responsibility as yet. Taking the easy way out and making the job merely a reward for long service reeks of a trade union-type mentality that fails to recognise that leadership is not just about length of time in the job but the ability to motivate others. If the WICB directors or representatives can’t understand the need to break the old mould, then crapaud really smoke we pipe.The Australians have always taken pride in picking their best 11 players first and then choosing a captain from among them. Yet in Mark Taylor, they had a leader who was so desperately out of form during the 1996/97 season that he did not merit a place in the side. But the selectors stuck with him because he had the unwavering support of his team-mates and, very importantly, Australia kept on winning even if Taylor could hardly score a run.For the West Indies, the reverse is true. The regional side will continue to struggle never mind who is at the helm, so the captain will always be under pressure. However Hinds, who is very much an advocate of players’ rights as an executive member of the Players’ Association, might just be the one to heal the rifts created in the past year while at the same time work with Bennett King, West Indies’ coach, rather than simply take instructions from him.

Umar Gul, the Pakistani fast bowler, and Tahir Khan, the offspinner, again shared nine wickets, as they did in the first innings, while Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) defeated Pakistan Customs by an innings and 57 runs on the final day of their fourth-round Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1 at Karachi.The win took PIA to the top of the five-team ranking, with 15 points from three matches. Customs, with six points from as many appearances have slumped to the bottom spot and, after the elevation of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in the table, they are now faced with demotion to next season’s Grade-II circuit.Umar, who is on the comeback trail after missing more than a year of international cricket through injury, completed 10 wickets in the match, taking 5 for 87 yesterday to follow his 5 for 64 in the first innings. Customs were all out for 267.Tahir, who turns 25 on January 9, turned in an impressive allround performance in the match. He captured eight wickets, four in each innings, and contributed a fine unbeaten 69 with the bat, off only 76 balls with six fours and three sixes.Customs’ best batsman was Afsar Nawaz with a solid 72, made off 146 balls with seven fours. Hasnain Abbas, the opening batsman, hit 10 fours in his 64 off 129 deliveries. The rest, however, did not last long enough.Customs now need to beat the record seven-time Patron’s Trophy champions Habib Bank, in the fifth and final round match starting at the same venue from Tuesday. PIA’s last Group A match starts from the same day against Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex here. The top two teams from either group in the tournament qualify for the Quadrangular Stage round, which gets underway from January 15.Saeed Ajmal’s offspinners captured him a career-best 7 for 116 as Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) beat Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) by a convincing 101-run margin on the final day of their Patron’s Trophy match at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex at Karachi.KRL thus got a lift from the bottom position in the five-team points table to the third spot. They may have saved themselves from relegation to next season’s Grade-II circuit, but they must still watch the proceedings in the fifth and final round of the group league, that starts from Tuesday. KRL, in fact, have completed their schedule of four matches, of which they lost three and won just one for a total of nine points. Victory for either SNGPL or Pakistan Customs in the last round, or for both, can still put KRL’s position in jeopardy.On Friday, they set SNGPL a win target of 350 but Ajmal’s devastating offspin downed them for an eventual total of just 248. He not only achieved his best first-class bowling figures, but also gathered his first 10-wicket haul at this level. He actually ended with 11 for 141 in the match. Misbah-ul-Haq, SNGPL’s captain, and the experienced Saleem Mughal fought valiantly in a fourth-wicket stand of 86 but the rest of the order couldn’t maintain the tempo and succumbed to Ajmal’s guile and relentless pressure. Saleem top-scored with 79 off 163 balls with four fours and three sixes. Misbah’s 72 included five fours and two sixes and required 161 deliveries to make.SNGPL will now have to try and beat Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in their fifth and final round match, starting at the same venue from Tuesday. Like KRL, it is now they and Customs who are trying to save themselves from demotion.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) completed a four-wicket win over Service Industries on the final day of their Patron’s Trophy match at the Sheikhupura Stadium on Saturday. It was their first win in three matches and Service Industries’ third defeat in four appearances. Having completed their schedule of four matches with no points at all, Service have suffered the humiliation of being demoted to next season’s non-first-class Patron’s Trophy Grade-II circuit once again.Having resumed at their overnight 184 for 6, Service managed to add only nine more runs in six overs yesterday morning to be dismissed for 193.This left ZTBL a modest target of 169 which they achieved with minor hiccups for the loss of six wickets. For ZTBL, Mohammad Siddiq, the fast bowler, captured a first-class career-best 6 for 55 in 26.5 overs. He was at the forefront enabling his team to clinch the first-innings lead, when he made an unbeaten 39 at No.10 and featured prominently in an invaluable 44-run last-wicket partnership.Atif Ashraf, the opening batsman, and Bilal Asad compiled a splendid 108-run stand for the third wicket after the first two wickets had fallen with only five runs on the board. Atif top-scored with 63 off 91 balls with 11 fours while Bilal made 47 off 78 balls with eight fours and a six. Naved Ashraf, the captain, then took ZTBL nearer victory with a fluent 28. For Service, Mohammad Irshad, with 3 for 51, and his new-ball partner Jamshed Ahmed 3 for 55 bowled well.In the fifth and final round starting from Tuesday, four-time Patron’s Trophy champions ZTBL will meet five-time winners National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground in Lahore. Neither team gained any points as the fourth-round Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match between National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) was fogged-out for the fourth day running at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground on Saturday. Even a single innings could not be played to its limit, as WAPDA, resuming at 249 for 9, added a solitary run when the match was called off due to poor weather, bad light and the heavy fog.WAPDA, who were the tournament runners-up in 2003-04, thus remain at second place in the five-team Group B table with 12 points from three matches. NBP have been Patron’s Trophy champions on five occasions and they continue to be at the third spot with a tally of nine points.With only 7.3 overs play possible on Wednesday’s opening day, the second day saw 60.1 overs being bowled. The count was down to 15.2 on Friday while a mere two overs could be sent down on the final day before the umpires decided to end the players’ agony.NBP will now play their fifth and final round match, starting from Tuesday, against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the same venue. WAPDA have their next match coming up from the same day against top-of-the-table Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), at the Sheikhupura Stadium.

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Hemant Punoo, USA’s captain, led from the front to spearhead his side’s win in the Under-19 World Cup on Tuesday. Punoo’s 2 for 36 and aggressive 64 with the bat allowed his side to beat Namibia by two wickets with an over to spare and, consequently, means they will now face New Zealand in the Plate Championship semi-final on Wednesday. Namibiar were, at one stage, batting nicely thanks to half-centuries from Pieter Grove (58) and Dawid Botha (56). They reached 121 for 2 and later on were 151 for 3 only to be reined back in the latter stages of the innings. In reply, with his side struggling on 44 for 3, Punoo played a vital innings and reached his fifty in 76 balls as the USA crept home by two wickets.
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Uganda’s batting again failed as they failed to chase down a modest total from Nepal of 193. The Ugandans were dismissed for just 132; their previous efforts of 74 (Pakistan), 137 (New Zealand) and 84 (Bangladesh) means that, in four matches, their average total is just 107. Nepal adopted a high-risk strategy of batting first despite the fact no other team had done that after winning the toss at the venue throughout the competition so far. It looked to be a costly gamble, too, as they slipped to 85 for 5 before Gayanendra Malla (64) and Basant Regmi (42 not out) hauled them back to post a useful total, if not a dominating one, of 192 for 9. They needn’t have worried: although Uganda’s openers, Hamza Almuzahim (24) and Arthur Kyobe (16) added 56 for the first wicket, they quickly slipped to 65 for 4. Jimmy Okello (18) and Semanda (23) staged a mini-recovery, but it was too little too late.
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A brisk hundred from Blake Snijman helped Gauteng take charge of their match against Easterns on the second day at Benoni. Starting the day on 4 without loss, their top three fell to leave them stumbling on 37 for 3. But Diaan van Wyk (63) joined Snijman and together the pair put on 132 for the fifth wicket. Easterns struck back by dismissing both players, as Gauteng ended on 267 for 7 and hold a lead of 132.The match was abandoned at Paarl between Boland and KwaZulu-Natal due to cracks in the pitch. Martin Bekker and Tahir Essack both brought up their fifties for KwaZulu-Natal before falling in quick succession. Robert Frylinck struck a run-a-ball fifty and remained unbeaten when the umpires called the match off at lunch.

Dan Cullen, the South Australia offspinner, has replaced Mick Lewis as the only change in Australia’s one-day squad for the tour of Bangladesh beginning in April. The Test side remains unchanged after a series win in South Africa.”It’s been a tough few weeks and I’m obviously disappointed to be left out of the Australian team,” said Lewis. “There was a lot of noise following the final game in South Africa, and while it wasn’t my favourite performance, I don’t believe that this was the only reason for my omission.”The conditions in Bangladesh suit the spinners a bit more, so it’s understandable that a quick missed out. The selectors have shown with the likes of Kaspa [Michael Kasprowicz] that being dropped doesn’t mean the end of the road so I’ll push as hard as I can to regain my form, and hopefully my spot in the team.”Lewis had a torrid time during Australia’s 3-2 loss to South Africa in the recent one-day series. He picked up just two wickets in three games and conceded a world record 113 runs from ten overs in the final game at Johannesburg. He also received a flogging in the Pura Cup final against Queensland, taking 1 for 156 from 39 overs. Lewis will play for Durham during the Australian winter.Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said that the extra spinner would be useful for the conditions in Bangladesh. “With the players in the current squad we feel we are well covered for the conditions that may prevail in Bangladesh. We have brought Daniel Cullen into the one-day squad to give him an opportunity to perform at the next level,” said Hohns. “It will be a good test for Daniel and we think it is the right time to give him some experience and a chance to be a part of the Australian team environment.”Test squad
Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Stuart MacGill, Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark, Michael KasprowiczODI squad
Adam Gilchrist (wk), Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Brad Hogg, Stuart Clark, Daniel Cullen, Mitchell Johnson

Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn have been added to South Africa’s squad for the third and final Test against Australia at the Wanderers which starts on Friday. Both have played just three Tests but they are in strong domestic form and may help South Africa recover some pride after losing the series at Durban on Tuesday.The chairman of selectors Haroon Lorgat said: “Both have had exposure to Test cricket and have been in good form this season. They will bring fresh options in both the middle order and bowling departments for the third Test. We will sit down and discuss possible scenarios in the next two days.”Amla’s Test debut was in November 2004, against India in Kolkata, and he played the first two Tests against England last season, scoring 62 runs. He made a strong case for his inclusion as the leading runscorer in this year’s Supersport Series, with 873 runs from 10 matches at an average of 62.35.Steyn played in three of the Tests against England, taking eight wickets with his pace bowling. He is rewarded for his good form for the Nashua Titans in the Supersport Series, taking 41 wickets at 17.68 in eight matches in the round-robin phase.The remainder of the squad is unchanged for the dead rubber.

* * * *Lorgat also announced the Rest of South Africa XI to play New Zealand in a four-day match at Willowmoore Park in Benoni which starts on Friday 7th April. The team will be led by Neil McKenzie, who captains the Highveld Lions. Players from the Nashua Dolphins and the Nashua Titans were not considered for selection due to their involvement in the Supersport Series Final.Stephen Cook replaces Boeta Dippenaar, who has been ruled out with a bout of flu. Johan van der Wath – who recently underwent an operation on his knee – is replaced by Rory Kleinveldt and Vaughn van Jaarsveld comes in as 12th manRest of South Africa XIStephen Cook, Alviro Peterson, Davey Jacobs, Neil McKenzie (capt), JP Duminy, Justin Ontong, Thami Tsolekile (wkt), Rory Kleinveldt, Robin Peterson, Garnett Kruger, Monde Zondeki. Vaughn van Jaarsveld

Sky may have shown a huge commitment to covering the Tests, but you can’t argue with viewing figures. Their audience of just over 100,000 was just a sixth of what Channel 4 gleaned on the opening day of England’s summer last year.Channel Five, though, will be delighted with their viewership of 600,000, according to unofficial figures, which represented a 4% audience share. That’s nearly double their audience for the same slot of 7.15 – 8pm last week, where 400,000 viewers watched the wildlife documentary Rogue Raiders.In fact, Cricket on Five’s figures weren’t too far shy of those recorded by Channel 4 on the opening day of last year’s summer, against Bangladesh, with 700,000 viewers. But last year, of course, viewers had access to cricket on terrestrial throughout the day – and that was before the upsurge in interest generated by the Ashes.

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Rikki Clarke had the Midas touch today and he will be sorely hoping his performance will mean a golden ticket into England’s one-day squad tomorrow. With four wickets and four sharp catches he could not have done more to help Surrey squeeze Leicestershire out for 251.Clarke’s tail was up throughout. Even in the last session he was still bouncing in like a golden labrador until, having worried Leicestershire throughout, he finished them off in his 16th over. On a picnic-perfect day, he fittingly grabbed the champagne moment, too, leaping to pluck from thin air John Maunders’ crashing thump to gully off Mohammad Akram (63 for 2).Maunders and Darren Robinson had been progressing quietly until Clarke thundered in to shatter Robinson’s stumps, and Maunders then fell on the same score. Bounding in with verve and aggression, Clarke also put paid to Dinesh Mongia, snapping up his checked drive after the batsman had been threatening to spoil Surrey’s picnic with Ackerman, adding 54 for the fourth wicket (147 for 4).But Mongia’s fall heralded a collapse: Leicestershire lost five wickets for 24 runs.Ian Salisbury spearheaded this charge from the Vauxhall End, taking three wickets, including the dangerman Ackerman for a clean-hit 58 and Paul Nixon four balls later. Both were trapped sweeping. Ackerman had threatened to cloud matters with a fast and furious fifty, and Claude Henderson was going great guns later until he was stranded on 46 not out, but this was Surrey’s day in the sun.Henderson did share a ninth-wicket stand of 60 with Stuart Broad which added some fizz. There was a bang, wallop moment, too, when Broad succumbed, swishing, to the inevitable Clarke. Showing the same spirit as his father, Chris, Broad bashed his bat down onto the ground in frustration and trudged off. He returned later with fire in his belly, bowling sharply but no wickets to show. Mohammad Asif grabbed the only Surrey wicket to go, a plumb Scott Newman.Newman is another man with England hopes, but it’s an older man, Clarke, who will be keeping a close eye out when the team is announced tomorrow.

Brian Lara and Muttiah Muralitharan are two of a host of leading players from around the world who have confirmed their availability for a charity game against the touring Pakistani side on July 10 at The Oval. The Twenty20 game, organised to raise funds for the victims of last October’s earthquake which struck northern territories of Pakistan, includes players from seven Test-playing nations.”It’s fantastic to have such strong support from all of these magnificent cricketers,” Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive commented. “The likes of Lara and Muralitharan are huge draw cards, worth the admission prices alone, so we’re expecting a big crowd to come along and watch what should be a hugely entertaining match.”Approximately 10,000 tickets have already been sold for the match, and are available at Surrey’s website for £20.The match will raise money for the Oval Cricket Relief Trust, which last year raised over £1 million for victims of the Tsunami.International XI team confirmed to play in the match:Rahul Dravid (capt), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini, Azhar Mahmood, Chris Cairns, Andrew Hall, Darren Gough, Mohammad Akram

Three days is all it took for England’s summer to take on an entirely new complexion. Their performance at Old Trafford displayed all the qualities of ruthlessness and aggression that had been lacking in previous performances. Now they aim to carry that momentum into the Headingley Test and wrap up a morale-boosting series win that would avenge their 2-0 defeat in Pakistan last winter.The questions that had been raised in the opening encounter at Lord’s – Andrew Strauss’s captaincy, Steve Harmison’s hunger and Monty Panesar’s effectiveness – were given very emphatic answers. Then, two days after their win, England surprisingly decided to solve another conundrum – what to do with Geraint Jones. The move to drop him, because of form not his finger injury, and hand Chris Read a recall is interesting because of its timing. Read’s every move over the next two Tests will be scrutinised in minute detail, starting with his performance at Leeds.The likelihood is that Read will be the only change from the XI that stormed home at Old Trafford. Although only two England bowlers – Harmison and Panesar – took wickets in the last Test, the attack was well-balanced and showed how, in the worst-case scenario, England can go about winning Tests with four bowlers.Sajid Mahmood is the man under pressure for his place, but there were glimpses of his potential and he has the raw qualities of pace and bounce that Duncan Fletcher so admires. A return to Jon Lewis – for what would surely be another one-off game – would be harking back to the bad old days of horses for courses at Headingley, a strategy which has rarely proved successful. However, the pitch is not expected to suit Harmison as much as Old Trafford.The batting is ticking along nicely, even without contributions from Marcus Trescothick and Kevin Pietersen. They have yet to register a half-century between them in the series and at some point the youngsters are not going to rock up and score a century. “Of course I want to get runs every time I go out to bat so it is not an ideal situation,” said Trescothick, who averages 45 at Headingley. “I have not seen it as I would have liked to over the last couple of games or played as well as I can do. Hopefully, it will kick back in this week. It’s always nice when you turn up at a ground knowing the last time you were here you did well.”

After being in charge of England’s 5-0 one-day whitewash against Sri Lanka, Strauss is relieved to be on the winning trail as captain. “That was a pretty bleak day [after the final ODI] and the drive back to London that evening. But we take a lot of heart and a lot of confidence from what went on at Old Trafford.”Winning a Test match without Fred [Flintoff] was important for us just to prove toourselves and others that there is life without Fred. Hopefully, he’ll be back as soon as possible [from an ankle injury] but until then it is important we can churn out victories without him.”However, he is aware that England mustn’t let their focus drift: “I’m always wary of the match after games like that because it’s easy psychologically to take your foot off the gas a little bit and that is something we need to address and make sure doesn’t happen to us this week.”Pakistan can’t really sink much lower than Manchester; it was a display that showcased the worst side of their cricket. Bob Woolmer has a huge task to turn their form around for the final two games, but the mercurial nature of Pakistan cricket means they are just as likely to produce a matchwinning display at Headingley as they are to produce another dismal effort to match Old Trafford.They are set to field a new opening partnership after the double failure of Kamran Akmal at the top of the order and Imran Farhat’s broken finger. Woolmer has also hinted that they will consider altering the balance of their attack in favour of four pacemen instead of playing both Danish Kaneria and Shahid Afridi.In their current frame of mind, England won’t mind who they face. After a performance of such dominance as they produced at Old Trafford, and the ingredients of their success being pace and spin, thoughts are again heading towards the winter. However, England are well aware of the dangers of complacency. Pakistan have gained a steely edge under Woolmer and will be determined to keep the series alive.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Alastair Cook, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Sajid Mahmood, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Monty PanesarPakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Mohammad Sami, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Shahid Nazir 11 Danish Kaneria