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One of Ramnaresh Sarwan’s comments following the West Indies’ loss to Bangladesh on Thursday that eliminated them from the ICC World Twenty20 tournament at the first stage was typical of recent captains.”It is a matter of us going back and working hard,” he observed, noting that the West Indies return to South Africa in December for a series of three Tests and five ODIs. He also acknowledged, with unusual candor, that “we’ve been saying this for the longest while about our fielding and bowling and sometimes our batting”.It was the fielding and bowling that were mainly responsible for the losses to South Africa in the opening match on Tuesday night and to Bangladesh two days later. Three critical outfield catches were missed and a record 23 wides conceded in the former. The count in the latter was one straightforward chance to third man that would have changed the course of the match and eight wides.There were fumbles and errors, even by the supposedly better fielders, and the stumps weren’t hit once on run out attempts. All the bowlers were clearly intimidated by batsmen who came at them hard.The statistics were simply a repetition of those of recent times and are a certain reflection of a lack of practice and preparation. These are two areas to which the West Indies have given scant attention since Denis Waight, the tough Australian trainer, whipped Clive Lloyd’s champion teams into the fittest of their generation.Sarwan’s latest sentiments echoed those of Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, Jimmy Adams and Courtney Walsh during their time at the helm. The problem is that the words have not been matched by action.As the latest captain, Sarwan is in a position to insist that “going back and working hard” means just that, not going back and failing to follow the detailed individual programmes prepared by interim coach David Moore and seconded trainer Richard Smith.The new captain’s plea for a camp to prepare the team for the World Twenty20 was reportedly turned down because of the continuing financial plight of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) which could not afford the cost of staging even a week-long session. Yet fleeting get-togethers prior to tours have been held before with little effect.

As coaches, from Rohan Kanhai to Roger Harper to Bennett King, and trainers, from Waight to Ronald Rogers to Bryce Cavanagh, have noted, the only benefits are derived from the players’ complete commitment to practice and to fitness schedules.That requires an absolute change in an attitude that has become deep-rooted and has coincided directly with the steep decline in fortunes over the last 15 years. Lara and Hooper, captain and vice-captain on the 1998-99 tour of South Africa, grumbled that Waight’s regime, which had so benefited earlier teams, was too taxing on the players. It was duly reduced and, within a year, Waight was gone, for a period with Pakistan and then retirement.Rogers, formerly of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment, took his place before resigning after three years to pursue a university degree. Cavanagh, like Waight an Australian who had worked in rugby league clubs, took over but quit midway through the tour of Pakistan last November, frustrated by the lack of response from his charges to his methods.Harper was in South Africa for the World Twenty20 as coach of Kenya, a post he now leaves after their elimination. He repeated the comment this week he made at the end of his three-year contract as West Indies coach following the 2003 World Cup.He stated that the current players have developed through a culture that does not have the same approach to the game as the West Indian players of the past. “The love for the game, the desire to learn all about it and to master it has to be inculcated at an early age and that is what is necessary through well-structured development programmes,” he added.That clearly will take time and effort but Sarwan, in conjunction with the new coach and fitness coordinator, to be soon appointed, and with key players under permanent contracts to the WICB, has a role in ensuring that those under him really get back to working hard. Otherwise, they will continue to be the embarrassment they were again here this week.

Over the past decade, this space in the almanack has become an annuallitany of despair. Last year’s report on West Indies cricket referred to “themost agonising period in its history”; the year that followed was to be evenworse.The most acrimonious and protracted row yet between the West IndiesCricket Board and the West Indies Players’ Association led to the replacementof Brian Lara as captain, the refusal of most of those selected to tour SriLanka, a split between the players, and the intervention of the Caribbeangovernments. The board’s projected loss of $7m for the year endingSeptember 2005, double that of the previous year, compounded the crisis.Meanwhile, the WICB elected their fourth president in six years, and thechairman of the company organising the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbeanresigned over differences with the board, heightening misgivings overwhether the region was capable of such a massive undertaking.The latest trouble between the board and players began within weeks ofa rare success, in September 2004, when West Indies won the ChampionsTrophy in England. It was sparked by the board’s decision to replace itssponsor of 18 years, Cable & Wireless, with Digicel, an Irish newcomerengaged in a fierce conflict with C&W for the Caribbean’s mobile-telephonemarket. The Players’ Association objected to clauses relating to the Digicelsponsorship in the team’s contracts for a one-day series in Australia, claimingthat they infringed players’ rights to sign individual endorsements with othercompanies, and it advised members not to sign.The dispute was eventually referred to the cricket subcommittee of theCaricom (Caribbean Community) governments. A provisional ruling enabledthe WICB to pick its best team for the tournament in January, though theywon only one of their six matches and failed to reach the finals.But the issue resurfaced once the squad returned home, leading to theend of Lara’s second stint at the helm. When six players were disqualifiedfrom selection for the First Test against South Africa because of theirindividual contracts with Cable & Wireless, Lara withdrew in protest. Hehad a C&W contract himself, though he had not been banned because hisdeal predated the sponsorship switch. Vice-captain Shivnarine Chanderpaultook over.Cable & Wireless freed its players of their obligations so that they wereeligible for the Second Test. But, even after their reinstatement for the restof the home season, the issue would not go away. When the board named 13players to tour Sri Lanka in July, ten, including Lara, withdrew. The level ofenmity between the parties was obvious in a lengthy media release from thepresident of the Association, Dinanath Ramnarine, stating that “we are facinga tyrannical and despotic WICB that has suspended its discretion, jettisonedall reasoning and is hellbent at all costs to do the bidding of its sponsor”.Obliged to fulfil the ICC’s schedule, the board hurriedly assembledreplacements, mostly from an A-team already touring Sri Lanka. As it was,eight members of the A-team joined the Test squad the day after signing a collective declaration refusing the summons to do so, which created such internal wrangling that the management felt obliged to move the two teams into separate hotels. Chanderpaul was the only one of the new squad with more than ten Tests to his name.Meanwhile, back in the Caribbean, there was a public war of words between Cable & Wireless, who accused the WICB of unfair practices, and Digicel. In what was seen as an unusual sign of openness on the board’s part, a three-man commission, chaired by retired judge Anthony Lucky, was set up to review the negotiations that led to the change of sponsors. Their 50,000-word report, delivered in August, criticised the WICB, andparticularly the then president Teddy Griffith, for their handling of the matter, and concluded that Cable & Wireless had been unjustly treated. But it was compromised when Lucky’s fellow commissioners disagreed with his contention, in a separate report, that the Digicel contract was “legally flawed”. The board adamantly rejected several of the commission’s points, but by then Griffith had resigned because of “personal and family considerations”.He was succeeded by Ken Gordon, a 75-year-old media executive and formerminister in the Trinidad & Tobago government, who had a high reputationin the corporate world but no cricketing background. Gordon soon facedyet another resignation and another crisis. In September, Rawle Branckerquit as chairman of the World Cup organisers less than two years into thejob, citing his frustration over differences with his chief executive, ChrisDehring, and a lack of support from Griffith and other board members.Controversially, Gordon appointed himself to the position and added Griffithto the new board.Not surprisingly, West Indies continued to falter on the field. In thecalendar year 2005, their record was eight defeats against one win (athome to Pakistan) in 11 Tests. It was even direr in one-day internationals:15 defeats, with an unprecedented run of 11 including all eight at home toSouth Africa and Pakistan, against two victories. It was a nightmare for thenew head coach, Bennett King of Australia, the first foreigner to hold thepost. He and his all-Australian support staff of assistant coach, physiotherapistand fitness trainer never knew from series to series which playersthey would be working with, if any: more than 30 represented West Indiesduring the year.The discontented players finally returned to the fold for the Test series inAustralia in November 2005, after the warring parties agreed to turn to theInternational Cricket Council and the Federation of International Cricketers’Associations to settle the dispute. West Indies had their moments in Australia,notably when Lara scored his eighth double-hundred and overtook AllanBorder as Test cricket’s leading run-scorer, but they lost all three Tests.At regional level, the domestic competitions were streamlined. In2004-05, they were contested only by the six traditional territories, with theUnder-23 side and invited foreign team included in the previous four firstclasstournaments both dropped. Home and away rounds meant that theremaining teams played ten league matches, up from seven. There was anunmistakable shift in the balance of power. Barbados, first-class regionalchampions for the previous two seasons and unbeaten for 21 matches, lostsix out of ten in 2004-05, and slid from top to bottom of the table.They were replaced as the dominant force by Jamaica, a well-led, wellbalancedside, even when five of their players were on international duty.They comfortably headed the table, with seven victories – including theirfirst five games – and only one defeat, and secured the Carib Beer Cup aftervictory in the final against the plucky Leeward Islands, whose brave secondinningsfight meant the result was less straightforward than an eight-wicketmargin indicated. Chris Gayle dominated the match with hundreds in eachinnings, but he played only two other games during the tournament. WavellHinds and Marlon Samuels also compiled big scores on their return fromAustralia, but Jamaica’s overall success depended on those who playedthroughout the season.Donovan Pagon scored 658 runs, which earned him a Test debut againstSouth Africa when Gayle and the others were omitted. Runs also came fromwicketkeeper Carlton Baugh and all-rounder Dave Bernard, while fastbowlers Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell led the attack. But Jamaica’s mostsuccessful bowler was 22-year-old left-arm spinner Nikita Miller, thetournament’s leading wicket-taker in his first season. He claimed 39 wicketsat under 20 apiece, and later toured Sri Lanka with the A-team.The Leeward Islands, often a disjointed side, enjoyed their best seasonsince the heady days of the 1990s, when they won three outright titles andshared a fourth. Their inspiration was 37-year-old wicketkeeper RidleyJacobs, in his final season; he signed off a distinguished career with 816runs, four centuries and an average of 62. His team-mate Stuart Williams,aged 35, was the only other batsman to pass 700 in the tournament. OffspinnerOmari Banks took 34 wickets, enough to earn a recall to theweakened Test squad for Sri Lanka.In October 2004, Trinidad & Tobago were unexpected winners of thelimited-overs President’s Cup. Making light of the absence of five internationals, including Lara, they defeated Barbados in the semi-final anddefending champions Guyana in the final. In January, they beat Barbadosagain, over four days – the first team to achieve the feat in a first-class gamesince they did it themselves in February 2002. But defeat in the return matchat the end of the qualifying stage cost them the chance to challenge Jamaicain the final. Their experienced captain, Daren Ganga, scored 610 runs,including 265 against the Leeward Islands, the domestic season’s highestindividual score. Off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth and newcomer Richard Kelly,an aggressive all-rounder, took 33 wickets each.Guyana, often hit by the weather, drew seven of their ten games. Promisingleft-hander Narsingh Deonarine and Ryan Ramdass, a thickset opener, bothpassed 500 runs; Ramdass scored three hundreds in his first full season, andwas promoted from the A-team to make his Test debut in Sri Lanka. Anotheremergency call-up for that tour was Deighton Butler, a strongly built leftarmfast bowler from the Windward Islands. Windwards were bowled outin double figures in three separate matches – one of which they still managedto win – despite the consistency of opener Devon Smith, who totalled671 runs.But the board’s grim financial situation was taking its toll. The Academyin Grenada for young players was closed after four years, and in 2005-06the domestic competitions were cut back to a single round of five matchesfor each team, plus semi-finals and final. These were troubling developments:Bennett King had repeatedly stressed that a proper structure at all domesticlevels and a significant improvement in facilities were prerequisites for liftingWest Indian cricket out of its prolonged slough.

Tommy Simsek, a Melbourne-based physiotherapist, is due to arrive tomorrow to take up an appointment as physio of the Sri Lankan cricket team. Duleep Mendis, the chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), said that Simsek is a highly qualified physio and that he had been recommended by Alex Kountouri, the former team physio.Mendis said Simsek’s contract will run from August 17 till the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. Tryphone Mirando, secretary of the SLC interim committee, said that the national team did not have a full-time qualified physio since Paul Klarenaar left them after the Australian tour in July last year. He said that CJ Clarke undertook the dual role of trainer cum physio of the national team until such time a suitable physio was found.A spate of injuries to the national team players recently forced the SLC interim committee to seek the services of Kountouri once again even though it was only for a short period. Kountouri, who was on holiday in Sri Lanka, reviewed the cause of the injuries to the national team players and subsequently recommended Simsek.During Kountouri’s eight-year period as physio the Sri Lanka team rode a wave, winning the World Cup in 1996, and followed it up with nine consecutive Test victories in 2001-02, feats which hold a niche in the country’s cricket history.Clarke would concentrate on Sri Lanka’s physical training play after Simsek takes over officially, but will also assist with physiotherapy. Clarke has been with the Sri Lanka senior and A teams since the 2003 World Cup, when Kountouri decided to return home.Sri Lanka’s next international engagement is at the end of the month when Bangladesh arrives for a series of two Tests and three one-day internationals.

Australia’s four-yearly cycle of hosting Test tours by West Indian teams has been broken, following the announcement that New Zealand and Pakistan will be next summer’s main visitors. The strategic shift in mindset means that England is now the last remaining country guaranteed a Test series in Australia every four years.In another significant development the VB triangular one-day series, now entering its 26th year, will be the briefest on record. Each team will play only six preliminary matches, instead of the usual eight, with the competition wrapped up in a little over three weeks.Insatiable cricket watchers need not despair, however; Australia will battle New Zealand for a new prize, the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, which is to become an annual neighbourhood shootout of three one-day games. New Zealand will host it the following year.”The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy will become as eagerly anticipated as other great annual sporting events such as the Bledisloe Cup,” predicted New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden. Said James Sutherland, his Australian counterpart: “Chappells and Hadlees have been involved in a lot of the trans-Tasman cricket rivalry that goes back 50 years but, inparticular, goes back to the start of one-day international cricket 30 years ago.”Almost as ancient is the custom of Caribbean teams coming to Australia at least every four years. Although West Indies will later join Australia and Pakistan for the VB Series, next summer’s five Tests will be split between New Zealand (two) and Pakistan (three). Thus ends a tradition that began with Clive Lloyd’s raw but soon-to-be-ravishing West Indians of 1975-76.During those years the two teams have contested some powerhouse series, both gripping (1981-82, 1992-93, 1996-97) and one-sided (1975-76, 1979-80, 1984-85, 1988-89, 2000-01). Never has it been remotely boring. The West Indies’ absence next summer is officially an outcome of the undulating global timetable, a clash of fixtures, and supposedly has nothingto do with their dwindling box-office appeal. But you’d love to be a fly on the Cricket Australia wall. They were whitewashed 5-0 under Jimmy Adams in 2000-01, losing twice by an innings and twice inside three days. Wisden Australia called it a tour of “unrelenting misery”: their batting was “feeble in the extreme”, their bowlers “never looked consistently menacing”and the fielding was “sloppily amateurish.”Thrashed 3-0 by England recently, things are hardly looking up. They will return in 2005-06, along with South Africa, for three Tests – including one at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval – which was lopped off the calendar today for the third summer in a row. The Kiwis, meanwhile, are back for the second time in four years. It is a sign of strange times when New Zealand, traditionallythe uncharismatic ducklings of world cricket, are considered a more mouthwatering prospect than West Indies.The decision to trim a little flab off the VB Series is equally intriguing. Only 341,426 spectators attended last summer’s tournament – the third-smallest crowds ever and umpteen grandstands shy of the 553,730 who went along in the 1982-83 heyday of the old Benson & Hedges World Series Cup.Administrators have brainstormed tirelessly over ways to brighten up the competition: we’ve endured bonus-point systems, pop musical accompaniments, roped-in boundaries, draconian wide and bouncer laws, two Australian sides and endless costume changes. Perhaps they have fiddled too much; perhaps the tournament’s freewheeling, wild-swinging spontaneity got lost somewhere. Ultimately there’s only so much you can do with a limited, and limited-overs, product.

Injury-plagued paceman Jason Gillespie has declared himself fit for Australia’s tour of the West Indies after bowling for the first time since returning injured from the World Cup.Gillespie bowled just 18 deliveries at the Adelaide Oval nets, but it was enough to convince the fast bowler he had overcome a torn tendon in his right foot which ended his World Cup campaign.”Everything seemed to go well, it felt good and really positive,” Gillespie said.”Clinically my leg is fine now, the strength is getting back and just to have a bowl felt really good and I was more than happy with the result.”Gillespie said today’s brief net session, his first bowl for almost four weeks, assured he would join the Australian squad on Monday for departure to the West Indies and the four-Test series starting April 10 in Guyana.The South Australian has missed as much international cricket as he has played because of injury.”Injuries are part and parcel of being a fast bowler,” he said.”You try to avoid them anyway you can by your preparation and getting yourself ready as best you can for games.”If you do all that and you get injured there’s not really much that you can do.”I have changed a bit of my training methods to just try and adapt and put a bit less strain on the body and just try and get that strength there to get me through series and games.”A few years back when I broke my leg (in Sri Lanka in 1999) I certainly changed my whole training regime and it seemed to have worked.”I have had the odd injury here and there but nothing overly significant, sprains and strains.”They are disappointing but you have just got to get back and get yourself ready again.”Gillespie said his goals for the West Indies tour were simple: return to the Australian side and make an impact.”It’s a great tour and a great place to play cricket,” he said.”The sun is on your back all the time and in your downtime you can head down to the beach and just relax.”The conditions are quite tough for both batting and bowling and it’s a real test of your cricket nous.”The West Indies at home are a very tough side and you know you have to play very good cricket to win.”

As the Indians seek to leave behind their 10-wicket mauling in thefirst Test in Galle, recent history is what they must be looking at toprovide them confidence for making a come-back into the three-Testseries.Going in to the second Test starting in Kandy on Wednesday, theIndians would be boosted by the fact that only recently they haveeffected one of the greatest turnarounds in history – and against oneof the greatest teams of all times. The 2-1 win against Australia mustbe a reassuring thought and giving them the confidence required torepeat that performance.But more importantly, the Indians realise that it would be the hostswho would be under pressure despite their thumping victory in Galle.The Sri Lankans have lost their previous two Tests in Kandy – in theseries against South Africa and England earlier this year – and onboth those occasions, they had come to the city having taken a 1-0lead.In a similar situation this time, the Sri Lankans would be on thedefensive to put their record straight and that provides the Indiansthe breathing space.But history can never be an excuse for non-performance. The Indians,without some of their top stars, were outplayed in every department ofthe game in the first Test. It was only through an unexpectedly heroicninth wicket stand between Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad thatsaved them the ignominy of a first-ever innings defeat against SriLanka.And a similar fate could await them here if they do not rise to theoccasion and play to their potential.Captain Sourav Ganguly had said after the first match that his teamwould come roaring back the way they did against Australia. “We mustfight back. We have to,” he said.Despite the wide gulf between his words and deeds, he must get itright this time if he has to save his captaincy and probably his placein the team.”Captaining India is an extremely difficult task,” Ganguly said aheadof the second Test. What he probably left unsaid was that he wasfinding it even more difficult to regain his batting form.Once famous for his fluent and artistic off-side play, Ganguly hasbeen woefully short of runs and has not touched fifty in the last 12Test innings. Coupled with his frequent courting of trouble withumpires and match-referees, he has attracted a lot of criticism withdemands for his head growing with each failure.He has been outsmarted by the opposition in his own forte, having beenrestricted in his natural play by a packed off-side field and forcedto make mistakes.If he is hoping for any respite in Kandy, he won’t find any with rivalcaptain Sanath Jayasuriya saying on Monday that Sri Lanka wouldcontinue to play with four fast bowlers.”We have our strongest pace attack in recent times and I think thatwould be vital for the team’s chances,” Jayasuriya said.Coach Dave Whatmore agreed with the captain. “Right now our fastbowlers are on top and we will continue with them,” he said.

Under the glare of floodlights, the gaze of television viewers at home and surrounded by some rather lonely looking concrete terraces, Colts Cricket Club qualified for the final of the Premier Division Limited Overs tournament at Premadasa International Stadium tonight. They defeated Tamil Union by 44 runs in a low scoring but nevertheless keenly fought match.It was a praiseworthy initiative by the Sri Lankan cricket board to host the final stages of this otherwise low-key tournament under lights and to invite the television cameras into the stadium. Unfortunately, they were less successful in pulling in the spectators. Nevertheless, it was surely a step in the right direction. Who knows, with further promotion and similar initiatives, this tournament may well arrest the attention of Sri Lanka cricket fans in years to come.The match itself was no jamboree. A sluggish pitch ensured that stroke play remained purely functional and the bowling attritional. This is not to distract from the game, which remained a tense affair until Dinuka Hettiarachchi bowled Upul Chandana in the 32nd over of the run chase.When Colts CC were bowled out for a meager 174 it looked as though an upset was on the cards. With their bowling attack packed with fast bowlers on a surface that cried out for the twirly men, Roy Dias, the Colts coach, would surely have been apprehensive.However, the Colts seam attack showed that the quick men too can prosper on turgid pitches by displaying the age old virtues of a tight line and unerring length. With the exception of Eric Upashantha, who bowled four wides in his opening burst, the fast bowlers remained disciplined throughout.The Tamil Union batsmen batted cautiously, with hindsight perhaps too much so, in the opening overs. Gradually the pressure shifted away from the fielding side and onto the batsmen as the Tamil Union innings was caught in the doldrums.Wickets began falling, steadily at first but with increasing frequency thereafter. Kumara (5) was the first batsmen to fall when he was trapped LBW by Upashantha in the sixth over of the innings. Ranga Dias (9), normally a free scoring player, was caught in two minds whilst trying to pull DulipLiyanage and popped up an easy catch in the 12th over.Malintha Gajanayake (2) was dismissed during a miserly spell of bowling from the young Kaushalya Weereratne – he bowled an eight over spell that yielded just nine runs – when he drove too early at a full-length delivery and was caught at mid off.The balance of the game had now shifted and Tamil Union were 47 for three in the 17th over. Then, the game swung decisively towards Colts when Rideegammanagedara, who faced 19 balls for his single run, was both dropped and run out of the same delivery, and Chandana (19) was bowled off his pads. After the dismissal of their captain Tamil Union capitulated losing their last five wickets for just 41 runs.The early part of the day had belonged to Tamil Union’s spin quartet. Led by the irrepressible Mutiah Muralitharan, who picked up five wickets for 15 runs, they ran through a powerful Colts batting line-up, taking nine of the ten wickets to fall.The only batsmen to prosper were Chaminda Mendis, with a diligent 35, and Kulatunga, with a sparkling 35, which included five boundaries. When this pair were separated after a stand of 67 the innings subsided and it was left to Eric Upasthantha to ensure respectability with what turned out to be a crucial 34 runs.

The West Indies Cricket Board has set up a review committee to assist their international players under the scanner for suspect bowling actions.Bowlers suspended by the ICC can continue playing domestic cricket in their country with the permission of their local board and the WICB has established this committee to “review, assess and make the relevant recommendations of all the international players before they are allowed to bowl in domestic competitions.”This move comes in the wake of the ICC suspending several of their spinners for illegal actions. On Sunday, Marlon Samuels was barred from bowling in international cricket for 12 months after copping his second suspension in two years. He was first reported in 2008, after which he had stopped bowling for three years.West Indies’ premier spinner Sunil Narine is also under cloud. His action was reported during an ODI against Sri Lanka in November and a test done at Loughborough indicated his elbow extended beyond the 15 degree limit for all of his variations. Although that was the first time he was pulled up in international cricket, his action had come under repeated scrutiny in the Champions League T20 in 2014 and subsequently led to him skipping the World Cup 2015.Narine can ask for a re-test of his action at any time now, but Samuels will have to wait until his 12-month suspension is complete.Shane Shillingford had faced the same problem after a tour of India in November 2013. He had been West Indies’ first-choice Test spinner at the time, and has since had success at correcting his bowling action.

Wisden CricInfo Polly Umrigar
Unfortunately when he passed away, I was at his bedside, around 10pm late last evening. I had gone to visit him in the evening, and around 8pm he just opened his eyes, but I don’t think he recognised me. He was in a bad state and was on the oxygen mask, and I felt really bad for him going through this suffering. We played cricket together for so long, and for the last 15 years, we were neighbours, so we were very close to each other and I have lost a dear friend.An asset to any side, Ramchand was an allrounder and a gutsy and tough cricketer. He was a brilliant close-in fielder and he had no gear to protect him, which just goes to show how brave he was. The 109 against Australia in Bombay in 1956-57 stands out in my eyes as one of his best knocks. As a captain, he was an average skipper, but he always led by example. A jovial character off the field, his tough character on it used to motivate his fellow players.Chandu Borde
I am shocked to hear this news, as I didn’t know it till now. I have lost a family member. What a fine gentleman he was – always well-dressed, cordial and level-headed. Though he had limited resources as a bowler, he was quite deceptive. A decent leader of men, he was very tolerant; even if a player was not scoring runs, he never used to get irritated and used to take things in the stride. He led us brilliantly to victory against Richie Benaud’s Australians in the Kanpur Test [in 1959-60], always giving us the self-belief that we could beat them. As a batsman he possessed a tremendous punch along with a good sense of timing. I remember on our train journeys we – Tat (Vijay Manjrekar), Bapu Nadkarni and myself – used to pull his leg by speaking in Marathi, and although he couldn’t speak it, he used to understand. At the same time he never was silent and used to give it back.Nari Contractor
He was a very good man and it is very sad that he had to struggle for a long time when the end came. I was lucky that I got to see him a few days back when I visited him in the hospital. As a captain he was never arrogant and always had that we-can-do-it kind of attitude and that was on display when he was the skipper when we won against the Australians at Kanpur. Although this moment came late in his life, he deserved it. He should have taken over the captaincy in the immediate aftermath of Polly’s [Umrigar] resignation. One of the hardest-hitting batsmen of his era, his finest innings came at Brabourne in Bombay against the Australians and came against the odds. He was also a genuine allrounder – not very fast, but he could get the job done.

Kevin Curran, the Zimbabwe coach, has revealed Zimbabwe are planning to return to Test cricket in November 2007, following their withdrawal at the start of this year. Zimbabwe have arrived in South Africa for a three-match ODI series as preparation for the Champions Trophy.”We will be playing the West Indies at home in November next year,” Curran told the news agency in Johannesburg. “We think that will give us time to develop our very young team, and we also believe that the West Indies would be at the right level of play for our return to Test cricket.”Cricinfo revealed more than a month ago that Zimbabwe’s return to the Test arena would be when they met West Indies at that time.Curran added that tours such as this short trip to Zimbabwe were vital for an inexperienced team. “It’s a very young team – the average age is about 21 so we need to play lots of competitive cricket. We are also planning a number of four-day matches against teams like South Africa A and other A sides.”As these players gain international experience, they will improve and become more competitive. If they can get 30 or 40 international caps under their belts, they will be much better prepared for the return to Test cricket.”So we will grab any opportunity with both hands. Losing about 20 senior players made a huge dent in Zimbabwe cricket.”The team were greeted at Johannesburg airport by Gerald Majola, the Cricket South Africa chief executive, who said the tour shows how South Africa are keen to help Zimbabwe.”We are very serious about the future of Zimbabwe cricket. We have taken a conscious decision to help Zimbabwe whenever we can, and the three ODIs are to help their preparations for the qualifying round Champions Trophy.”However, Majola was quick to point out that the series is also vital for South Africa’s build-up to the tournament in India next month, especially after their withdrawal from the tour of Sri Lanka after bombings in Colombo.Zimbabwe, led by Prosper Utseya the offspinner, start their tour with a 20-over match against the Eagles in Kimberley, before their opening ODI at Bloemfontein on September 15.