Just as the English allrounder Andrew Flintoff spent the early years of his career striving to become the new Ian Botham, the Australian Shane Watson has now set his sights on becoming the new Freddie. Watson said on Wednesday that he had been inspired by Flintoff’s Man-of-the-Series performance in England’s 2-1 Ashes victory against Australia and hoped to face him in next month’s Super Series Test in Sydney.Watson, 24, is currently on tour with Australia A in Pakistan and said he wanted to become Australia’s version of Flintoff. “Freddie’s performances showed what a great genuine allrounder does for the side,” he told from Rawalpindi. “Obviously it gives the team a lot more options and I’m definitely working really hard and hoping that I get up to Freddie’s standard.”I definitely feel that I’ve got what it takes. I’m only 24 as well and I’m improving all the time so hopefully I’ll be that person and that player for Australian cricket.” Flintoff, 27, scored 402 runs from 10 innings in the Ashes series and took 24 wickets at an average of 27.29, winning comparisons with Botham, England’s last great allrounder.Watson has the full backing of Trevor Hohns, Australia’s chairman of selectors. “We consider it’s time to make some adjustments to the batting line-up,” said Hohns. “Watson gives the squad added flexibility.”

As this captivating series closed, Peter English looked back at the months of pre-Ashes hype when Australia were supposed to win 5-0 and Ashley Giles would have been lucky to turn a door handle. Instead the teams left The Oval with England clutching the urn and clumps of players and commentators forgetting their series predictions

The weird and wacky

Terry Alderman
“I definitely believe if any of our batsmen get out to Giles in the Tests they should go and hang themselves. But I’m confident that won’t happen.” , Sydney
“What’s worse than a whingeing Englishman? Gloating Pommies. One day we’ll lose the Ashes and it will be as horrific as waking up after a night on the drink in a room full of images of Camilla Parker Bowles.”Glenn McGrath
“I think I was saying 3-0 or 4-0 about 12 months ago, thinking there might be a bit of rain around. But with the weather as it is at the moment, I have to say 5-0.”Ricky Ponting
“We want to win every game we play in and if we do that and we have created some momentum then all well and good, but I don’t take a lot out of one-day series. Test cricket is a different game, there will be a few changes of personnel so we will have to see how it goes.”Neil Harvey on going through undefeated
“With Steve Waugh’s team and during the last ten years when England have been down, they still weren’t able to do it and I’m not sure why. They should do it this year, I reckon. They are not playing many games, let’s face it.”Jeff Thomson
“Hoggard’s like a net bowler when you compare him to McGrath and Kasprowicz.”Darren Lehmann
“Harmison and Flintoff have looked the part in the one-dayers, but on Test-match wickets I don’t see England having enough firepower to take the 20 wickets. Matthew Hoggard has to come into the equation, but if England are going to stand a chance, Flintoff and Harmison not only have to have a good series with the ball, they have to have an unbelievable series.”

The wrong

Ian Healy
“This England team, while they are better and on track, I can’t see them beating this Australian team in a game.”Jeff Thomson“England will lose the five-Test series 3-0 and the margin will be worse for them if it doesn’t rain. If you put the players from Australia and England up against each other it is embarrassing. There is no contest between them on an individual or team basis.”Rodney Hogg
“I just know Shane [Warne] will be someone who will really hone in on Andrew Flintoff and I’m sure there’s a weakness there with Flintoff.” .Dean Jones
“I’m just a little worried that [Andrew Flintoff] might be rushing back too quickly after the surgery. It took Glenn McGrath six months and some intensive rehabilitation to get back to the level he is at now.”John Buchanan
“The one-day series give us the opportunity to pit our skills against theirs, and then we would hope that in playing pretty well, we would assert ourselves and provide some sort of statement about the rest of the tour.” Terry Alderman
“If Australia get away to a good start then England have got no chance. They have got to be competitive in that first Test at Lord’s or else it’s goodnight.” Simon Katich
“We’ve spoken about the fact that the schedule suits us, but we also realise that the ECB have got their reasons for scheduling things a certain way. It doesn’t stuff us around too much with travelling.” Graham Gooch
“It’s a bit of an advantage to Australia to play at the back end of the season. Shane Warne will be happy with that. If you had to choose a schedule, it doesn’t get much better for them, and it’s fair to say Australia don’t need any outside help.”John Buchanan on Michael Clarke”He has been picked as a No. 6 batsman and that remains the key element of his game, but the bowling will be good for his overall game … It’s more important in the one-day game now that Lehmann is not playing, but he may be able to play more of a role for us in Test matches.”

The Australian players

Ricky Ponting
“I’m not looking at it as being the first to lose them. I’m looking at being another Australian captain to retain the Ashes.”Matthew Hayden
“I don’t really care much for all this ‘are they closer?’ I really believe that it’s all about us – if we are executing our skills I don’t believe there’s a side that can get close to us.”Glenn McGrath“If Harmison or Freddie [Flintoff] have a bad series, then they’re really going to struggle, whereas the Australian team, on any given day, any one of the players can perform well.”Brett Lee
“I am feeling match fit and think I’m also approaching the best part of my career. Hopefully, good things come to those who wait.” Damien Martyn on England’s improvement between Ashes series
“The same thing happened in ’93 and 2001. Their results have got better, but every time we go to England they get better – it’s the same scenario.”Michael Clarke
“England are playing fantastic cricket at the moment, they have a great team and I know all the Aussies are looking forward to getting over there. We’ll be doing everything in our power to get over there and win every game if possible.”Simon Katich“The ICC tables have us on top at the moment, but we are certainly not taking anything for granted. Our immediate focus is on defending the Ashes before turning our attention in October to the Super Series.”

The right

Matthew Hoggard
“They’re getting on a little bit – we’ve got back-to-back Test matches so it’ll be interesting to see if they can put in the consistent performances for 25 days. It’ll be interesting to see if they have the firepower to bowl us out twice.”Shane Warne on Andrew Strauss after Hampshire played Middlesex
“I wanted to have a look at him and see if he had a game-plan against me. That was the first time I’ve ever bowled against him and I liked what I saw. He walked across to let balls go, and when he tried to reverse-sweep I thought it was a sign that he wasn’t sure what to do.” Brett Lee
“I’ve been a person that’s bowled a few short balls in my time and I’ve been a person whose copped a few. I know England have tried to bounce our tail to put us on the backfoot and get us out as cheaply as possible.” John Buchanan
“[England] play with a deal of confidence in themselves and a deal of expectation that they will play well and go on to win the series. They look like they can play different styles of game. They look like they can be attacking if they want to be, and they can play a defensive game if they need to.”

Michael Vaughan, the England captain, has said he wants England to prove that they are the best team in the world by beating Pakistan in October and following that with a win against India in March 2006.”Our next challenge is to continue our success,” Vaughan was quoted as saying by AFP. “We have beaten every team over the last two years and we have got to make sure we do that over the next two years. Australia away in 16 months’ time is the real, true test but Pakistan and India away are massive challenges for the team. I’m sure we can go out there and play well.”Vaughan said that England would not become complacent after their victory against Australia in the Ashes. “It [England] is a young team who can play together for a number of years,” said Vaughan. “The ones who do become complacent are generally not the winners and we tend to have a lot of guys in the team with ambition. We have played good cricket for two years, not just this summer, but there will be blips along the way. It is how you cope with the odd failure which is the most important thing. The challenge is now that everyone expects us to do well all the time but I can cope with that and it is good challenge to take to Pakistan.”

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

Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne stayed in the shadows as Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken produced an exhilarating display of sheer pace and controlled swing that routed West Indies on the fourth day at the Gabba. Set 509 to win after Ricky Ponting had declared on the overnight total of 2 for 283, West Indies were bundled out for 129, losing their last seven wickets in the space of nine overs for just 30 runs. Lee finished with 5 for 30, his first five-wicket haul in four years, and Bracken had career-best figures of 4 for 48 as the Australians wrapped things up before the clouds burst.Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Brian Lara all got starts, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unfortunate to be given out padding up, but not one individual played with the conviction that suggested a two-day salvage operation was even within the realms of possibility. Lara squirted a catch to gully, Sarwan surprised by a fearsome bouncer from Lee, and the rest were blown aside about as easily as straws in the wind. Even by West Indians standards – this was a 30th defeat in their last 37 overseas Tests – this was a terrible performance.Lee was clocked as fast as 153.7 kmph, and his ferocity was perfectly complemented by Bracken’s swing bowling in cloudy conditions. The only dark spot in a near-perfect picture for the Australians was the shoulder injury Shane Watson sustained while diving to stop an on-drive. That aside, all the wounds were sustained by a West Indian side outmanoeuvered and outthought from the moment Ricky Ponting dug Australia out of a first-innings hole.Despite losing Devon Smith, top-scorer in the first innings with 88, early on, West Indies’ pursuit of a 509-run chimera had been given impetus by Chris Gayle’s cameo. Glenn McGrath was off-driven with immense power for two sixes in an over that also included a fluffed caught-and-bowled chance and some pleasantries that Gayle laughed off.The breakthrough came from an unlikely source, Watson, who had only one other Test wicket to his name. Brought on as first change, he was ecstatic when he induced an outside edge that Warne at first slip took in a fashion resembling an overhead Australian rules mark.Lara couldn’t make anything of a reprieve granted when he had made just 5 – Katich dropped a chance high to his right at midwicket off Bracken – and his departure to the sort of catch that Australia dropped routinely in a woeful Ashes campaign said much about the restoration of Matthew Hayden’s confidence after three consecutive Test centuries.Marlon Samuels, who viewed the carnage from his vantage point at the non-striker’s end, struck two gorgeous boundaries off Bracken in a late late show of defiance, but it had all the lasting impact of a gob of spit in the rain. And unless West Indies perk up dramatically before Hobart, they will surely be swept away by this unrelenting Australian deluge.

West Indies 2nd inningsDevon Smith c Warne b Lee 3 (1 for 11)
Edged to first slipChris Gayle c Warne b Watson 33 (2 for 51)
Outside edge pouched high in Aussie-rules fashionBrian Lara c Hayden b Bracken 14 (3 for 85)
Flayed one low to the right of gullyShivnarine Chanderpaul lbw Bracken 7 (4 for 99)
Offered no shot to one that shaped back and struck him just above the pad. Would have gone over the stumpsRamnaresh Sarwan c Gilchrist b Lee 31 (5 for 99)
Tangled up by a brutish bouncer, gloved behindDenesh Ramdin c Gilchrist b Lee 6 (6 for 105)
Beaten by subtle away movement, edged behind Daren Powell lbw Bracken 0 (7 for 106)
Struck on the right toe by a swinging yorker, plumb in frontFidel Edwards b Bracken 0 (8 for 106)
Clueless about an inswinging yorker that rattled leg stumpCorey Collymore lbw Lee 4 (9 for 114)
Beaten for pace and rapped in front of middle stumpJermaine Lawson b Lee 1 (129 all out)
Fast and straight delivery clips off stump

Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lanka captain, has criticised Shane Warne, the record-breaking spinner, for suggesting that rivals like Muttiah Muralitharan benefited by taking “cheap” wickets. “Shane tries to be larger than the game and life and expects a lot of credit for his performances. He thinks there’s no better bowler than him,” Ranatunga told AFP.Warne said earlier this week that his world records of 651 career wickets and 87 in a calender year will not last long because other bowlers got more opportunities against weaker opponents. Without naming Muralitharan, his nearest rival with 584, Warne said: “There’s a lot more cricket being played these days and you have teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in there, with some teams playing them a lot more (than others).”I’m sure that whoever those people are, they might get the record.” Warne told : “It doesn’t take a sudoku expert or a Da Vinci Code sleuth to work out who ‘those people’ are.” Muralitharan has taken more wickets (89) against Test minnows Zimbabwe than any other nation and he also has 34 wickets in four Tests against Bangladesh.Ranatunga said Warne’s argument against his rivals did not stand up. “Warne takes a lot of wickets against England, South Africa and New Zealand who generally don’t play spin all that well,” he said. “But take a look at his record against the Indians who play spin best. I am not lying, check the statistics and judge for yourself and you would know who the better spinner is.”Warne has taken 172 wickets against England, 107 against South Africa and 103 against New Zealand. But he has managed only 43 against the Indians at a poor average of 47.19. “He also gets a lot of tail-end wickets and I have always said that he’s an overrated bowler,” Ranatunga said. “Question marks will always hover around Warne’s performances. After all, he is the one and only Test cricketer banned from the game for taking drugs.”Can Warne be a role model for any youngster?. How many controversies has he been part of? Warne can never be a role model and I don’t want any Sri Lankan youngsters to follow him as a role model.”

New Zealand 256 for 5 (Astle 90*) beat Sri Lanka 255 for 7 (Tharanga 103, Atapattu 52) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

New Zealand – held back by an elegant century from Upul Tharanga and the Christchurch rain – scrambled to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Jade Stadium, and took a 3-0 lead in the five-ODI series (one match was played in late 2004 but following the Indian Ocean tsunami the series was temporarily abandoned). Sri Lanka, put in to bat, managed 255, and New Zealand, powered by Nathan Astle, overhauled the target after a being given a serious scare towards the end of their chase.At this venue, with its distinct lack of movement in the air or off the wicket, and short boundaries, a score of 255 should not have caused serious concern. Yet New Zealand managed to make heavy weather of the target. If it were not for a couple of expensive no-balls – Dilhara Fernando and Chaminda Vaas both had Astle dismissed off no-balls when New Zealand needed to score at more than a run-a-ball, things might well have been different.Defending 256 was a tough ask of the men handling the white ball – Chaminda Vaas began admirably, applying the pressure at one end. But Farveez Maharoof, without the benefit of the same experience and skill as his senior partner, struggled to keep Lou Vincent quiet. Vincent opened the face of the bat and drove confidently through the line, forcing the ball through the square field on the off side with power.The fifty of the opening partnership came up in just the eighth over, and even the fall of both openers soon after, with 71 on the board, was little cause for worry. Astle, brought into the game as SuperSub, stabilised the innings with Peter Fulton, who chipped in with a promising 32, and the rain that came down provided a twist.While the required run rate never really ran away from New Zealand, the fall of Hamish Marshall, lbw to Muttiah Muralitharan, and Scott Styris, brilliantly caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan diving football goalkeeper style, caused a flutter or two and raised the hopes of the Lankans. In the end, though, a well set Astle – once caught off a no-ball and once bowled off a no-ball – settled the issue, scoring 90 not out and New Zealand won with 12 balls to spare. Astle was given a timely boost by Chris Cairns, who cracked a huge six off the last ball of Murali’s spell, and gave the innings the momentum they needed to go over the finish line.When Daniel Vettori, standing in for Stephen Fleming, won the toss, he had little hesitation in choosing to put Sri Lanka in. That Sanath Jayasuriya had slipped in the shower reaching for his shampoo, dislocated his shoulder and ruled himself out of the game did not help Sri Lanka.Shane Bond bowled with genuine pace early on and hurried both Tharanga and Avishka Gunawardene through their strokes. While surviving the Bond barrage was on the top of Tharanga’s mind, Gunawardene still appeared keen to score. He closed the face of his bat a touch too early on one delivery and sent an edge towards point where Hamish Marshall kept his eyes on the ball and took a sharp catch. At 24 for 1 Sri Lanka were in danger of slipping, but Kumar Sangakkara ensured this did not happen.Sangakkara was hesitant at first, but understood the need to keep wickets in hand even if the runs were not flowing too freely. He let Tharanga take charge of the run-getting, and this worked well. When Cairns and Jacob Oram came on to bowl first change, Tharanga gave full freedom to his pleasing off-side strokeplay. The zone between backward point and wide mid off took a peppering as fielders scrambled to save the ball. Tharanga was comfortable off front and back foot, and easily found the gaps. On occasion he was even audacious enough to come down the pitch to Oram and drive inside out.Vettori pulled things back somewhat, even as Sri Lanka’s batsmen aimed to be positive against him. The Tharanga-Sangakkara partnership had burgeoned to 109 when Bond struck. Sangakkara dropped one to the leg side and set off for a quick single, but was sent back by his partner. Bond, well into his followthrough, fielded well and nailed the stumps at the keeper’s end with a strong throw before Sangakkara (36) could recover his ground.Then New Zealand pulled things back, picking up wickets at regular intervals. Marvan Atapattu was forced to seal one end up and he did so with some panache. Tharanga reached his second ODI century – a crucial one given how much of the team’s score he had singlehandedly accounted for – but was dismissed soon after. He pulled Oram straight down Fulton’s throat on the square-leg fence, and was dismissed for 103.Mahela Jayawardene, Dilshan and Maharoof all failed, with Dilshan’s wicket taking Cairns to 200 scalps. Had it not been for Atapattu’s controlled innings at the death – he made a better than run-a-ball half-century without ever seeming to break into a sweat – Sri Lanka would have struggled even to get to their eventual 255.How they were outNew ZealandJamie How c Mubarak b Vaas 12 (59 for 1)
Lou Vincent c Sangakkara b Maharoof 46 (71 for 2)
Peter Fulton c Jayawardene b Dilshan 32 (143 for 3)
Hamish Marshall lbw b Muralitharan 12 (170 for 4)
Scott Styris c Dilshan b Maharoof 28 (219 for 5)
Sri LankaAvishka Gunawardene c Marshall b Bond 3 (24 for 1)
Kumar Sangakkara run out (Bond) 36 (133 for 2)
Mahela Jayawardene C McCullum b Mills 6 (150 for 3)
Upul Tharanga c Fulton b Oram 103 (169 for 4)
Tillakaratne Dilshan c Oram b Cairns 11 (198 for 5)
Farveez Maharoof b Mills 7 (217 for 7)
Marvan Atapattu run out (Astle) 52 (254 for 7)

Peter Drinnen has been named Scotland’s new coach following the departure of Andy Moles earlier this month. Moles left his post after seemingly being forced out by a group of senior players. A source told that `it was clear Andy had lost the confidence of a few of the guys’.Drinnen, 38, moves from his post as technical director of Cricket Scotland and is a former wicketkeeper for Queensland. “What all this is about is the continued development of Scotland’s playing talent,” he told BBC Sport.”I feel honoured to be asked to coach the national squad in such an important time for the game in Scotland.”The decision to appoint Drinnen was immediately welcomed by Scotland’s captain Craig Wright. “Peter’s a fantastic facilitator,” Wright told . “He will put a structure in place where players can maximise their ability. I think he’ll do a great job.”There is a wide spectrum of things required for a national coach in Scotland. There needs to be communication. Players need the coach to go to them. On occasions, they need to work with fitness trainers, psychologists, and I’m sure Peter will provide that.”Wright insisted that, while rumours were abound of friction between the players and Moles, his team want `to be challenged and know they have trained and prepared as well as they can within the environment we have in Scotland’.

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

Malinga Bandara proved he really was a super sub with a stunning performance against South Africa that spun Sri Lanka into the VB Series finals. South Africa were travelling in relative comfort at 3 for 87 when Bandara was called from the dressing room in the 20th over, but he responded with 4 for 31 to floor his opponents and secure a 76-run win.A regular Supersub during the preliminary rounds, Bandara has cemented the role for the best-of-three finals against Australia starting at Adelaide on Friday, and he will enter the match backed by 13 tournament wickets. South Africa started the match with a three-point lead, but the pressure of a winner-takes-all game showed throughout the contest on a cool day in Hobart, which began with snow melting on the nearby Mt Wellington.There were a number of hot performances but none could match Bandara’s legspin. He warmed up with the important dismissal of Graeme Smith, whose first half-century of the tour ended in a disappointing early exit from the competition. Smith has had an awful run in Australia, but he looked to have benefited from a dropped chance on 42 by Tillakaratne Dilshan until he aimed a wild sweep in Bandara’s second over.After 25 overs South Africa needed to score at a run a ball to reach the target of 258 that grew in difficulty as the match progressed. Smith displayed some refreshing touches, although he would have preferred more boundaries in his 67 from 76 balls. His mood worsened when he and Justin Kemp departed in the same Bandara over, Kemp pushing gently forward to be trapped lbw, and he then lost the double threats of Ashwell Prince and Shaun Pollock. Prince was forced into a limp return catch to Bandara, who was also the bowler when Pollock received an unlucky caught-behind decision, departing at 7 for 146.”It’s very difficult to be in for the second half of the session in the field,” Bandara said as he walked off, “but I’m enjoying myself.” Tom Moody, the coach, also praised Bandara’s nine-over effort. “He’s bowled very well all series, but particularly today on a pretty good batting pitch.”After Bandara’s spree Johan van der Wath was outclassed by Muttiah Muralitharan, who spun the ball wickedly, and the final two wickets went to catches in the deep. It was a fine display set up by Chaminda Vaas’s double strike in the seventh over and strong batting performances from Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara.

At first look Sri Lanka seemed to have wasted a fine 123-run stand between Atapattu and Sangakkara as they stuttered to 9 for 257. They were on track for a 300-plus total and a collapse of 8 for 79 in the final 15 overs could have been terminal. In the end it didn’t matter and as the pitch slowed and the spinners closed in the goal was a hopeless one for South Africa.Atapattu, who left the field in the second innings with a back injury, returned to the top of the order after winning the toss and played a solid hand with 80 from 122 balls while Sangakkara was more fluent with his 62 from 77. They guided Sri Lanka to the strength of 1 for 175 before van der Wath (2 for 41) and Andrew Hall (3 for 50) combined to up-end the innings. Wickets continued to fall to mis-hits and it took a scrambling 30 from 24 balls by Dilshan, including two fours in the final over, to push Sri Lanka past 250.The innings also began in a flurry as Sanath Jayasuriya blazed into Dale Steyn’s nervous offerings and crashed him for 32 from three overs. Steyn was subbed for Johan Botha in the 18th over, but the danger of Jayasuriya had already disappeared after he played-on to Pollock. South Africa deserved to feel pleased, but after seven preliminary matches they still under-estimated the impact of Bandara.The first two finals venues at Adelaide and Sydney offer surfaces to suit Sri Lanka’s bowlers and Moody was confident of a strong showing. “There’s no question Australia are world leaders in one-day cricket, but we’re very excited,” he said. “We’ve beaten them once and we’re confident of giving them a shake.”

South Africa
Boeta Dippenaar lbw Vaas 9 (1 for 19)
Herschelle Gibbs c&b Vaas (2 for 19)
Mark Boucher b Fernando 24 (3 for 77)
Graeme Smith c Muralitharan b Bandara 67 (4 for 113)
Justin Kemp lbw Bandara 0 (5 for 114)
Ashwell Prince c&b Bandara 22 (6 for 137)
Shaun Pollock c Sangakkara b Bandara 15 (7 for 146)
Johan van der Wath b Muralitharan 0 (8 for 147)
Johan Botha c Kapugedera b Jayasuriya 17 (9 for 178)
Charl Langeveldt c Mubarak b Dilshan 1 (181)
Sri Lanka
Sanath Jayasuriya b Pollock 25 (1 for 52)
Kumar Sangakkara c Dippenaar b van der Wath 62 (2 for 175)
Marvan Atapattu c Hall b van der Wath 80 (3 for 190)
Mahela Jayawardene lbw Hall 11 (4 for 207)
Jehan Mubarak c Prince b Hall 14 (5 for 212)
Chamara Kapugedara b Botha 3 (6 for 220)
Chaminda Vaas c Botha b Langeveldt 5 (7 for 229)
Muttiah Muralitharan c Botha b Langeveldt 1 (8 for 241)
Tillakaratne Dilshan b Hall 30 (9 for 254)

This visit to Swaziland was certainly the most successive and promising one. Besides the Introductory Coaching Course for beginners, the Marketing and Promotion Supper for would be sponsors and other interested people proved very rewarding.The +/- 12 hour course for the 30 teachers from primary and secondary schools in the Manzini region the first formal coaching course proved beyond doubt that this was long overdue. The teachers were very enthusiastic, committed and went the extra mile during the practical sessions. Certificates for attendance were handed to the Swaziland Cricket Association. Mr. Fuad Waggie assisted the RDM in delivering the course.Soft ball cricket equipment was handed over to the SCA to be distributed to the various schools.Cricket manuals and posters were given to the secretary general.A number of well wishers and sponsors attended the marketing and promotion supper arranged by the SCA and the ICC Africa Office.The main aim was to raise money for the New Year, and make the public aware of the SCA’s Strategic Plans for the future and also to inform the gathering of the Africa Development Program. Much money was raised.A member from the National Sports Council and the Swaziland Schools Sports Association was present and very impressed with the proceedings.Judging from the attendance at the Introductory Coaching Course, talks with various people and the Marketing and Promotion supper one can safely say that Swaziland cricket is on the move.

The ICC board of directors meeting in Dubai decided, as expected, to end the unloved trial of the Supersub with immediate effect. It also announced a new pitch-monitoring process, endorsed an anti-doping policy and received a report from Peter Chingoka on the state of play in Zimbabwe.Among other items were an agreement on the minimum number of matches required for a team to be ranked in the official ICC One-Day Championship, and an agreement to revert to full recognition of the administration of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) subject to certain conditions.The briefest discussion surrounded the agreement not to continue with the Supersub experiment, introduced in haste last June and widely lambasted ever since. Indeed, it would not be right to describe it as a discussion so much as a rubber-stamping exercise.The board endorsed the adoption of an ICC anti-doping policy for all major ICC-run events. The proposed policy complies with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code and will be introduced in time for the Champions Trophy in India in October.The board also proposed the first formal pitch-monitoring process for international cricket. This process, which has been adopted with immediate effect, includes potential sanctions ranging from a formal warning to a fine, or even suspension of international status for venues that produce substandard pitches.The continuing problems in Zimbabwe were discussed, with a presentation by Chingoka, the chairman of the interim board. An ICC statement said that the board were told that an independent auditor had been appointed to conduct a forensic audit and that a new constitution would be in place by the middle of the year. Chingoka was told that Zimbabwe Cricket would be required to provide a report to the ICC board at its October 2006 and March 2007 meetings reviewing the on-field performances of its teams ahead of any decision regarding its resumption of Test cricket.With regard to the ICC One-Day Championship, the board decided that the minimum number of matches needed to be played by a side to qualify for a ranking should be eight matches. That meant that Kenya have now played sufficient matches in the qualifying period. The two matches it played in the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 have a 50% weighting, while their recent four matches against Zimbabwe and the opening two matches of its series against Bangladesh take it to the eight-match threshold. Kenya is ranked 11th on the table with a rating of 18 points. It needs to win both remaining matches of its four-match series against Bangladesh to climb to tenth and claim the last qualifying spot for the ICC Champions Trophy.Another board that had been a thorn in the ICC’s side, the USA Cricket Association, has again been recognised subject to certain conditions. The only one specified in the media release is that it must conduct independently-monitored elections before November 30, 2006. The USACA has been at odds with the ICC since a split last year challenged the existing board’s right to run the game.