So how will the first World Cup staged in the West Indies be remembered?Will it be how Simon Barnes put it in the , as “the worst sporting event in history”, or as Owen Arthur called it: “a tremendous success”?The detached sports writer and the involved prime minister clearly saw it from two entirely different perspectives, which is bound to be the case for most observers. Certainly, the cherished dream of Chris Dehring, the chief organiser, that it would be the best World Cup ever proved to be an illusion. It was always an unrealistic aim; and even though there were extenuating circumstances, it turned into a nightmare.The vision of Dehring, as all West Indians, was for Brian Lara, showered in champagne and against the backdrop of dazzling fireworks, to be holding the trophy aloft at the remade Kensington Oval as his became the first team to win the cup on home turf.That script further called for a gripping tournament, filled with brilliant performances and close contests, played in front of large, enthusiastic, cosmopolitan crowds stirred by the spirit of the Caribbean. It was a far-fetched scenario but the eventual reality was even more improbable.By the time the cup was presented, for the third successive time to Australia, there was general relief that the tournament was over. It was too long, contained too many lop-sided matches and was blighted with bad luck from the shocking murder of Bob Woolmer that threatened its very continuation within the first week to the shambles that was the showpiece final.It seemed somehow appropriate that it should end as it did, with the disappointment of the first of the nine finals to be shortened by the weather compounded by the ignorance of four highly-paid, supposedly experienced officials that erroneously extended it into the darkness of overtime.By then, the West Indies, ill-prepared for such an important assignment, had been dishonourably discharged and Lara was a week into retirement. There was no doubt who the irritated public held responsible for the mess.At the presentation ceremony after the final Malcolm Speed, International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive, Ken Gordon, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, and Dehring, the chief executive of World Cup, were each roundly booed. Whether such derision was justified is a moot point.But instead of the tournament being the best ever, it was condemned in the international media as, variously, a shambles, a disaster, and a debacle, to go along with Barnes’ hyperbolic assessment. Yet, at the same time and for justifiable reasons, Arthur was in buoyant mood. Avid cricket fan that he is, the cricket in itself was not his main concern. He was fully satisfied with how his nation coped with what he saw as “definitely the most complex thing that Barbadian society, not the Government, has had to do”.When the tournament was awarded to the Caribbean, and the Super Eights round and the final to Barbados, Arthur said it was “an expression of confidence of who we are and what we can do as a people”. It was significant, he felt, that the governments of such small states “should pursue the belief that this region should host something as important as a World Cup”.The people, not least those who staffed the local organising committees (LOCs) in the three years preparing for the event and the thousands of helpful volunteers who were a feature at every venue, proved conclusively that they can cope with a global event of this magnitude.All the pre-tournament doubts over internal travel and accommodation, based on practical experience, proved largely unfounded. Not every bag arrived in every island at the same time as its owner but there were none of the predicted foul-ups, and the use of cruise liners between Barbados, Grenada and St Lucia in the closing stages could be the template for a new method of regional travel. While there were valid complaints from visitors about the cricket and matters related to the cricket, the overall Caribbean experience made an unmistakable impression.The 6000 or so Australians who descended on St Lucia and Barbados for the last two matches, and the few hundred Irish who celebrated as only they can their team’s unlikely passage through the first round in Jamaica, are unlikely ever to forget it. Judging by comments in the press from a cross-section of other nationalities, this is generally true.But more telling considerations will follow for Arthur and other prime ministers. They have to convince their constituents that their massive financial investment was worth it and that benefits will follow through the much-hyped legacy.

It is imperative that proposals for maximising the use of the fantastic new and renovated stadia be put quickly in place. Otherwise, they will become a drag on the several economies and on the electoral status of governing parties. For those concerned solely with the cricket side of the cup, “tremendous success” was hardly a fitting description, although unforeseen circumstances conspired against it.Only two things remained constant throughout – the awesome invincibility of Australia and the adversity that stalked the event at every turn.Sandwiched between Woolmer’s murder and the fiasco of the final, two of the most attractive teams, India and Pakistan, and consequently their fans, were eliminated in the first round; the keen interest of West Indians was diminished by their team’s four losses in five Super Eights encounters, and match after match meandered towards its predictable conclusion.Of the 51 matches over the six weeks (not counting the unofficial warm-ups), six were won by more than 200 runs, including one semi-final, seven by 100 or more and seven by eight wickets or more. Only four went into the last over.Bangladesh and Ireland were the fairy-tale qualifiers over India and Pakistan. Their success was spirited, deserved and a tremendous boon to the game in their countries; but it diminished the quality of the cup. In any sporting tournament, upsets are likely and not every contest will be tense and exciting. But such shocks and mismatches were heavy body blows.If such developments on the field were beyond the control of the ICC, World Cup and the LOCs, matters off the field were not.Anxious to demonstrate the so-called globalisation of the sport and against repeated, if unofficial, advice, the ICC increased the number of teams to 16 and kept the length over six weeks. The tedium typified in South Africa four years earlier was now amplified by the proliferation of dud matches.There surely must be a review for the next World Cup, in 2011, to ensure that there is more urgency to the contests in the later stages and that the Super Eights are not compromised by matches that end before lunch (or dinner) and feature top teams that omit their leading players with a semi-final in mind.From the start, the tight restrictions imposed at and around the stadiums, also a complaint in South Africa, and the exorbitant ticket prices rankled fans who saw them as the high-handedness of planners concerned only with gratifying sponsors, lacking a feel for the game and for the uniqueness of the Caribbean, and with little consideration for the pockets of the average West Indian.These, more than anything else, led to the heckling of Speed, Gordon and Dehring, even though several of the more draconian measures were relaxed towards the end. There were hundreds of lessons to be learned by the ICC, the WICB and regional governments from World Cup 2007. They would be foolish not to heed them.

Cricket Scotland has secured another two year’s sponsorship with Lloyd’s TSB, extending their association until 2009.”The profile of cricket in Scotland has increased significantly since we first became main sponsor,” Lisa Stephenson, director of marketing at Lloyds TSB Scotland said. “It is one of the largest participative and inclusive sports we have and is a perfect fit with our brand and our business. We are extremely proud to have been associated with this growth in popularity.”Roddy Smith, Cricket Scotland’s chief executive, was delighted with the deal and is excited by the future benefits the continued sponsorship will bring. “Lloyds TSB Scotland is a much valued partner, and the support we have received to date has played a significant part in the development of the game in Scotland,” he said. “Against a backdrop where other national teams are losing or changing sponsors, it is a major coup for cricket to secure continued support at this level.”

New Zealand’s wicketkeeping exchange has continued with Derek de Boorder moving from Auckland to Otago. The switch should mean de Boorder, 21, a former New Zealand Under-19 player, has a strong chance of making his first-class debut next season.The merry-go-round began last month when Brendon McCullum announced he was returning to Otago after a four-year stint at Canterbury. That in turn led Gareth Hopkins, McCullum’s back-up in the national side, to shift from Otago to Auckland to avoid a clash with McCullum. However, de Boorder would have then found himself behind Hopkins and Reece Young at Auckland.His decision to sign with Otago means he will be a strong chance to fill in for McCullum when he is unavailable because of international duties. Last season, Otago used the opening batsman and occasional gloveman Shaun Haig as their reserve when Hopkins could not play.At Auckland, de Boorder was only given one opportunity at senior level, in a one-day match in 2005-06. As well as playing in the national under-age side, he was chosen in the New Zealand Academy squad for the emerging players tournament in Brisbane in 2005.

New Zealand will prepare for the Chappell-Hadlee Series in December by appearing in the annual Lilac Hill fixture in Western Australia. The 18th edition of the match was in doubt due to the altered international calendar, but New Zealand agreed to use the game against the Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI on December 7 to assist their defence of the trophy.”We are ecstatic that the Lilac Hill tradition, which has spanned almost two decades, will continue,” Graeme Wood, the Western Australian Cricket Association chief executive, said. New Zealand have a Twenty20 International against Australia at the WACA on December 11 before the first of three Chappell-Hadlee games starting in Adelaide on December 14.Michael Brown, the Cricket Australia manger of operations, was pleased New Zealand Cricket had agreed to keep the game on the summer schedule. “I’m sure this traditional fixture will again be one of the highlights of the summer in Western Australia,” he said. Sri Lanka will play two Tests in Australia in November, but India’s delayed arrival means the first of the four Tests will begin in Melbourne on Boxing Day.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said that it was difficult to judge how much Bangladeshpushed the hosts because of the quality of cricket his team played in both the Testand one-day international series. Jayawardene’s men routed Bangladesh with comprehensive 3-0 victories in both the Test and one-day series, not giving the opposition any chance to make a comeback.”They tested us on a few occasions in the Test matches as well as in the ODIs, but we showed a lot of quality and a lot of character to come back from different situations and we challenged ourselves to be different. We could have taken things easily but we didn’t. We wanted to play very positively even in the Test matches and try to get it done with as quickly as possible. In that manner it is very difficult to say whether Bangladesh really pushed us,” he said.”The way Bangladesh plays, they come hard at you for a while and then they give up. You just need to hang in there for that period and fight it off. Once we get that advantage we just move forward. That has been the pattern throughout the series. Our game plan was to not let them have early success. That was the trend even today. We never took the foot off the pedal. Weneeded to win the series 3-0, that’s the goal we set ourselves. The way we finished it off showed we played good cricket.”Jayawardene was all praise for Man-of-the-Match Jehan Mubarak who was the top scorer in thematch with an 83-ball 72. “It’s brilliant to see the way Jehan batted today. We opened roles for a lot of guys and Jehan put his hand up and said that he is ready to take responsibility, which isexcellent. Today’s innings showed that we can fit him in at any position in the batting line-up. We started off with him at seven. Today we pushed him at five just to give him more batting time in the middle,” Jayawardene said.Mubarak who has been in and out of the team due to indifferent form said: “There hasalways been talk that I have not been playing to my full potential and making use ofthe opportunities I’ve got. In that context it is definitely satisfying to go out there and win a match for your country in slightly difficult circumstances.”It gives me a lot of confidence and a feeling that I belong in this team and that I am a part of the team. I feel that my game now is a bit more complete than what it was a year ago. There’s a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully I can build on it and cement my place in the side.”Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, felt they had missed a great opportunity to beat Sri Lanka who were without the service of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. “Both in the first match and today we had a chance of winning, but our batting let us down. Although we missed a number of chances today, our bowling was good torestrict Sri Lanka to a total of 196 in 40 overs, but our batting has been thebiggest problem. Throughout the series the bowlers have bowled well. The resultshave not come our way because of the batting. There is room for improvement, wecould have done much better.”Asked whether Bangladesh missed the services of former coach Dav Whatmore, Ashrafulreplied: “Shaun Williams did a very commendable job in the series. If the playersdon’t play well, even Whatmore or any other coach can’t do much.”The match was also the farewell for Sri Lanka’s interim coach Trevor Penney who willbe joining Tom Moody as his assistance in Western Australia.”Half way through the match I was worried whether we were going to win. I really wanted to go out with a win. At the end before the last wicket fell I thought this is the last time I will be with the guys. That was quite a sad moment but I’ve made my decision and I’ve got to move on with it now,” Penney said.Penney described the Sri Lankan team as “a talented bunch of cricketers” and saidthat he was very much impressed with the progress they have made over the past twoyears. “When I first came they weren’t batting well but the players have made a lot ofimprovements, most importantly the middle order batting in one-day cricket. Themiddle to late-order, that’s a real plus for me. The fielding’s improved and so manythings. I’ve made a lot of friends, and that’s the saddest part,” he said.Sri Lanka will have four weeks off from international cricket and when they begin inSeptember they will have Trevor Bayliss as coach and Paul Farbrace as assistantcoach for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.

Bruce Aanensen has handed in his resignation as West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive. The board will now meet to discuss whether or not to accept the decision, potentially bringing to a close a turbulent six months in the Caribbean.”I have sent in my letter of resignation to the president. He has indicated to me that they are going to meet on Wednesday to discuss the letter and hence I think that it is inappropriate for me to comment on the matter at this point,” Aanensen told .”Surely by Thursday of this week, I would be able to make a comment and give the reasons for my decision.”Barry Thomas, the WICB’s chief financial officer, is expected to act as CEO in the interim. Aanensen is currently on vacation. Aanensen took up the position in February this year, replacing Roger Brathwaite, who stepped down the previous year.Aanensen told CMC Sports he will explain the reasons for his resignation after the board meets in Barbados on Wednesday. “I have sent in my letter of resignation to the president. He has indicated to me they are going to meet on Wednesday to discuss the letter and I think that it is inappropriate for me to comment on the matter at this point,” he said.The decision will, no doubt be a popular one with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), who have called for him to step down after a series of disputes. WIPA’s stance came about initially after comments attributed to Aanensen in which he referred to the West Indies team as ‘incompetent’. But since February, Aanensen has been involved in a number of clashes with the players’ body.There were disagreements over players’ contracts in the run-in to the World Cup and he was also involved in the dispute surrounding the summer tour to England and whether it was a part of the ICC’s Future Tours Programme.Dinanath Ramnarine, President WIPA, subsequently wrote in a letter to the board that he found it difficult to work with Aanensen and that his management style was “unfortunate and surprising for a CEO who has only recently assumed his position”. Ramnarine denied writing the letter. however.Ramnarine’s subsequent appointment as a director with the board is thought to have made Aanensen’s position untenable. But the decision by the new president of the WICB, Julian Hunte, to work with WIPA in resolving all outstanding issues, is thought to have played a determining role in Aanensen’s decision.Hunte is keen to improve the board’s relationship with WIPA and, according to the respected “has been working behind the scenes to get the players paid but Aanensen has been firm in his belief that issuing the payments will put him in legal hot water.”The website further reports that In his resignation, Aanensen cited being caught between a rock and a hard place – likely to be pushed out if he refused Hunte’s directive or facing legal problems if he went ahead and issued payments.

If bygone generations of Indian fans were openlyenthralled by – and secretly coveted – an unendingline of Pakistani pacemen, so too will this generationof Pakistani fans come to appreciate and marvel at thecurrent generation of Indian batsmen and envy them. Ineach case, the enchantment, the fascination has been aderivative as much of their wondrous skills as aglaring paucity of similar resources.Who, for instance, in the Pakistani line-up, can matchthe sheer ballast of Virender Sehwag? Against Pakistanin this series, Sehwag has pillaged runs. Today, withminimum foot movement and fuss, as his is wont, andmaximum hand-eye coordination and threat, as is hisnature, he cut and drove at will, usually audaciouslyand imperiously.Arguably Inzamam-ul-Haq, now at his peak, possesses themastery over conditions and bowling as SachinTendulkar once did. Tendulkar provided a brief glimpse of his skill,passing his 10,000th run and compiling a composed 40thTest fifty. But the one batsman, the glittering jewelin a lavishly studded crown, that Pakistan must cravefor the most is Rahul Dravid.Last year, when Dravid compiled that immense 270 atRawalpindi, Yasir Hameed, standing at point, dropped asitter on 71. Hameed confessed later, onlyhalf-jokingly but revealingly, that he was takinglessons in watching a master at work. Those two daysin Rawalpindi, the sun beat down relentlessly, muchlike Eden Gardens today. As much as the heat, Dravid can be sapping on opposition bowlers.Ball after ball he repels with a painstakingly,composed and studious defense, standing up straightand tall for anything short and crouching forward toswat any mischief in the bounce or movement for fuller-length deliveries. And just in case he still getsbeaten by either, he brings soft hands into play,killing off any unnecessary edges. On this base, hebuilds.His first boundary against Abdul Razzaq was special,leaning into a wide, good-length delivery and drivingthrough just wide of mid-off. To bring up his 19thcentury late in the afternoon, he saved his best. WhenMohammad Sami, beginning an energetic spell, pitchedwide, he got down on one knee to steer through thecovers. Next ball, to bring up the landmark, he leantdown on a ball drifting onto middle and, with astraight bat and a twinkle of the wrists, drovebetween mid-on and midwicket. Many batsmen,particularly from this part of the world, would haveput it squarer, with exaggerated and more supplewrist work, but not Dravid.When he got something short enough, he recoiled;crouch down, step forward then lean back, move andposition the feet wide enough for balance, and uncoila cut, late or early. For effect, to highlight theextent of his mastery perhaps, he nonchalantly pickedup a legspinner from Kaneria outside off-stump overhis head for six, a rare result of any Dravid shot.For much of the day, there was little Pakistan’smeagre resources could do but watch the masterclass,hoping maybe to pick up a tip here or there. They werecommitted in the field and although their bowlingcurrently is unlikely to be anyone’s object of envy,you can’t fault it for perseverance. Shahid Afridiadded an unlikely chapter to the story of his recentredemption, hurrying batsmen, mixing his spin and paceand running onto the pitch twice for added drama.Supported well by Razzaq and, towards the end of the day, by Sami, they made up for an understandably fatiguedDanish Kaneria.But most noticeable, and as a parting thought,consider this. Pakistan’s fightback in the finalsession occurred without Inzamam on the field andYounis Khan as stand-in. You can put it down tocoincidence, as something that just happens incricket, or you can conclude that Pakistan’s rewardsin the last session were the result of theiremancipation from Inzamam’s lethargy as a leader.Certainly the verve and visible enthusiasm with whichYounis ran around the field, marshallingfielders, setting fields and talking regularly, almostexcessively, to his bowlers, contrasted starkly withInzamam. Was his vibrancy infectious enough for theteam to respond in kind and haul back what could havebeen a desperate situation? Or was it justhappenstance that this team, which in any case hasdeveloped a will to fight, most memorably and recentlyin Mohali, did so with Inzamam off the field?

A deadly leave
By the 16th over of the Karachi Test, Pakistan had dumped their fast bowlers and proceeded to try four spinners. It was a different story in Lahore as, aided by a seaming pitch, Mohammad Asif strolled in for his ninth over of the day. The ball pitched at a good length but was wide enough of off-stump for Hashim Amla not to play at it. So he shouldered arms, letting the ball pass. Next thing he heard was the death rattle as the off-cutter shaped in sharply and left him shocked. Asif, meanwhile, celebrated as if it was nothing special.Run, Inzi, run
Umar Gul steamed in for his second over after lunch and as Jacques Kallis loosely drove a wide but fast full-pitched delivery, Younis Khan dived forward at second slip only for the ball to fall short. The ball bounced off Younis’ hand and raced towards the vacant third-man boundary only for someone from first slip to run down and stop it. Surprising many by the sprint, especially so soon after lunch, Inzamam-ul-Haq was keen to makehis last Test a memorable one as the batsmen managed just two runs.Inzi at it again
As Asif replaced an innocuous Gul in the post-lunch session, he finally managed to induce an outside edge off Ashwell Prince’s bat after beating him on several occasions. The edge, left alone by the wicketkeeper when it was his for the taking, failed to carry to Inzamam at first slip and he could only palm it on to the helmets kept behind the stumps. Inzamam’s first significant contribution to the Test: adding five runs to the score, but in the opposition’s name.A grand welcome
His eights wickets on debut brought Abdur Rehman in for a lot of praise from pundits and team-mates alike. He also managed to keep his place in the team for this match ahead of a third pace bowler. A confident start was what he was looking at when finally introduced in the 51st over of the day. Spinning the ball into Prince, he was driven to the boundary and spinning it away from Kallis he was driven over it as his first six balls yielded eleven runs. A subtle reminder that cricket is a great leveller.Great shot … that’s out
The shadows had started to lengthen and Pakistan decided to take the new ball straight away for some late breakthroughs. As Asif once again caused the batsmen ample problems, Mark Boucher decided to break the shackles and drove him fiercely back down the ground. The straightest of hits whisked Asif’s fingers on the way to hitting the stumps at the bowler’s end as AB de Villiers suffered the unluckiest of dismissals after scoring a solid 45.

MCC 199 and 110 for 6 beat New South Wales 180 and 128 by four wickets
ScorecardMany leading players were absent from both elevens, for while MCC left out Jardine, Allen, Sutcliffe, Voce, Larwood and Paynter, New South Wales were without O’Reilly, Oldfield, McCabe, Hird, Bill and Theak. The match was naturally robbed of much of its importance, but about 25,000 were present on the opening day when the home side made 169 for 5 after losing their first four wickets for 68 runs. The feature of the opening day’s play was the partnership of 101 between Brown, aged 19, and Rowe, a left-handed batsman who is only 17, and some excellent bowling by Mitchell, who began by taking three wickets for 12 runs. Brown, who took three hours over his runs, made some beautiful cuts and was strong on the leg side. Rowe scored much more rapidly, and when play was abandoned for the day owing to bad light, had scored 67 in 74 minutes. Earlier in the afternoon rain caused the cricket to be held up for three quarters of an hour.On the second day, on a rain-damaged wicket, the batsmen found runs very difficult to obtain. The last five NSW wickets fell for 11 runs. Wyatt played excellent cricket for his runs and with Verity added 71 for the third wicket, while Leyland and Brown made some big hits off Chilvers, both claiming a six, but with the tail failing MCC’s lead was only 19. However, before play ended NSW lost Fingleton for 36.Considering the difficulty of the wicket Bradman’s innings of 71 was a splendid effort. Playing with care he punished any loose ball most effectively. He was eventually caught at short leg off Hammond, who bowled his off breaks with great effect and frequently got the ball to rise to a nasty height, and had four short legs very close in. At one time MCC looked to be in danger of defeat as six wickets were down for 70, but Tate hit out well and with Brown as his partner the necessary runs were obtained. Chilvers was the best of the NSW bowlers, some of his balls turning very quickly from leg. Howell, a fast medium bowler with an offbreak, is a son of the old Australian Test cricketer who took all ten Surrey wickets at the Oval in 1899.

Ravi Bopara, the England allrounder, was today hurt in a car crash while on a demonstration of off-road driving.Bopara, who is due to travel with the England party for next month’s Test series in Sri Lanka, was shaken and suffered a cut to an arm after his 4×4 vehicle overturned on farmland near the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent.Bopara and his Essex team-mate, Alastair Cook, were guests of Volkswagen who sponsor the England team’s vehicles.An ambulance was called to the farm after Bopara, who was under supervision by an experienced demonstrator driver, lost control. There was another passenger, but it is understood no one was seriously injured.”I usually get worse cuts and bruises diving around the outfield,” Bopara said. “I’m not sure how it happened. We were bombing it down a hill and hit a bump at the end. But they are such good cars we hardly felt a thing.”The ECB says it will not stop such sponsor’s events. A spokesman told : “There is no plan to review the promotion work of our players. This event was organised through the PCA and we are happy for that to continue.”The PCA oversees commercial activity for England players. It will not stop members taking part, either, although there will be a review over the crash. A spokesman said: “We are confident that it is a one-off.”