Canada’s development has again been compromised by financial shortfallscomplicated by debts left over from the ICC Trophy in 2001, the abject failureof local fundraising efforts and the difficulty in bringing sponsors on board.The loss of the Sahara Cup fixtures between India and Pakistan has disruptedour plans. Canada’s wonderful and historic victory over Bangladesh in the2003 World Cup was a remarkable accomplishment and the culmination ofwonderful performances in Sri Lanka, against West Indies A and in the RedStripe Bowl. But the World Cup manager, Karam Gopaulsingh, reported thatthe team was held back by “the lack of self-discipline, a professional attitude,commitment to excellence and dedication to the cause”. Gopaulsingh added: “We had the personnel: players, coach, physiotherapist who could haveimpressed the ICC to move us far forward on the road to one-day internationals,but the opportunity was lost at the `altar of self.'”

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Mark Richardson, with the help of Nathan Astle and Jacob Oram, boosted New Zealand to 284 for 5 on an intriguing opening day of the first Test at Lord’s. After Stephen Fleming won the toss, Richardson batted sensibly and solidly for most of the day to give his side a slight edge against England.This series promised to be a close affair, and today proved to be just that as the momentum swayed between the two teams until Oram’s dynamic innings towards the close. Before that, England’s bowlers twice pegged back New Zealand’s progress, firstly after their good start in the morning, and later when Astle went on the rampage in the afternoon session. Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff were by far the pick of the attack, bowling England back into the game, but neither could prevent Richardson and Oram’s vital stand of 106.Richardson provided the backbone of the innings. He wasn’t all thrills and spills by any means, more graft and grind. He took some time to settle down at the start, but he calmed the nerves with a square-drive and an elegant cut off Matthew Hoggard. He was happy to play second fiddle to all his partners while he played in his limited but effective manner, keeping out the straight ones, and hitting the bad balls. He guided Jones for two consecutive cover-drives on the way to his half-century, which he signalled with a punchy on-drive.Richardson carried on jabbing balls through the offside, where the majority of his 16 boundaries came, but just when a fourth Test century was in sight, he was given out lbw to Stephen Harmison with three overs remaining for 93. To make the blow even worse for Richardson, replays showed the ball hit the bat before his pad. He did have two earlier let-offs, however. Shortly after he had reached his half-century, he was lucky not to be run out at the non-striker’s end after a mix-up with Astle, and on 56, Ashley Giles put down a hard chance in the gully.On the whole, it was a mixed bag from England’s attack. Hoggard and Harmison were initially far from their best, even with the help of the cloud cover hovering over London. They bowled too short and on a leg-side line, and though Marcus Trescothick, England’s stand-in captain, kept faith with the Hoggard and Harmison combination, there were no repeats of their Caribbean carnage.Fleming signalled his intent with four quick boundaries against the offline bowling. Things weren’t quite going to plan for Trescothick, but the aggressive Jones and the economic Flintoff managed to get England back on track. They slowly stemmed the runs by keeping a consistent line, and it was Jones who got the reward with the big wicket of Fleming. Jones bowled a wide, full delivery outside off, and Fleming skewed the ball to Andrew Strauss, the debutant, who took a good head-high catch at point (58 for 1).

England went to lunch in better spirits, but Astle then deflated them again with a cameo innings in the afternoon. He started off with a few streaky edges, but soon clicked into gear. He brought up the team’s hundred with a spanking square-drive off Hoggard, and then played a sumptuous straight-drive two balls later. Hoggard and Harmison came in for more treatment, being whipped and walloped to all parts of the ground on the way to his half-century, including eight fours.Astle continued his procession of boundaries, cutting and driving Jones to put two more in the four column as New Zealand slowly pulled away from England. He had an enormous slice of luck when, on 60, he nicked Flintoff between Graham Thorpe and Mark Butcher at second and third slip, who let the ball sail harmlessly between them. However, Flintoff got his deserved reward in the following over when the dangerous Astle nibbled at a straight one through to Geraint Jones, who was even more delighted to take his first Test catch (161 for 2).And Jones was soon celebrating his second when Scott Styris nicked his third ball, off the other Jones (162 for 3). It was just the tonic England needed, and Hoggard then temporarily put England on top when he trapped Craig McMillan palpably in front of middle for 6 with one that nipped back a touch (174 for 4).However, Oram, all 6ft 6ins of him, was immediately positive and took the initiative back New Zealand’s way. He twice drove Harmison down the ground, and pulled Jones with dismissive ease. Giles was eventually given a whirl in the evening session, and he played out a little tussle with Oram – and the batsman came out well on top.Oram smacked Giles down the ground, over midwicket, and twice over long-on on the way to his half-century from 53 balls. His unbeaten 64, including 10 boundaries, gave England a glimpse of what he will capable of during the series, and also set New Zealand up to a competitive score from which to accelerate tomorrow.

USA 89 for 1 (Johnson 48*, Massiah 25*) beat Bahamas 88 by nine wickets
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United States shook off the loss of Clayton Lambert, the former West Indies opener who was ruled out through injury, and demolished Bahamas by nine wickets at Somerset CC.Sent in to bat, the Bahamians started brightly enough, with opening pair Dwight Weakley and Lester Taylor putting on 22 useful runs. However, a succession of wickets and some fine attacking bowling by USA reduced Bahamas to 53 for 6, before Garcha Blair and Mario Ford added 29 for the seventh wicket. With their stubborn resistance broken, USA mopped up the tail to bundle Bahamas out for 88 in 25.3 overs.Charles Reid produced fine figures of 3 for 35 while Islam, Javed and Amin picked up two wickets apiece. For Bahamas, Blair top-scored with 21.The USA reply got off to a disastrous start, losing Afzaluddin in the first over. But with net run-rate being vital in such tournaments, as USA learnt so well with their triumph at the recent Six Nations Challenge, Mark Johnson and Steve Massiah tore into the Bahamian bowling attack, reaching the low target in a mere 9.3 overs to register a nine-wicket win.Johnson, later named Man of the Match, finished unbeaten on 48, including five fours and three sixes, while Massiah finished with 25 not out. The blitz, however, was not enough to take USA above Canada on the championship table on superior net run-rate, with the Canadians also registering a resounding 197-run win over Argentina.But it certainly sets up a spicy encounter between the two North American rivals at St Davids tomorrow. Both teams know that a loss tomorrow will almost certainly cost them the championship, so the game takes on a cup-final atmosphere.The Bahamas meet hosts Bermuda at the National Sports Centre, and after two heavy defeats, will be hoping for a better performance from their batsmen and a better allround showing on the day.Canada 294 for 9 (Chumney 112) beat Argentina 97 by 197 runs
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Canada flexed their muscles with a massive 197-run win over a hapless Argentina side at the National Sports Centre. Having won the toss, and inserted the Canadians on a wicket still containing moisture from overnight rain, the Argentines might have hoped to put up a stiff challenge.However, Desmond Chumney and John Davison, the captain, put Canada firmly in control with a forceful opening stand of 137 before Davison was stumped off the bowling of Donny Forrester, the Argentine captain. Davison’s 64 included five fours and two sixes.Chumney marched on to record the first century of the 2004 Americas Championships, eventually being smartly caught and bowled by Billy MacDermott, the young off-spinner, for a commanding 112. His innings included seven fours and three sixes.With Chumney’s departure, at 215 for 5, Argentina fought back gamely, and restricted Canada to 294 for 9.Donny Forrester (3-64) and Billy MacDermott (3-40), the two offspinners, pulled the game back to a certain extent in the face of some aggressive batting.The Argentines, not at ease at any point of time, lost wickets at regular intervals thanks to a mixture of some penetrative bowling and indiscreet strokeplay. At 64 for 8 Argentina were headed for the lowest-ever total in the championships history. But some lusty hitting by the big-built Malcolm Van Steeden, who top-scored with 25, almost got Argentina to the 100-mark.Argentina fell three short, all out for 97 in the 29th over, as Canada romped to a massive 197-run win. Davison finished with 3 for 36 with his offspinners and completed a fine all-round performance, but it was Chumney who got the Man-of-the-Match award for his fine century.Canada will take on the USA, in what is sure to be a pivotal game in the race for the championship, while Argentina will clash with Cayman Islands. That will be Argentina’s last chance to perhaps challenge for the fourth place qualifying spot.Bermuda 218 for 5 beat Caymen Islands 217 for 9 (Hinds 78) by five wickets
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In the pick of the days games, hosts Bermuda edged out the Cayman Islands with a five-wicket win, with just five balls to spare. Set 218 for victory, the Bermudians found the going tough and relied heavily on their experienced captain, Clay Smith, and Charlie Marshall, the veteran, to give them a critical victory in the race for qualifying positions.OJ Pitcher, who had turned out as the hero yesterday, fell the total on 30. Cunningham bowled Borden with the total on 61 with the match still evenly poised. All the while, though, Glenn Blakeney was steadily compiling valuable runs, and his 63 proved to be a solid platform for the Bermuda innings.Coming together with Bermuda on 112 for 3, Smith and Marshall used all of their experience and thwarted the Caymans with a resolute partnership .Their partnership of 72 took Bermuda within relatively comfortable reach. Marshall departed for a well-made 36, and Cann fell soon after, but Clay-Smith steered them home with five balls to spare. He was unbeaten on 58, and the worthy Man of the Match.Sent in to bat, the Caymans got off to a poor start, and were reduced to 66 for 5, and struggling to set a respectable target. However, coming in at No. 7, Franklin Hinds stroked an outstanding 78, including six fours and five sixes. A partnership of 44 between Hinds and Lawrence Cunningham (27) took the Caymans to 110, and then a magnificent fightback with Ryan Bovell (32) helped them to a fighting total of 217 for 9.Dennis Archer was the pick of the Bermuda bowlers, taking 2 for 40 in 9 overs, while Delyone Borden, the youngster, impressed with 1 for 29 in 10 overs. Bermuda will take on the Bahamas tomorrow and a win will ensure joint top-spot along with the winner of the Canada – USA clash. Meanwhile, Cayman Islands will meet Argentina, in a game that will mostly decide the fourth and final qualifying place.

The internal power-struggle for control of Kenyan cricket has led to more than a dozen leading players switching clubs, with the Obuya brothers among the more prominent of the movers. reported that they left the Ruaraka Sports Club after it withdrew from the newly-formed league, along with Nairobi Simba Union, which saw three players leave for the Kanbis Sports Club.The matter appears to have come to a head at the weekend when Ruaraka Sports Club were unable to field a side for the league match. This was a development that did not sit well with the players, who felt they needed to play in a competetive league, with the Kenyan cricket season warming up and the A teams of Pakistan and India due to tour. Kenya are to play Uganda in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and later in the year, travel to England for the ICC Champions Trophy.With the withdrawal of the two teams, 15 players have changed to different clubs:

Erudite, intelligent, charismatic and, in his heyday, one of the greatest allround cricketers the world has ever seen, Imran Khan was the figurehead of Pakistan cricket for a generation, and a man who could hold his own in all walks of life. Educated at Aitchison College in Lahore, Imran went on to Oxford University, before honing his skills as a frighteningly quick fast bowler for Sussex.He brought to the Pakistan captaincy an international dimension and diplomacy that enabled them to become one of the finest teams in the world in the late 1980s and, in 1992, he ended his career on a glorious note, when he lifted the World Cup at Melbourne, after cajoling his “cornered tigers” into an inspired performance against England.With his sculpted good looks and flowing mane, Imran in full cry was a sight to behold – his bowling action culminating in a bounding leap for the crease and a full-stretch whip of the body. His mastery of reverse-swing enabled him to conquer the subcontinental conditions, and ensured that a legacy was passed onto his inheritors, Waqar Younis, and Wasim Akram, whom Imran first spotted as a teenaged net bowler in 1984.When injury limited Imran’s bowling, he instead transferred his talents to his batting, and in the mid-1980s his allround skills put him on a plinth that he shared with Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee – international champions one and all.

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A pitch that was batsman-friendly for the first two days became even more placid as South Africa A made steady inroads into New Zealand A’s 502 for 8 declared on day three at Sedgars Park.Boeta Dippenaar and Andrew Puttick, who both have international experience, matched each other ball for ball, stroke for stroke and boundary for boundary as they put together an opening stand of 148. Puttick, after being dropped on 57 by Gareth Hopkins, was dismissed for 70 to the fourth lbw decision of the match, as a ball from James Franklin kept uncharacteristically low and beat the bat.Dippenaar went to his hundred, but was then caught and bowled by Jamie How for 103. His five-hour stay included 18 boundaries with an equal spread of runs on both sides of the wicket.Justin Ontong’s confidence grew steadily as he struggled through the early part of his innings. Given a life by Matthew Sinclair in the slips when on 13, Ontong went on to make 48 before also being trapped in front by Franklin.Ashwell Prince became Franklin’s third leg-before victim as he pushed forward, played down the wrong line, and headed back to the change-rooms for 16. South Africa, at 246 for 4, were still 106 runs short of saving follow-on.Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla were determined to preserve their wickets, and the scoring of runs dried up considerably. At the close of play they had taken the total to 325 for 4, with McKenzie on 36 and Amla on 42.

The former umpire and left-handed allrounder Bill Alley, who played for Somerset until the age of 49, has died. He was 85.The colourful Alley was born and educated in Sydney, Australia, but eventually settled in the West Country. And he didn’t start out in cricket. He was firstly a bouncer before becoming a middleweight boxer, and he remained undefeated in 28 contests before he was forced to give it up after being hit on the head in the nets at cricket practice. And it wasn’t until the age of 38 that he played county cricket, when Somerset took him on after he had proven his worth over nine successful seasons in the Lancashire leagues, where he was a popular player for Colne and Blackpool.When Somerset did not offer him a new contract he was notably put out, not least because he had contributed 19,612 first-class runs – with a top score of 229 not out – and taken 738 wickets for them. And he became the last player to strike 3000 in one season, in 1961. His gully fielding was also razor-sharp, and he gained a reputation for never dropping a catch.After being forced to give up playing county cricket, he took up umpiring instead and went on to enjoy 16 seasons as a first-class umpire, although his penchant for awarding lbws earned him the nickname “Finger-Happy Joe” in some quarters (mainly batting ones). Alley also officiated in ten Tests, and was standing in the Headingley Test in 1977 as Geoffrey Boycott struck his 100th century.Although he was tipped by Sir Donald Bradman to make it as Test player, he didn’t step on to the ultimate stage. But, as Peter Robinson, a former Somerset colleague, told The Times: “There can’t be many better cricketers who didn’t appear in Test cricket.”Alley was married to Betty, who he met when playing cricket in the north of England, and they had two sons. He also had one son from his first marriage, who died in an Army accident.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced plans to play two one-day internationals against Zimbabwe at the newly-built Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra next January.Although the ICC has yet to sanction the venue as fit to host international matches, the BCB has no doubts that it will do so. “We are hopeful to get ICC recognition in the first week of December,” Rafiqul Islam Babu, secretary of the BCB’s grounds committee, told The Daily Star.Clive Lloyd recently inspected four venues – Fatullah Cricket Stadium, Bogra Stadium, Chittagong Divisional Stadium and Khulna Stadium – on behalf of the ICC and the board are confident that approval for all of them will be given in the next fortnight.Zimbabwe arrive in Bangladesh on December 30 and will play two Tests and five one-day internationals.

Andy Moles is on the final four-man shortlist for the job of Scotland coach. It is believed that Cricket Scotland received 20 applications and Moles and Omar Henry are the two favourites to land the post.Cricinfo exclusively reported in November that Moles was looking to leave Kenya, frustrated by infighting and underfunding, and despite categorical denials at the time by the Kenyan Cricket Association, his interest in the Scotland role shows that he is indeed searching for new challenges.Sharad Ghai, the KCA chairman, was clearly caught on the hop when told the news. “As far as we are concerned, Moles is still our coach," he told the Nation yesterday. "He is currently on holiday and is scheduled to return next month. But if he decides to take up the job, we can’t stop him."Henry has strong links with Scotland, having played for them, and was recently removed as South Africa’s chief selector, so having the time to devote to the role. It is also being reported in Scotland that Gary Kirsten and Jonty Rhodes are among those who have been interviewed.

International stars from various countries have sent messages of commiseration to the people affected by the tsunami disaster that ravaged several parts of South Asia recently. Darren Gough, Chris Cairns, Daniel Vettori, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo are some of the players who have have converged in Melbourne to participate in the charity game between an ICC XI and an Asian XI on January 10, and they all expressed their grief at the tragic event.Gough revealed the shock he had felt when he initially heard the news. “I suppose my first reaction was to think of all the really nice people I’ve met in Sri Lanka when I’ve played there, and memories of playing at Galle and other grounds. As the scale of the disaster grew and grew it’s just been heartbreaking.”Cairns was happy that the cricket community managed to organise an event of such scale in such a short time. “The massive logistical operation required to put on an event like this means all those involved are fully committed to making this a huge success.”Gough spoke of the generosity of the people from all over the world to reach out to the victims. “I think cricket has led from the front too. The generosity of people from Britain has been immense – my kids have given their pocket money and millions of people have made massive contributions. Then there are people like Murali who has been handing out food parcels virtually since it happened.”Vettori hoped that the rehabilitation efforts would be sustained over a period of time and added, “It is going to take a long time for people, cities, and countries to recover. It is going to take years of resource before communities are able to function. This appeal is not about one day or one week, it’s about being there for as long as it takes.”