When they arrived in Guyana, South Africa were well aware that nothingless than six points would suffice as they sought to seal a place in thelast four of the World Cup. Having stumbled on home soil four years ago,failure is not an option for the team’s stalwarts, many of whom won’t bearound in four years time.Ahead of Saturday’s game against Bangladesh, South Africa are right oncourse to leave Georgetown with the perfect record that they desire,having held off Sri Lanka in a thrilling finish before outclassingIreland. Bangladesh, who upset India in the opening phase, haven’t comeclose to beating South Africa before, but Graeme Smith was taking nothing forgranted on a slow pitch that may aid the opposition’s strengths.”Bangladesh base a lot of their attack on their three spinners,” he said,no doubt aware of the six wickets that they combined for against India.”They have a very young batting line-up that has been a bit unpredictablethroughout the tournament. They have played aggressive at times and beendefensive at others. I think they are caught a little in between on howthey should play.”Victory over India increased the expectations back in Bangladesh tohigh-rise levels, and subsequent disappointments against Australia and NewZealand resulted in Habibul Bashar, the captain, being subjected to harshcriticism. Smith clearly doesn’t envy his opposite number, but suggestedthat such things might be par for the course now that Bangladesh are nolonger looked upon as a minnow.”Now that they are in the Super Eight, there is a lot of pressure on them fromback home to still carry on beating top teams,” he said. “It’s a differentenvironment for them now, with their nation believing they should bewinning these games more and more often.”South Africa had thumped India 4-0 at home in November, and there’s nodoubt that playing Bangladesh in their place represents a bit of a stepinto the unknown. “We watched a bit of the India game,” said Smith. “Theyare a team, that if you give them any chance, they will pounce at it. Youhave got to start really well against them, and put them on the back footas early as you can. You give them a sniff and they have got players who,under Dav Whatmore, have learnt how to win games.”Apart from the spin trio, Bangladesh’s hopes rest largely with the youngbatting line-up that eclipsed India’s much-feted one. “They are young andsometimes don’t think about the situation they are in,” said Smith, whohimself was pitched into the big time pretty early. “They play with thatsort of freedom.”Due to their unpredictable nature, they can get off to a fast start, butcan also collapse at times. I think it’s about remaining calm againstthese sort of teams, who are unpredictable.”South Africa have four games in the next 10 days, and with fatigue boundto become an issue, there might be a couple of changes against Bangladesh.Andrè Nel should come into the reckoning, with Charl Langeveldt likely tomake way, and Robin Peterson will also come into the equation if thethink-tank decides that Makhaya Ntini requires a small break before biggerchallenges.”There are crucial games coming up for us,” said Smith. “We have two gamesin Grenada against New Zealand and West Indies, and we need to step upgoing into the meat of the World Cup. We don’t want do-or-die gamesagainst bigger teams.”The winner-take-all game that they’d love is a final against Australia,but Smith is wary of looking too far into the future. “It’s the final mostguys dream of,” he admitted. “But the important thing is reaching thesemi-finals.”Bangladesh’s priority, as Whatmore said on Wednesday, is to avoidfinishing last in the Super Eights. It makes for a fascinating tussle,between an ever-improving side with everything to gain and another thattruly believes that they can go all the way after the heartbreaks of 1992and ’99.

A petition challenging the formation of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB)women’s wing has been filed in Lahore High Court. The court has asked thePCB chairman; the head of the women’s cricket wing, and the federal sportsministry to file their replies by May 17.The petition was filed by Shaiza Khan, the president of Pakistan Women’s CricketControl Association (PWCCA), whose body has been embroiled in a long-runningbattle with various PCB administrations (and, at one time, two otherindependent bodies) to be recognised as the legitimate body for women’scricket in Pakistan.Khan has already played in three Tests and 40 ODIs andwas widely acknowledged as being the sole driving force behind women’scricket in Pakistan in the 1990s.She told Cricinfo that setting up a women’s wing is in direct contraventionof the board’s constitution. “There is nothing in the constitution to saythey can set up a women’s wing,” she said. “They have to make an amendment to it.”The board currently operates, and has done so since 1999, on an ad-hocbasis. Despite sustained criticism and protest, the constitution remains inlimbo, pending approval from law authorities.But Khan points out that even operating on an ad-hoc basis prevents theboard from making any structural changes. “There is a legal ruling from 1995that says that the ad-hoc committee cannot make structural changes likethis.”The PWCCA has been recognised as the official women’s cricket body byvarious board chairmen in the past, including Arif Abbasi and Tauqir Zia. Itwas under Shaharyar Khan’s tenure that the women’s wing was set up by thePCB, much to the consternation of Khan.”Shaharyar Khan had sent us a letter discussing cooperation,” she said, “but he withdrew the letter a few days before our meeting with the IWCCA in South Africa about the merger of women’s cricket bodies with national bodies.”Khan has also met the incumbent PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf in February who hasoffered to look into the matter, but she has refrained from contacting the ICC. “We haven’t been in touch with them because the matter needsto be sorted out here in Pakistan, and not outside.Though the wing was set up in 2004, Khan says it has taken this long tofind a lawyer willing to fight the case. “We want to reinstitute the PWCCAwith its own constitution. That is the aim of challenging the formation ofthe women’s wing.”

Division Two

Robert Croft’s 65 and an unbroken stand of 88 with James Harris, the 17-year-old fast bowler, prevented a total collapse by Glamorgan on the first day against Nottinghamshire at Swansea. Glamorgan, already decimated by injury, lost Jimmy Maher in the warm-up with a groin strain, and then Charlie Shreck removed both openers early to leave the home side tottering on 75 for 4 before David Hemp steadied the ship with a fighting 55. Hemp hit eight fours in his fifty and shared in a 69-run stand with Richard Grant (41). But Nottinghamshire’s bowlers hit back, reducing Glamorgan to 193 for 8 before Croft and Harris dropped anchor in their valuable ninth-wicket stand. At stumps, Glamorgan were 281 for 8.Derbyshire took the honours on the first day against Gloucestershire at Derby, thanks to an opening stand of 181 between Steve Stubbings and Dan Birch. Birch cracked 12 fours and three sixes in his 95 before edging the economical Alex Gidman to slip, but Stubbings motored onwards and upwards to register a 201-ball hundred. Gloucestershire, whose bowlers pulled off a thrilling win over Northants yesterday, hit back in the final session as Derbyshire fell from 280 for 2 to 288 for 5. Vikram Banerjee picked up 2 for 46.

ScorecardNetherlands completed a hard-fought 45-run win in their Intercontinental Cup clash against Canada in Toronto. Legspinner Mangesh Panchal took four wickets – including top-scorer Qaiser Ali for 53 – as Netherlands completed an impressive turnaround having been in deep trouble on the third day.After being two down overnight, Canada battled during the morning session and reached 105 for 2 before Mark Jonkman removed Trevin Bastiampillai for 46. Panchal then nailed Ali six runs later and the innings became more of a struggle for the Canadians.Ashish Bagai, the captain, tried to hold the chase together with 38, but lost partners at regular intervals. Ashif Mulla became Panchal’s second wicket and, with 97 wanted and five wickets standing, Sunil Dhaniram was caught behind of Jonkman for an enterprising 30.Any lingering hopes Canada had of reaching their target disappeared when Bagai edged to Jeron Smits and the end came three overs later when Umar Bhatti was bowled by Panchal. Netherlands take 14 points for their victory and Canada leave with six.

England coach Peter Moores insists there will be no hurried return to international cricket for Matthew Hoggard to prevent him from joining England’s list of long-term injury victims. A back spasm during the build-up to the first Test in India’s tour of England ruled Hoggard out of that match, and the next Test as well.”We need to get him back fully fit and get that back sorted because if it goes again it could be a long job,” Moores told Sky Sports. “He’s not ready yet. He came down to Loughborough and was assessed and managed to bowl a bit but his back is a bit stiff.”We might get him to bowl at Trent Bridge so the medics can keep an eye on him and build up his work-rate. What has been quite difficult for Matthew is the weather we’ve had … he’s not had much chance to bowl full stop.”Moores was speaking two days day after rain saved India’s blushes in the first Test, and said he expected India to put in better performances in the remainder of the series as they would have acclimatised.”I think they look a good team,” he said. “Their bowlers will have settled a bit as well because I think they found the slope at Lord’s quite challenging at first.”

The former Australian fast bowler, Craig McDermott, is believed to owe Aus$18 million to investors in the failed property company Bridgecorp, which collapsed on July 3 leaving up to 1000 investors out of pocket.McDermott, who took 291 wickets in 71 Tests for Australia, allegedly borrowed the funds for his own development company, Maxen Developers, in order to buy land on the Queensland coast. Though Bridgecorp’s receivers, Ferrier Hodgson, did not mention McDermott by name, they have suggested that the repayment of the loan is “critical” if the company’s investors hope to recoup their losses.”The major debtor who owes $18 million did repay $4.5million in June [but] has had debts that have been long outstanding,” the administrator, Brian Silvia, told The Daily Telegraph. “If he is identified as being under stress, the project may not be completed.”According to The Australian newspaper, McDermott, 42, is losing up to Aus$15,000 a day in interest payments alone. Queensland Supreme Court documents reveal that Maxen Developers – and other groups directly controlled by McDermott – owed Bridgecorp $13.6 million back in March, but a massive annual interest rate of 30% has since accelerated the debt.It has not been a good year for McDermott, who was recently blackmailed for more than $40,000 to stop a sex video of him and his wife, Ann-Maree – who is listed as a co-owner of Maxen – being posted on the Internet.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

An enthralling series swung back England’s way at Edgbaston with a well-constructed 42-run victory. Chasing 282, India made a decent fist of the pursuit as Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid added 104 in nearly 20 overs, but Chris Tremlett removed both in a vital second spell. Paul Collingwood enjoyed a fine all-round game with 44, two wickets and a couple of sharp catches, while Ian Bell’s 79 had held the batting together.It was a superb collective effort from England’s bowlers, without the services of Andrew Flintoff with a knee injury. James Anderson led the display with another mature performance – removing Sachin Tendulkar for the fifth time this summer – and was backed-up by an excellent early spell from Stuart Broad. Tremlett , England’s most expensive bowler at Bristol, bounced back from watching his first two overs go for 20 with the key double of Dravid and Ganguly in the space of six balls.Their third-wicket stand had wrestled back the initiative from England after Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik picked out off-side fielders against the short ball. Dravid was the first to show aggression, taking 12 off Broad’s eighth over, and his 51-ball half-century continued an upturn in form since the one-dayers began. Ganguly settled into playing the anchor role, and his knock included was studded with some fine boundaries. Twice he guided Tremlett through the vacant slip cordon and launched Monty Panesar over long-on for six.Without Flintoff, and with Tremlett’s early profligacy, Collingwood was really tested in the field. Almost all his moves paid off and when he recalled Tremlett for another burst, Dravid chopped one onto his stumps and Ganguly was undone by extra bounce as he tried to find third man again. England had an opening and Collingwood had some breathing space.As India tried to rebuild for a second time, Collingwood bowled himself, Panesar and Ravi Bopara but managed to keep the asking rate at a tough level. Mahendra Singh Dhoni never unleashed his full power, and when Collingwood brought back Anderson he picked out the captain at backward point.India had taken a risk by naming a team with a batting order that ended at No. 6. The move had now come back to haunt them with Yuvraj Singh left stranded with the lower order. Collingwood removed Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla, both expertly pouched by Bell. If ever there was a match where one team deserved victory for completely out-fielding the opposition this was it. As if to sum up India’s lethargy, their last hope vanished when Yuvraj was run-out in a hopeless mix-up with Zaheer Khan.

Both India ‘s defeats have come after Dravid asked England to bat. Here he had been tempted to bowl because of the 10.15 start but the sun was soon out and there wasn’t much joy for the quick bowlers. Alastair Cook – dropped on 15 by RP Singh at long leg – and an unconvincing Matt Prior provided a solid base with 76 before Bell took over.He followed his unbeaten 126 at the Rose Bowl and 64 at Bristol with another well-paced innings, constantly having to adjust his target as England lost regular wickets. There was another fascinating battle between England’s batsmen and India’s spinners, who sent down 26 overs after they were introduced well inside the Powerplay and continued as late as the 45th over.Powar flighted the ball enticingly – some deliveries were as slow as 43mph – and the batsmen struggled to get him away. Chawla again troubled Kevin Pietersen with his googly and changes of pace, beautifully setting him up before Pietersen charged down the track and played all round another wrong ‘un.Bell and Collingwood stabilised the innings although there was a hint of block-or-bash about the approach as both batsmen managed to clear long-on while struggling to milk the runs along the ground. Collingwood’s ugly attempt at a reverse sweep found short third-man, ending a stand of 75, just at the time they were aiming to press the accelerator with Bell reaching fifty off 64 balls.Owais Shah, after a late recall to replace the injured Dimitri Mascarenhas, offered a skittish 19 which included plenty of by-play with Yuvraj. A big full toss was slammed over deep midwicket, the next ball Shah was bowled by a flatter ball and Yuvraj didn’t hide his delight. However, it was England who had the last laugh as they continue to exceed expectations in this series.

ScorecardCheshire made up for the disappointment of losing the MCCA Knockout at Lord’s by absolutely thumping Northumberland by an innings and 4 runs to take the MCCA Championship title.Nathan Dumelow took 6 for 74 to destroy Northumberland’s first innings, before Warren Goodwin and Danny Leech put on an opening stand of 317. Goodwin went on to make 154 and Leech 202. The trio’s outstanding performances at Jesmond gave Cheshire the upperhand early and they needed fewer than three of the four days of the final.Dumelow, the former Derbyshire player, went on to take nine wickets in the match, and there were five for Danny Woods.

Middlesex 151 for 4 (Joyce 42) beat Northamptonshire 148 (Sales 70, Wright 3-29, Finn 3-30) by six wickets with 22 balls to spare
Scorecard

Middlesex, who finished third in the Pro40 Division Two, secured promotion in to the top flight with a six-wicket win over Northamptonshire, who had ended seventh in Division One, in the Pro40 play-off at a sunny Southgate.The match was all but over within an hour as Middlesex’s seamers blasted through the Northants top order, justifying Ed Smith’s decision to bowl. Some excellent close catching supported the bowlers, and in a six-over spell Steve Finn and Chris Wright took 5 for 25 to leave Northants 59 for 6 in the 15th over. Only a super rearguard 70 from David Sales took the match into the late afternoon.A brilliant one-handed catch by Ben Scott, the wicketkeeper, started the rot in the first over to remove Robert White, but Andrew Cook and Nicky Boje appeared to have weathered the storm before Finn and Wright got going. Another excellent catch – Andrew Strauss leaping to hold the ball one -handed high above his head in the gully to remove Boje – set the slide in motion. Middlesex bowled well, Man of the Match Finn especially, but the batsmen contributed to their own problems.Sales was a lonely figure amid the carnage. But he manipulated the strike and in Graeme White and David Wigley finally found some support. Middlesex kept close catchers in to support their spinners, Murali Kartik proving almost impossible to get away and getting turn and considerable bounce.Sales brought up his fifty – at a run a ball – with a crisp straight drive off Jamie Dalrymple and then lofted the next delivery, a half-volley, for six over straight midwicket. But he was fighting a lone battle and Middlesex, having done the damage early on, were content to allow three or four singles an over. Sales was the last man out with more than four overs in hand.Middlesex, needing less than four an over, could take their time and, initially, they did, brushing aside the early loss of Ed Smith to cruise to 60 for 1. Strauss and Ed Joyce fell in quick succession, and Northants were still in with an outside chance when a horrible misjudgment from Dalrymple – padding up to Graeme White’s arm ball – gave them an outside chance at 114 for 4.In the next over Lance Klusener bowled Nick Compton only for the umpire to call a no-ball; Compton paddled the resulting free hit down to long leg for four and that was just about it, and with Eoin Morgan in good touch, Middlesex eased home with 22 balls in hand.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s bid to appoint a new foreign coach for the national team before the tour of New Zealand received a blow when John Dyson, the former Australian batsman who was one of the contenders, decided to take up the West Indies job.Dyson, who had coached Sri Lanka earlier, was in talks with the Bangladesh board and expected to make his presentation this month. “It’s a discomforting situation for us now because it would be difficult to rope in a new coach soon,” Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, chairman of BCB cricket operations committee, was quoted as saying in the Dhaka-based .”We had completed all necessary talks with Dyson. He said he would be available from mid-November and also gave us an offer. As almost all his conditions suited us, we would have given him our counter-proposal following his presentation. We felt that we were as close as we could be to seal the deal. Naturally, Dyson chose the better option but now we have to start afresh, which is a difficult task.”The board president’s October deadline for the appointment of a new coach is now unlikely to be met. “It’s more of a preliminary target than a deadline. It would be better if we achieve the target of confirming a coach by October,” Lipu said. “In fact, coaches are not very much available for international jobs as most have commitments.”We still have two men on our list but it seems that Gordon [Greenidge] cannot stay in Bangladesh for full two years without interruption. We have already sent him our itinerary and I will contact him tomorrow to know his views.”BCB’s short-list also includes Australian allrounder Colin Miller, who isn’t as experienced as the other two. “Gordon is looking through our international schedule for the next two years while Dyson has also communicated with us after returning from his holiday,” Lipu said. “We also added the name of Miller to our list. We can reach a concrete decision next week.”