Nepal’s participation in the ICC Trophy, due to start in Toronto, Canada, next Thursday, is likely to be decided in the next 24 hours.Cricket Association of Nepal president, Mr. Jai Kumar Shah, said the situation regarding four players refused entrance visas by the Canadian Government, was likely to become known sometime this weekend.The captain, Raju Khadku, is one of the players in question. The team was due to leave Nepal for Toronto today (Saturday).While the logistics of calling up replacements in time may have demanded it anyway, Mr Shah said Nepal would not play in Canada without the four players.Should Nepal withdraw, it would leave the Second Division draw of the qualifying tournament for the 2003 World Cup lopsided, with four teams in Group A and six in Group B. It is not known whether the draw would be revised at this late stage should that eventuate.This is after confirmation from Simone Gambino, President of the Italian Cricket Association, that Italy has withdrawn from the tournament, following the International Cricket Council’s decision to rule four players of the Italian squad ineligible.Lancashire all-rounder, Joe Scuderi, and Peter Di Venuto, the brother of former Australian One Day International player, Michael, were among the four.Dr. Gambino said the Italian Foreign Ministry would advise the ICC that the ICA would have acted in contravention of Italian law had it not included the four players in its squad.

Having beaten England in three successive games and Australia once in two fixtures, the Pakistan team seems to be on the recovery curve, leaving behind the inconsistency that marred it of late. Four wins in five outings, with one game washed out, is excellent in any circumstances. More so, if one looks at it in the bleak post-Lord’s scenario, with the team whittled out in three days and hurtling down the precipice of a second successive Test series defeat against England, this is a transformation worth appreciating.That most of these wins were achieved when it was rarely if ever on full strength – with among others key players such as Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar and Inzamam sitting out matches – also shows that the team is developing the until now missing resolve, to overcome a combination of adversity and opposition at the same time.This indeed is heartening for those followers of the team who had been greatly disappointed after the almost unending series of disasters in the last one year or so.To a great extent, the credit for this metamorphosis goes to skipper Waqar Younis, and his never-say-die attitude. Waqar may not have been highly imaginative in his bowling changes or inventive in field placings. But whatever he lacked in tactics, he more than made up for with a big heart and leading by example. As a result of it, he has grown in stature as a captain and rejuvenated himself as a strike bowler.

Thirteen wickets in two encounters is proof positive that there is still a lot of fire in the belly and quite considerable locomotion in the legs.His mates must appreciate that his endeavours led to victories for the team, and the Aussie sequence of six wins against Pakistan was broken. And also those of his detractors who thought that he was no longer good enough for the limited version of the game and should be put to pasture sooner than later. They stand silenced, and quite effectively so.Initially, the architect of this rather magnificent comeback was Inzamam, providing runs when the team desperately needed them.And once the tide was turned at Old Trafford, and the series drawn, Pakistan has not looked back. That way Inzamam was the catalyst, while Waqar has been the inspiration behind this remarkable revival.

Other members of the team – especially Abdur Razzaq, Rashid Latif, Saqlain Mushtaq and Saeed Anwar – too have tried to pull their weight, some of them more than others. That way, the entire team deserve the credit. In any case, team spirit in sides on the way up is always rather high, with everyone backing up each other. That seems to be the case with this squad too.And even the crowd disturbance in the stands, which unfortunately spilled out on to the field, have not been able to take any of the sheen off their performances.For their part, the Australians in this event look some distance from their peak, and have played to their high standards only in patches. That said, a win is a win and the one over the World Champions is worth savouring.But having won the dress rehearsal, what about the final? One thing can safely be assumed: with Pakistan’s spirits buoyed up, it would be anything but the kind of one-sided affair that the ’99 World Cup Final was. In this irresistible form the Pakistanis are more than a match for the Aussies, quite capable of making it two wins in a row against the team best rated in the world. One is already all anticipation for some highly explosive cricket. And may the spectators enjoy it too but, from the stands please.

• It was the 1731st ODI in cricket history.
• It was India’s 467th and West Indies’ 426th match.
• It was the 64th match between these two sides. The record now reads:India 22,West Indies 40,tied one and abandoned one.
• Umpires C Coventry and QJ Goosen were officiating in their third andeighth match respectively.
• Harvinder Singh was making a comeback into Indian side after more thantwo years. He had last appeared for India against Australia at Sharjahon April 22,1998 thus missing 110 matches in between. Only AshishKapoor (157) and Robin Singh (146) have missed more matches in betweentwo consecutive appearances for India than Harvinder. Harvinder’s newball partner Debasis Mohanty was also making a comeback into Indianside after missing 35 matches.
• Shivnarine Chanderpaul was playing his 100th match. He became 17thWest Indian and 113th player overall to do so.
• Mohanty, at the end of this match, has a tally of 50 wickets from 35games in `away’ matches with an average of 25.18 and strike rate of30.92 . Interestingly he has taken only 6 wickets in 7 matches at homesoil with an average of 49.00 and strike rate of 55.00 !!
• Mohanty thus became the 11th Indian to aggregate 50 wickets in acareer in `away’ matches. Only Manoj Prabhakar (33) and Ajit Agarkar(33) have completed 50 wickets on foreign soil in lesser matches thanMohanty. However Mohanty now holds the Indian record of being thefastest to capture 50 wickets on foreign soil (1546 till the end ofthis match) The previous record for India was held by Manoj Prabhakarwho had bowled 1700 balls for his 50 wickets. The table `A’ givesdetails of Indian bowlers with most wickets in `away’ matches , whiletable `B’ lists Indian bowlers in terms of ball required.

Table `A’ : Most `away’ wickets by Indian Bowlers

Table ?B? : 50 ?away? wickets in least balls by Indian Bowlers

• Just for the record, Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar has taken 50 `away’wickets in least balls ?1283 to be exact. Shoaib also shares therecord of being the fastest with West Indian Andy Roberts in terms ofleast matches. Both Shoaib and Roberts captured their 50th wicket in27th match.
• Mohanty’s figures of 10-1-18-3 (RpO 1.80) equalled the most economicalfigures by an Indian medium pace bowler in a ten over spell againstWest Indies. He equalled India’s Kapil Dev’s figures of 10-3-18-2 inthe Hero Cup final at Calcutta on November 27,1993.
• Ridley Jacobs (53* and three dismissals) was performing the allroundfeat of scoring 50 runs and effecting three dismissals in the samematch for the third time in his career. The other such occasions forhim came against New Zealand. Jacobs made 80* and held 5 catches atSouthampton on May 24,1999.He followed it up with 65 runs and threecatches at Auckland on January 2,2000.
• Sachin Tendulkar won his 40th Man of the Match award in 271st match.This was also his fifth award against West Indies which equalsPakistan’s Imran Khan’s record of most award against West Indies.

Wasim Akram was the surprise exclusion from the 27-man camp announced for the Pakistan team’s preparations for the upcoming season. Pakistan is to face minnows Bangladesh and a possibly depleted India for the Asian Test Championship followed by the visiting Black Caps. This move has disappointed millions of his fans in Pakistan as well as abroad. Wasim Akram was the reigning monarch of fast bowling after retirement of the illustrious Courtney Walsh from the international cricket scene.

With a splendid haul of 414 wickets in 102 Tests and equally precious 440 wickets in 319 One-day Internationals he brought unprecedented fame, honour and laurels to Pakistan. He was the only bowler in the history of cricket to have crossed the 400 wickets mark in both versions of the game. Throwing him out of a contingent that includes a number of new faces is not the respectable way of showing the door to such a great player.Chief Selector Wasim Bari’s assertion that ‘he had not closed the book on players’ test careers and Akram’s exclusion from the camp was no indication that his career was over’ is not a tenable answer. His next claim that ‘we are starting a re-building process’ is also a hackneyed phrase, one that has been heard by cricket lovers for many years now.Speaking from London, Wasim Akram expressed the desire of passing Kapil Dev’s mark of 434 test wickets, which is an absolutely genuine objective. Records are meant to be broken and here is a golden chance for Akram to break one. It is, however, clear with his current form and fitness Akram cannot touch the towering record of 519 wickets set by the great Courtney Walsh but Kapil Dev’s mark is well within his reach. He needs only 21 wickets to become the 2nd in command to Walsh till some one else takes over. About a year’s extension to his career would therefore be good enough for him to achieve the landmark.Not only that records set by players are a matter of honour for any cricket country but depriving Wasim Akram of this distinction will be gross injustice to a player who has contributed so much to Pakistan’s cricket.Agreed, his tally of wickets per match has come down but let us not forget that Kapil Dev was almost at a similar level of performance when he broke Sir Richard Hadlee’s record. While India vigorously pushed their horse towards the target, Pakistan seems to be doing the opposite. What great service for the glory of Pakistani cricket !Discussing the merits and demerits of a basket full of pace bowlers invited to the camp, let me mention that half of them are physically unfit while the others may only be good for camp training and grooming for the future. None of them is yet competent enough to replace Wasim Akram. And. let us also not forget that there is no substitute for experience.The Chief Selector’s contention that ‘ this squad is only for a training camp while for Tests, players can be called from outside the list’ is again baffling. Has he said so to keep anxiety and speculations rife for Wasim Akram fans? He should have realised that demoralisation caused to a great player can have deep rooted effects on his efficiency and morale.A glance at the list of pace bowlers called for the camp will reveal that Shoaib Akhtar is back and clearly someone’s hot favourite. He is not yet physically fit since he broke down during the course of play in England. An unfit Mohammad Sami who had a joyride to England continues to remain unfit. Shabbir Ahmed suffers from a suspect action and is reportedly sick.Mohammad Akram and Fazl-e-Akbar got more than enough chances to prove their mettle at home as well as abroad but failed to impress. The little known youngsters like Irfan Fazil (1 Test), Yasir Arafat (two ODIs) and a new comer Naved Rana, are only suitable for junior cricket and not yet matured enough to take the burden of a tournament like the Asian Test Championship. Who out of them is tipped to take over from a giant like Wasim Akram? Showing the door to him without a suitable replacement is not cricket.

Sussex Police were called to a burglary at the pavilion at the Hove County Cricket Ground. The Australian team’s dressing room was broken into overnight and £1,200 worth of equipment was stolen.The burglary was discovered this morning by Shane Warne. One Puma and two Kookaburra cricket bats were stolen, some helmets, books signed by Shane Warne, training shirts and Bolle sunglasses.Sussex County Cricket Club Operations Manager, Hugh Griffiths, said: “We were honoured to have got a fixture with the Australian Test team and we’ve spent nine months preparing the ground to welcome them.”We’re hugely disappointed that this match has been marred by last night’s burglary and we appeal to cricket fans to help us.”DS Ray Scales Hove CID said: “We are appealing to Hove residents and cricket fans to give us information about the burglary. These items have clearly been stolen to sell so if you are offered any of this stolen property call Hove CID on 0845 60 70 999.”

Northamptonshire’s hopes of playing first division Championship cricket next season improved considerably with a commanding first day performance over Kent in Canterbury.The relegation-threatened visitors took advantage of slightly damp conditions and some rash Kent batting to dismiss the hosts inside two hours for 108 – Kent’s lowest total of the summer.By then, ECB pitch liaison officer Raman Subba Row had reported he would be taking no action over the condition of the pitch and, as if to confirm his views, Northamptonshire went on to reach 173 for three when bad light brought a premature close.Jeff Cook (50) and Alec Swann (61) ensured the visitors continued to hold sway, despite the loss of the Championship’s leading run-scorer Michael Hussey in only the sixth over of the reply.Hussey went soon after the lunch break, leg before to Ben Trott, but Swann and Cook then joined forces to add 91 for the second wicket in 31 overs.Swann reached his 50 first from 105 balls and with 10 fours, Cook joining him at the milestone off the next ball of the 36th over of the reply from 95 balls and with nine boundaries.Cook perished in the next over, however, when he edged an expansive drive against Martin Saggers to edge into the gloves of Paul Nixon to make it 112 for two.Swann went leg before shortly before the close to a Mark Ealham off-cutter, but with a lead of 65, Northamptonshire’s players had good reason to be pleased with their opening day’s work – none more so than John Blain.Blain had earlier claimed career-best figures of six for 42 and Paul Taylor three for 58 to dismiss the hosts inside two hours after they had elected to bat first on a bright first morning.Only Andrew Symonds (23) and tenth-wicket partners Min Patel (32) and Ben Trott (11) made it into double figures on a day Kent’s batsmen will want to forget.

Hampshire second XI clinched the ECB National Championship in the second day’s play against Warwickshire, with a typically high quality batting performance, to pick up maximum batting points.Needing eight points from the game to reach an unobtainable total at the top of the National pile ahead of Yorkshire, Hampshire passed 300 with just five wickets down to ensure they took the four points, having taken the full four points on the first day in bowling the opposition out for 213.The second team put together another fine display, eventually declaring on 446-9, with four batsmen passing fifty.Nightwatchman Irfan Shah was the star of the morning session; having survived the previous evening, he showed what a talented player he is, smashing 88 runs from 120 balls, but falling just short of his first century at this level, when he was out prior to lunch.Andy Sexton had played second fiddle to Shah, but compiled a very tidy 55, his sixth half-century on the bounce for Hampshire. He was out caught at second slip, with the score at 182-4, and this was soon 182-5 as Damien Shirazi got a good ball from Tom Mees.Skipper John Stephenson and Shah responded very well, though, putting on a further 60 before Shah’s dismissal. James Hamblin (37) replaced Shah after lunch and he played aggressively with his captain, taking the total to 332. Stephenson looked well set before he was brilliantly caught and bowled for 71.Iain Brunnschweiler (51*) and James Schofield (38) pushed the score passed the 400 mark and prompted the declaration.Simon Francis picked up an early wicket as the home side bowled 16 overs before the end of play. Warwickshire 40-1.

South Africa barely raised a sweat at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Sunday, coasting to a seven-wicket win over Kenya in the second match of the Standard Bank triangular one-day series.With the Kenyans managing only to reach 159 for seven in their 50 overs, only an act of God seem likely to keep the South Africans from winning. With the weather perfect and the ground comfortably, but not completely filled, there was no divine intervention to save Kenya, and South Africa won with more than 16 overs to spare. In doing so, they earned themselves a bonus point for scoring 1.25 times faster than their opponents.It might have been even worse for the Kenyans who lost a wicket to the first legal delivery of the match and never quite recovered. That they reached three figures was due almost entirely to Steve Tikolo, who was unbeaten on 68 when the innings closed.As well as he played, though, the Kenyans were unable to get him on strike often enough, particularly in the closing overs. As a result, the usual flurry of late runs did not materialise. Only 15 were scored off the last five overs of the innings.In this regard the Kenyans were out-thought by the vastly experienced South Africans, as Maurice Odumbe was willing to concede afterwards.The South Africans bowled with characteristic discipline, giving the Kenyans very little to hit. Shaun Pollock was the pick, earning the Man of the Match award with figures of 10-1-19-2.On Friday at the Wanderers, South Africa had been set 280 to win and got there with some balls to spare. By comparison, 160 was scarcely a challenge even though the home side lost both openers, Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs relatively cheaply, for 17 and 20 respectively.But then Jacques Kallis and Neil McKenzie settled things down with an 88-run stand for the third wicket as Kenya were clinically batted out of the match. Kallis seemed a little taken aback by the leg break from Collins Obuya that kicked at him and took the outside edge for his dismissal after making 54, but McKenzie and Jonty Rhodes picked off the remaining runs with no further alarms.McKenzie ended not out on 49, denied his half-century by another leg break that beat the wicketkeeper and scurried away for two byes to end the game.South Africa and India are clearly a class above the Kenyans, but the East African side are in South Africa to learn ahead of the 2003 World Cup. And whatever their shortcomings in terms of international experience, they are cheerful and charming cricketers. If they do burgle a win against either of their opponents at some stage during this triangular, a lot of South Africans will be delighted for them.

The following squad has been selected for the Warriors ING Cup game vthe Queensland Bulls, on Sunday October 21, following the Pura Cupmatch, and the WA v Tasmanian Tigers ING game on Wednesday 24th October.Adam Gilchrist (captain), Justin Langer (vice captain), Jo Angel, Sean Cary, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Brad Hogg, Mike Hussey, Stuart Karppinen, Simon Katich, Damien Martyn, Matthew Nicholson, Gavin Swan, Darren Wates, Brad Williams.The final team of twelve for this game will be announced following ananalysis of the condition of the WA bowling for the conclusion of thePura Cup game.In their Mercantile Mutual Cup encounter at the Gabba last season, WAlost to Queensland by 65 runs. In that game Murray Goodwin and Brad Hoggboth scored 59, Michael Hussey 57, and Kade Harvey took 3-49 from tenovers.For the Queensland Bulls Martin Love scored a match winning 124 andJimmy Maher 87, in a partnership of 174 runs for the second wicket.