The three day Central Zone Cooch Behar (under-19) match between Rajasthanand Madhya Pradesh ended in a thrilling draw at the Mansarovar stadium inJaipur on Tuesday.Ahead by nine runs on the first innings, MP were all out for 136in their second knock. Opening bowler Naresh Gehlot was the wreckerin chief taking five wickets for 19 off 22 overs. MP were at onestage 68 for one, thanks to a second wicket stand of 55 runs off16.4 overs between Sachin Dholpur (31) and Mohnish Mishra (29).But the remaining batsmen offered little resistance.Rajasthan had to get 146 runs for victory in 29 overs and thoughthey lost wickets at regular intervals, they maintained a briskscoring rate. Opener Vivek Sharma (23 off 19 balls), Ankiush Singh(39 off 52 balls), Tahir Khan (25 off 31 balls) and Vivek Yadav(19 not out off 11 balls) all did their best to get Rajasthan nearthe target. Ultimately, they fell four runs short, finishing on 142for seven. Ambalal Patidar, with three for 54 off eleven overs, wasthe most successful bowler.

As they have crashed headlong from one disaster to the next in this Test series against Australia, West Indies’ batsmen have been spectacularly undone by a differentbowler every time. Only fair on his home ground, then, that it should be the turn of leg spinner Stuart MacGill to loom large in the disappointing slide that saw thetourists finish at 9/256 on a fascinating opening day of the Fifth Test here at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.Following a lacklustre start, MacGill (7/92) went within a whisker of returning best ever figures in a career that has produced a fine bowling average but beenaccompanied by a general lack of opportunity too. In fifteen Tests prior to this one, he had taken sixty-eight wickets at less than twenty-five runs apiece. Yet thestrength of the Australian attack and, more specifically, the presence of Shane Warne has made his appearances at the elite level fleeting. He was far from a certaintyeven to play here; paceman Andy Bichel, in the end, unluckily omitted because of the suspicion that the pitch at the remodelled SCG will increasingly yield to spin inthis game. This despite the fact that the Queenslander had produced a five wicket haul of his own in the Test that preceded this one.The decision to re-include MacGill in the eleven proved a heady one. In a devastating burst on either side of tea, he struck seven times. And in so doing, he reducedthe tourists from a position of command at 0/147 to one resembling a far more familiar complexion at 8/240.With the exception of the scalp of Jimmy Adams (10) – who fell palpably lbw to Glenn McGrath (1/43) – he took each of the first eight West Indian wickets to fall.Admittedly, he was helped by a freakish catch by Mark Waugh at slip to remove Brian Lara (35) and by two highly dubious decisions from Umpire Darrell Hairwhich accounted for Marlon Samuels (28) and Nixon McLean (0). But he plied his trade well. On an occasion which represented a curious mixture of past andpresent – this match helps mark the one hundred year anniversary of Federation in Australia – he turned back the clock too. Reminders were provided of both theSCG Test against England two years ago (the match in which he produced that current Test best of 7/50) and to Sydney Tests of the 1980s, when West Indiantorment against the spinning ball was a regular sight.In many ways, this was a day of two halves. Before a packed, good-natured crowd of 40880, Australia had actually been outplayed initially. In fact, the first day ofTest cricket in a new year – depending on your particular perspective, maybe even the first of a new millennium – seemed to be illustrating that a new sense of resolvehad permeated the West Indians’ outlook too. There was a good piece of fortune at the start of the day when a coin fell on its correct side, giving them the chance tobat first on a pitch offering the Australian fast bowlers less bounce and pace with which to work than at probably any other time in the series. And then there was anoutstanding partnership to follow – a record-breaker for the opening wicket to be precise.Brought together by an ankle injury to Daren Ganga – the former’s regular opening partner in this series – the makeshift opening combination of Sherwin Campbell(79) and Wavell Hinds (70) generated a stand of 147. It was one that had the Australian attack looking a shadow of the outfit that had previously run through theWest Indian top order with regular abandon this summer.Through the opening passages of the day’s play, Campbell had looked shaky. He experienced a good stroke of fortune early (with his score at six, in fact) whenJason Gillespie (0/44) spilled a low caught and bowled chance. He also survived a beseeching lbw appeal against the same bowler two runs later, and would havebeen run out for eighteen if a throw from Justin Langer at mid wicket had hit the stumps. There were also more of the plays and misses at McGrath that have beenhis trademark during the summer. But the narrow escapes seemed to represent the change in fortune that he needed.A brace of powerful, well-timed strokes to both sides of the wicket ensued as the West Indian vice captain sought to take his game to a more attacking level than theone that had hitherto reaped the miserable aggregate of fifty-four Test runs for the entire summer. In the end, it was a surprise to see him misread a MacGill leg breakan hour after lunch; lift a catch back to the bowler at just below knee height; and put the cap on a partnership that represented a West Indies all-time best for the firstwicket in Tests in Sydney.While he accumulated his runs more slowly, Hinds also played well. His batting also pointed to new-found resolve and, more particularly, to disciplined judgementon and around the line of off stump. Several times in this series he has been dismissed courtesy of playing well away from his body. The same flaw was rarely spottedtoday.At that stage, the surface seemed to be offering far less in the way of assistance to the bowlers than the others that have already been used in the series and theAustralians accordingly struggled to look inspired. Gillespie’s early miss also set the stage for an uncharacteristically sloppy overall exhibition in the field with severalwayward returns to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist featuring. Waugh clutched a remarkable catch low to the ground in between two fingers on his left hand;otherwise, instances of errors in the field easily outweighed evidence of brilliance.But that was all before MacGill, and the unlucky Colin Miller (1/69), combined to make the surface look a more devilish beast. Fizzing turn, fizzing bounce, and thesight of a succession of batsmen shuffling back to the pavilion predominated after that.

Australia overcame its most expensive bowling spell in history, an umpiring blunder, a Shoaib Akhtar thunderbolt, disrupted sleep and a world record partnership from Pakistan to win a riveting one-day match at SophiaGardens today.Chasing 257, Ricky Ponting cracked 70 – as Akhtar became the fastest bowler in the world ahead of Brett Lee with a delivery clocked at 97.7mph – to lead the tourists to a seven-wicket victory with 26 balls to spare.Pakistani supporters, who invaded the pitch at Edgbaston on Thursday, dared not repeat their unruly performance here because the on-field action was too entertaining to disrupt.Lee, in his first game at any level since an elbow reconstruction in February, went for 1-85 as Yousuf Youhana (91no) and Rashid Latif (66) rescued Pakistan from 6-85 with the highest seventh-wicket stand the abbreviated form of the game has seen.He had the unwanted distinction of wiping Glenn McGrath, who conceded 1-76 against Sri Lanka at the MCG in January 1996, from the record books, but the 24-year-old bowled better than his figures suggested.Youhana and Latif’s stand of 124 from 127 balls gave Pakistan a healthy total but Ponting, unrecognisable from the man who could not get bat on ball in the Tests against India, was magnificent.The first two balls he faced from Akhtar went for boundaries, as did five of his first 14 deliveries, and his knock was instrumental in Australia reaching 3-258.A pull shot off Akhtar sizzled over the boundary rope, bounced against the brick wall of the members bar and was travelling so fast it rebounded ten metres back onto the field.Ponting played a frustratingly loose shot off Saqlain Mushtaq that went straight down Abdur Razzaq’s throat at long-on, but Michael Bevan (56no) and Steve Waugh (54no) guided Australia home.Akhtar cut Gilchrist in half with a superb delivery that knocked back his stumps but video replays suggested it was a no-ball, less than a week after four such decisions went against England in the second Test against Pakistan.The previous ball of 97.7mph was sliced for four by the Australian vice-captain and as always, there was much debate about the accuracy of the speed gun.Lee’s fastest is 97.56mph in a one-day game versus South Africa at Johannesburg last year.As the team bus drives 90 minutes from Cardiff to Bristol for tomorrow’s clash with England, the Australian players will be hoping for a better night’s sleep than they had in the Welsh capital.Troublemakers set off fire alarms in the team hotel about six times between midnight and 1am, waking every player each time.Lee’s inclusion in the Australian side was announced only 15 minutes before play began and two weeks after officialdom declared “under no circumstances” would he take part in the one-day tournament.Niggling injuries to Jason Gillespie (hamstring), Nathan Bracken (shoulder) and Damien Fleming (calf) forced the tour selection panel of Waugh and Gilchrist to call on Lee.His first five overs of 1-29 were commendable given his four-month layoff but Youhana and Latif tore him to pieces, snatching 37 runs from the 24-year-old’s last three overs.Warne (3-52) struck twice in his first four balls to rekindle memories of his famous start to the Ashes series in 1993 but like Lee, his figures were spoiled by Youhana and Latif.Warne’s opening ball of the one-day tournament snuck between Razzaq’s legs and although Gilchrist fumbled the stumping chance, the ball knocked off the bails and Razzaq was gone.Akhtar left the field after bowling five overs for 1-41 and did not return.

New South Wales’ determination to continue a policy of rejuvenating its state squad has been reflected in the announcement of its initial list of contract holders for the 2001-02 domestic season.Amid a squad that still contains a nucleus of established senior players, the Blues have awarded berths to as many as three newcomers on their eighteen-strong list of full contract holders. An emerging quartet of players have also taken up so-called rookie offers made available under the terms of the recently-signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and the Australian Cricketers’Association.The names not to have been previously seen on full Blues’ contracts are those of Dan Horsley, Grant Lambert and Michael Goldsmith. Western Suburbs fast bowler Horsley, 28, has already made one appearance for New South Wales in the first-class arena, having been called up to join the team for its match against Queensland at the end of last season. Lambert, 23, is a polished all-rounder whose consistent form with Fairfield-Liverpool has made him a standout in Sydney grade competition over recent seasons. Goldsmith, meanwhile, is a 23-year old from Penrith whose skills as a right arm paceman and handy lower order batsman have, in the past, won him berths in various New South Wales Colts sides as well as among the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy’s 1999 scholarship intake.Another addition to this season’s list is fast bowler Anthony Stuart. He makes a surprise return to the New South Wales senior squad following a three-year absence which also included a stint with the Canberra Comets, the ex-Mercantile Mutual Cup team based in the Australian Capital Territory. Stuart, 31, is a former one-day international fast bowler and even took a hat-trick in that arena in 1996-97. But he gradually fell out of favour with his state’s selectors – and his career duly stalled – after a disappointing series of returns at interstate level.The four players to have been offered the new rookie placements are batsman Aaron O’Brien, all-rounder Stephen Phillips, and bowlers Steven Coombes and Peter Wooden. All four have distinguished junior records behind them, although O’Brien is probably the best known given that he has recently been the captain of the state’s under-19 team. Coombes hit the headlines earlier this year when he was included in an elite ACB development squad which participated in an eight-day training tour of India under the tutelage of former spin bowling greats Bishen Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna.Players from last year’s contract list who have either retired or have not been re-signed at this stage are batsman Andrew Sainsbury, all-rounder Matthew Betsey, fast bowler Simon Cook and spinners Gavin Robertson and Jamie Stewart.Given that nine of the ACB’s twenty-five currently contracted players come from New South Wales’ ranks, the Blues have the comparative luxury of being able to field a bigger squad than any of their five rivals. By the time that the contract process is finalised on 29 September, there could potentially be as many as thirty-five New South Wales-based players holding 2001-02 contracts with either their state or national controlling body.The list of players with New South Wales state contracts for 2001-02 is: Shawn Bradstreet, Anthony Clark, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Michael Goldsmith, Brad Haddin, Jamie Heath, Mark Higgs, Dan Horsley, Phil Jaques, Grant Lambert, Greg Mail, Don Nash, Matthew Phelps, Corey Richards, Graeme Rummans, Anthony Stuart, Brett van Deinsen.Rookie contracts: Steven Coombes, Aaron O’Brien, Stephen Phillips, Peter Wooden.ACB contracts: Michael Bevan, Nathan Bracken, Brett Lee, Shane Lee, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath, Michael Slater, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh.

One-day cricket is the best!

Well, before complaints come flooding in or wiser voices point out the error of the above statement, let me say that from a photographer’s angle, pardon the pun, one-day cricket played in coloured clothing and under lights is the best. Why?Some of the answers are obvious. Cricket is normally played in whites, so the appearance of coloured uniforms gives the photographer something else to capture. The vivid yellow of the Australians against the rich red of the Zimbabweans is an extra challenge. Colours bring an added dimension to the coverage. And there is revenue generation for the photographer. One-day uniforms often change, sometimes subtly, sometimes less so, and with the constant demand for up-to-date quality images, there is no shortage of work for the lensman.Photographing the one-day game played in colours requires the photographer to make adjustments to obtain the “correct” exposure. Slight over-exposure is normally used when photographing cricketers in whites, to combat the effect of glare from the clothing. But with coloured clothing, for example the rich green of Pakistan, the photographer may under-expose, to reduce the risk of misleading exposure readings. In both cases the photographer must cater for the effect of light on the players’ clothing.Photography under lights can also produce spectacular results, providing opportunities that simply don’t exist by day. The image you see here of Trent Bridge, Nottingham, taken at the recent lively encounter between Pakistan and Australia in the NatWest series, shows the ground bathed in the fading light of day, while the increasing influence of the eight floodlights creates a remarkable effect.

The aim was to show the ground under lights, but without creating silhouettes of the players, or making the picture so dark that it is difficult to spot the stands. An image taken about 30 minutes later would not have shown such a spectacular sky, but would have drawn a more dramatic contrast between the artificial lights and the darkening night.Exposing for images in low light is not always easy, and care must be taken in judging exactly what you want the end result to be before releasing the shutter.Test cricket sorts out the cricket lovers amongst the photographic fraternity from those who just turn up to do the job. Most sports photographers aren’t keen on the longer version of the game, and see the one-day bash as tolerable at a time when there is no football to photograph. For those of us who love cricket in all its forms, the limited-overs version is another opportunity to show how much the game has to offer.

New Zealand will have three less One-Day Internationals to play in what was shaping as a full scale ODI summer after Bangladesh withdrew from three planned matches in the New Year.The Bangladeshis will play only two Tests in New Zealand in December. The proposed dates for the ODIs clash with matches in the Asian Test championship.That will make New Zealand’s leading players available for a much greater percentage of the domestic one day competition than was originally thought.New Zealand Cricket is also looking to assist the six major associations provide a suitable career path for coaches by support funding full-time coaching positions in each association.The move was agreed at Friday’s NZC board meeting and will provide a level of continuity and consistency not always available due to the part-time nature of several of the positions in the past.The funding will be individually negotiated with each association and conditions will be attached to the funding to ensure that time is managed properly in providing quality coaching, not only to senior provincial teams, but through the grades as well.The initiative is expected to lift the standard of coaching experience available in New Zealand and provide a realistic career path that does not exist at the moment.Umpires are also to be contracted to NZC to provide some financial security for their commitment to being available on a required number of days during the summer.Also benefiting from an input of opportunity will be New Zealand’s fringe internationals. A New Zealand A team will play in India’s Buchi Babu tournament from August 15 to September 5 this year. The tournament will be played in Chennai.A New Zealand Academy team took part in the event last year and played well enough to secure a more permanent invitation to take part.Coaching and management personnel for the side will be announced later.New Zealand’s only woman Test double century maker Kirsty Flavell has been added to the selection panel for the CLEAR White Ferns to join Lesley Murdoch, Eileen Badham and Mike Shrimpton. Diana Goodall of Wellington has been appointed to the new position of national junior selector.NZC’s women’s cricket administrator Catherine Campbell said the need for an extra selector arose out of the increased playing programme for the women and reflected the growing demands of the women’s game.A New Zealand A team is to travel to Australia this summer while the selection load will be spread wider while Shrimpton is away with the national team in India.Flavell has been convener of the Canterbury women’s selection panel for the last two years. She will relinquish that position in order to take up the national role.The Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright has accepted the invitation to serve as patron of New Zealand Cricket. Dave Hoskin has been re-appointed for a second year to the position of president.The long-awaited strategic vision for the grassroots development of the game is near fruition and is expected to be announced soon.Details on New Zealand’s hosting of the under-19 Youth World Cup will also be announced soon after the formal agreement was reached on the hosting of the event.

• It was the 1735th ODI in cricket history.
• It was New Zealand’s 380th and Sri Lanka’s 356th match- 48th betweenthese two sides. The record now reads : Sri Lanka 19, New Zealand26,tied one and abandoned 2.
• It was the 100th match on Sri Lankan soil. Sri Lanka became countryafter Australia (386), India (219) ,England (202), United ArabEmirates (174), New Zealand (161), Pakistan (132) and South Africa(105) to host 100 or more ODI matches.
• Umpires LV Jayasundra and DN Pathirana were officiating in their fifthand 10th match respectively.
• Sanath Jayasuriya, leading Sri Lanka for the 54th time in his career,completed his 2000 runs as captain. He became second Sri Lankan afterArjuna Ranatunga and 13th captain in ODIs to achieve this landmark.The accompanying table has details :

• Craig McMillan , on 5,completed his 2000 runs in ODIs. He was playinghis 89th match and 83rd innings. He became 12th New Zealander and 94thbatsman in all to do so.
• The wicket of Vincent was 50th for Muttiah Muralitharan on Sri Lankansoil. He became second Sri Lankan after Sanath Jayasuriya (74 wicketsin 60 matches) to do so.
• Adam Parare was scoring a fifty after 61 matches. His last fifty hadalso come against Sri Lanka (54 at Dhaka on October 26,1998). It wasthe fourth fifty by a New Zealander wicketkeeper against Sri Lanka.All four have been scored by Parore !
• During his innings, Parore also completed his 2000 runs in `away’matches for New Zealand. He became fourth New Zealander to do so afterMartin Crowe (2820 runs in 86 matches), John Wright (2752 runs in 106matches) and Stephen Fleming (2344 runs in 90 matches).
• The two wickets in this match has taken Muralitharan’s tally to 32 inthe year 2001 which makes him the bowler with most wickets in onedayers along with Pakistan’s Waqar Younis (32 in 16) and Australia’sShane Warne (32 in 18). This was Murali’s 18th match in year 2001.
• The defeat was New Zealand’s 50th under Stephen Fleming’s captaincy.Fleming became first New Zealander and fifth captain in ODIs toachieve this dubious distinction. Others to do so are Sri LankanArjuna Ranatunga (95 losses in 193 matches), Indian MohammadAzharuddin (76 losses in 174 matches),Australian Allan Border (67losses in 178 matches) and Pakistani Imran Khan (59 losses in 139matches). However all other four captains had won more matches thanthe matches they lost.
• Sanath Jayasuriya was winning his 26th Man of the Match award. Withthis he equalled West Indian Desmond Haynes’ tally of awards. Now onlyIndia’s Sachin Tendukar (41),West Indian Viv Richards (31), PakistaniSaeed Anwar (27) and former teammate Aravinda de Silva (27) are aheadof Jayasuriya in this form of cricket.

Bottom of the table Essex pulled off a shock win against league leaders Worcestershire by 33-runs at Chelmsford with Graham Napier grabbing the headlines with a magnificent all-round performance.The 21-year-old, whose early career has been affected by a series of injuries, announced his well being with a swashbuckling 73 from only 60 balls as the home side reached 200 in a match reduced to 40 overs per side.The medium-pacer then took over with the ball to collect career-best figures of 6-29 to topple the Royals and inspire his side to only their second win of the season in the National League.Nasser Hussain, returning to first team cricket, opened the batting for Essex who won the toss, but found himself playing the understudy as he and Napier added 51 runs in eight overs for the second wicket after Darren Robinson had been dismissed for a duck.Napier scored 40 out of the first 50 with the England captain no more than an interested onlooker. Hussain had faced 24 balls and scored seven when Australian, Andy Bichel, removed his leg stump but Napier continued unperturbed, blasting 10 boundaries including four sixes before he was caught at mid-wicket.The Essex middle-order added useful contributions before Bichel returned to wrap up the innings with a hat-trick and leave his side a challenging target of 201 for victory.Despite losing Graeme Hick for 19, Worcestershire appeared on course at 122-2 but the loss of Anurag Singh for 61 – the first of Napier’s scalps when the all-rounder clipped his middle stump – sent the innings into rapid freefall.Napier continued his one-man show collecting wickets in each of his next five overs as the visitors folded completely losing their last six wickets for 24 runs to leave Essex celebrating their first victory against a first-class county since 3rd June.

Multan’s hot weather festival for the Asian Test Championship match with Bangladesh ended with Pakistan’s fabulous victory by an innings and 264 runs. As forecast by the majority of cricket observers, the one-sided contest finished in less than two and a half days.The feature of the last morning’s play was a magical spell of bowling by young leg spinner Danish Kaneria who claimed 6 wickets for 52 and a short but spirited spell of fast bowling by skipper Waqar Younis who claimed 4 for 19. Pakistan would have won the contest anyway but the combination of pace and spin made the job easy.Bangladesh batting proved too fragile. Except for some bold resistance offered by Habibul Bashar who remained unbeaten with a valiant 56 and a defiant innings of 31 by Hasibul Hossain, the remaining batsmen came and returned to the pavilion without making a tangible contribution. This made them crumble for 148 runs.Earlier Bangladesh resumed the 2nd innings at the overnight score of 55 for 3 facing a big 1st innings deficit. Playing the sheet anchor role, Habibul Bashar kept one end intact while wickets continued to fall from the other.Danish Kaneria mesmerised the batsmen with his guile dominating the whole show. With the spin that he generated from a flat pitch, he proved too good for the young and upcoming Bangladesh batsmen and augurs well for Pakistan in future.Kaneria was deservedly chosen `Man of the Match’. Another notable feature of the day was 4 excellent catches held by Younis Khan, who substituted for Inzamam-ul-Haq in the field.The match was very one sided and indicates that Bangladesh needs to put in a big effort to raise the standards of cricket in the country if they desire to achieve a respectable position in the mainstream of test cricket.As for organising the match, Multan’s cricket association as well as the civil administration deserve bouquets for putting up a grand show. The cricket fans also deserve a pat for coming out to witness the match in such scorching heat.

Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak talks to John Ward about the South African tour, which was always going to be difficult but was particularly disappointing in that Zimbabwe lacked self-belief and failed to make the tourists fight for victory. He also gives his views on the top South African players.I think it’s difficult when a side of the quality of South Africa takes a grip on a situation and gets into positions of strength like they did. They are certainly up there as one of the two top sides in the world, and with some of the injuries we’ve had a bit of inexperience in the bowling.They certainly have some fantastic players, especially at the top of their batting order, in Kirsten, Gibbs and Kallis. They’re formidable players and they certainly got hold of a very lack-lustre attack. So it was quite difficult for the guys to come back and try to be competitive.Our batting wasn’t too bad; their bowling was very professional and their fielding was outstanding. It made it difficult for us to be competitive, and in the last two one-dayers the wickets made it hard for our batsmen against the quality of their bowling.When you have struggled in games like we did, obviously lack of self-belief becomes a factor. Certainly towards the end I would say this was a problem, especially with some of the bowlers. It’s hard to pick yourself up when you’ve been bowling at the same players and they have been so dominating throughout the series. There haven’t been too many guys bowling well at the moment, which hasn’t made selection easy.It’s a hard one, but we have a new series starting now against England, and I think the guys have got to pick themselves up. England is not as strong a unit as South Africa, and if we can strike in the early games and get some of that confidence back, we can get back on track.I think the South African side is getting stronger all the time, but if you compare them to the Australian side I still don’t think their all-round strength is quite as good. I think the Australians are the best, but I believe they will have very good games against Australia when they meet this season. That will be interesting, and much will depend on the pitches they play on.Shaun Pollock is very lucky to have the all-round capabilities of guys like Klusener, Kallis and himself in the side; it gives them a lot of depth in their batting and extra bowling options. At the top of the order they have Kirsten who is a highly experienced and consistent performer for them, and Herschelle Gibbs, who is a very talented batsman and fielder and who has been in a rich vein of form in the last year.ZIMBABWE’S PROBLEMSIt’s been difficult to keep all the guys in form for this series, especially our back-up players, because there haven’t been any A-team games or any club or first-class cricket to keep the guys playing continuously. I think match practice is a major factor in our ability to cope well in match conditions, whether it’s at club or first-class level. It always builds your confidence when you come into matches, even at international level where the standard is a lot higher, and perform.Our bowling has struggled against South Africa. There have been a lot of changes in the side and Carl Rackemann can’t run around the whole country coaching everyone. He has to strategize and think about how we are going to play the game collectively. He is concerned about the batsmen as well as the bowlers, and if he was here just in his role as a bowling coach I’m sure he would be able to spend a little bit more time with some of the bowlers, but it’s difficult for him to do that.We’ve had good preparations for this tour and we haven’t really stopped playing for quite a while now, except for a couple of weeks or a few days here and there. We had a lot more preparation than South Africa did, but with a side like that, when you’re not in form they do dominate more, and it’s harder for us to come back than if we were playing a less high-quality side like Bangladesh.Psychologically they probably got the better of us, but at the end of the day we’ve got to be able to have the manpower to counteract that. If you look at their bowling attack they have four out-and-out quicks playing for them and a pretty consistent left-arm spinner who was able to sustain pressure for them.Then you have a batting attack with a guy like Boucher coming in down the order who has a few centuries to his name. It’s a pretty useful line-up and it preys on your mind: you get one guy out and the next guy who walks in all the time is pretty useful. But if we had got it right collectively I think we could have been highly competitive.Andy Flower was obviously fantastic in the Test series, and I think in the one-day series our bowling let us down. I think we were undisciplined in our attack and they have some high-quality players who dominated. This is accentuated when you’re bowling badly and they put away bad balls, and when you bowl the odd good ball that also goes to the boundary it makes it even harder for the bowlers.PERSONAL FORMI don’t think I bowled as well as I have done in the past, and obviously my performances have a lot of bearing on how the team plays, as with a batsman like Andy, and Alistair [Campbell] as well. It’s been difficult with the team collectively struggling for me to focus enough on my own bowling performances. It’s something I probably have to give a bit more time and thought to, as to how I can make my performances more consistent.I realize that my commitments as captain are also integral to how the team plays, and it’s also a matter of finding a balance and making sure I can lead as captain as well as bowler.I think it would be nice next year when we have a bit of a break if the guys can rest and come back hopefully rejuvenated. We have a busy schedule and it’s part of professional cricket; we have to be looking at ways to improve and be consistent, and I think if we’re not attempting to do that we’re not being as professional as we should be.IMPROVING PLAYERSObviously Hamilton [Masakadza] in the Test series continued on what he did against West Indies. Andy [Flower] was obviously fantastic and it was great for him to play as well as he did.Gary Brent has come on in the one-dayers and shaped up really well. There have been other smaller performances of note: Alistair [Campbell] has been pretty consistent with the bat.SELECTION[Heath and the coach are not on the selection panel for the new season.]It’s not a problem at the moment, but I gave some advice that I felt would help the new selection panel. I certainly don’t believe that I should be on the selection panel and I just hope that the new panel can function properly in the way it should do. Obviously Geoff [Marsh] will be chatting to them and I hope what he wants to do will be reflected in their policies, and they can take it through to the World Cup in 2003.TEAM RELATIONSHIPS[In the past South African teams have remained aloof and been unwilling to mix with the Zimbabweans off the field.]I think it has changed this tour; some of the South African guys came and visited our farm and we got on pretty well with them. There has been a lot more mixing than in the past. We have a lot in common with many of them, and there was some good camaraderie. Maybe if the games had been a bit more competitive it might have been a different story.THE SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYERSGary Kirsten: highly professional and consistent. Very hard to bowl at; he knows his game. He has a strong defence but when you give him any width he goes for it and he works well off his legs. I know he’s a big thinker on the game of cricket, and some of the guys who spoke to him said he has a wealth of knowledge, with the amount of cricket he has played. I’m sure one day he’ll make an excellent coach.Herschelle Gibbs: extremely talented. He’s quite quiet, but he has a fantastic eye for the ball and he’s an amazing fielder, an excellent guy to have in your team.Jacques Kallis: it’s fantastic for South Africa to have an all-rounder of his stature. He’s just a very solid cricket player; very strong, hits straight, play the ball with respect but puts away the bad balls. Batting at three and able to open the bowling is testimony to his ability.You have guys like Neil McKenzie, who I think is a good prospect; Boeta Dippenaar – a lovely guy – both of them very down-to-earth, and I have a lot of respect for their cricketing ability, and they both field well.Lance Klusener: very competitive on the field and I think a lot of people see him differently from off the field, where he’s a lovely guy – very quiet, actually, but very confident on the field. Another guy who’s good to have in the side because of his array of attacking ability and he’s also a versatile bowler who can bowl quick seam or medium-pace off-cutters on wickets that suit it.Mark Boucher: a fantastic keeper and a batsman who can make hundreds.Shaun Pollock: he speaks for himself, with his cricketing ability. Also a very nice guy and I found him very friendly; I didn’t have any difficulty in chatting with him.Makhaya Ntini, Claude Henderson, Andre Nel: I didn’t get to chat to them very much but they all seem nice guys; Ntini seems quite a bubbly, lively type of character.