On paper, the St Lucia Test and the series should be a cakewalk for West Indies. But given how inconsistent and poor they have been in recent times, it could well be a banana skin. Bangladesh are unrecognisable from the rabble that disgraced themselves, the game and their fans during last year’s World Cup, thanks in no small measure to the coaching of Dav Whatmore, while West Indies are just coming off a Test series where they were annihilated by England.The one-day series might have ended 3-0 in West Indies’ favour, but at least two of those games – especially the nail-biting opener – could have gone either way. And though Bangladesh didn’t do themselves justice in the three-day match that followed, they have enough ability in their side to punish any complacency from the West Indies.With the exception of the Antigua Test match against England – a dead rubber, with nothing at stake but pride and averages – it’s been a while since West Indies batted with any real conviction. Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan are still maddeningly inconsistent, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul veers between limpet-like adhesion – runs are almost incidental – and a cavalier approach. For Dwayne Smith, this two-Test series is a perfect opportunity to ease himself into the international groove. Steve Harmison and friends – who he will encounter in England in July – will certainly pose far more difficult questions than Tapash Baisya and his cohorts.It looks altogether more promising on the bowling front. Jermaine Lawson is back, hopefully without that obvious kink in his action, while Fidel Edwards and Tino Best impressed in patches against England when they relied on intelligence rather than bluster.Bangladesh’s chances will once again revolve around the batting of Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful and Rajin Saleh. Bashar had a marvellous series in Pakistan last year, but the responsibilities of captaincy have weighed him down in recent times. And while both Saleh and Ashraful have the potential to compete against the very best, neither has yet shown the levels of concentration required to change the course of a Test match.Baisya, who generates decent pace despite possessing a frail frame, is the pick of the pace bowlers, though the star performer could well be Manjural Islam Rana, the left-arm spinner who has caught the eye since coming into the side. West Indies have a long history of being vulnerable to spin, and his guile could be just what Bangladesh need to tear up the form book.This though is a team that has yet to master the art of winning. The fact that they have come far closer to that goal in recent times is testament to the work that Whatmore has done. But the journey is nowhere near complete, and that lack of familiarity with the winning habit should ensure that West Indies salvage something from a desperately disappointing home season.West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Tino Best, 9 Fidel Edwards, 10 Jermaine Lawson, 11 Pedro Collins.Bangladesh 1 Habibul Bashar (capt), 2 Rajin Saleh, 3 Hannan Sarkar, 4 Shahriar Hossain, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Mushfiqur Rahman, 8 Khaled Mahmud, 9 Khaled Mashud (wk), 10 Mohammad Rafique, 11 Manjural Islam Rana, 12 Faisal Hossain, 13 Tapash Baisya, 14 Tareq Aziz, 15 Abdur Razzaq.

A second XI fixture between Warwickshire and Leicestershire was abandoned on compassionate grounds after just 16 overs, when a spectator collapsed and died of a suspected heart attack at Dorridge’s Broadcare ground near Solihull.Warwickshire’s acting captain, Dougie Brown, a qualified first-aider, was called into the crowd to help Colin Harding, 59, from Leicester, but not even the prompt arrival of the paramedics could save him, and he was pronounced dead on arrival at Solihull Hospital."It’s something that you hope that you never have to do and it’s not something I want to repeat," said Brown, who learned his first-aid while qualifying as a teacher in the early-1990s. "I tried my best to get his heart going again while the physio gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."There were a couple of occasions when we thought we had got him breathing again, but we couldn’t keep it going. It does put everything else into perspective but I would hope that, if it was my dad in a similar position, someone would have tried their best to save him."The incident occurred near to where the Warwickshire players were sat, and the umpires John Holder and Keith Little were given permission by the ECB to abandon the game soon afterwards. "It was the only sensible course of action," said Warwickshire’s wicketkeeper, Keith Piper. "I was far too upset to even think about playing cricket. I don’t think any of us could focus after that."

Ehsaan Mani has taken exception to Mohammad Azharuddin’s presence in Sri Lanka as a commentator. Azharuddin has been employed as a cricket expert by Aaj Tak, an Indian news channel, even though he was banned for life by the Indian cricket board. Mani wondered why, even then, Azharuddin was involved with the game.”I am extremely disappointed to see Mohammed Azharuddin doing commentary in the ongoing Asia Cup in Sri Lanka,” said Mani, according to Press Trust of India. “There is zero-tolerance for corruption in cricket and there should be no position in the game for a player who has been banned by his own cricket board. If he is deemed guilty and we have the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s word that he has been banned for life, he should not be involved in the game in any way,” Mani said, also admitting that the ICC had no say in the approval of commentators. “High profile cricketers are role models and there are better role models.”The television channel that employed Azhar has been supportive of him. Earlier, G Krishnan, the executive director of the TV Today network, confirmed that Azharuddin was doing work for Aaj Tak, and said, “His involvement in match-fixing is alleged. What has the fact that someone is alleged to have done something got to do with his commenting on a cricket match? He is not playing. Just being accused of something does not mean much. People are ministers in this country while they are accused of greater crimes. The point is they are not convicted. You have to be reasonable to everybody. Till you find someone guilty he is innocent.”

Steve Tikolo, the Kenyan captain, has said that the loss of Maurice Odumbe was a severe jolt to cricket in the country. He was reacting to the five-year ban imposed on Odumbe by the Kenyan Cricket Association, after he was found guilty of accepting money from bookmakers.Tikolo, who is currently leading the team in a tri-series against India A and Pakistan A, said that the news of Odumbe’s suspension had cast a pall of gloom over the whole team. Reuters quoted him as saying: “The players are down after getting news of the suspension. Odumbe has been an integral part of this team and his absence will affect our performance in the future.”While describing the ban as “unfair”, Tikolo said that he viewed Odumbe as one who had always given his best for his country. “I have known Odumbe for a long time and he always gives 100% in his appearances.”Sharad Ghai, the chairman of the Kenyan Cricket Association, said that there was no immediate plan to call up a replacement for Odumbe in Kenya’s squad for the Champions Trophy. “Odumbe’s lawyer has indicated that he will appeal and we are waiting for the outcome before making any decision regarding his place in the team. We are not in a hurry to replace him.”

One blond Victorian legspinner was bad news enough. But now, the Aussies have two. Cameron White, a 21-year-old who juggles captaincy, bowling and batting for his state, was not surprised when the selectors rang earlier today. Whispers of his promotion to a bigger stage had steadily grown louder, and White had overheard them. He wasn’t holding his breath, but had practised bowling on spinning pitches in the break between seasons just in case. So when the call came, he was ready.To understand White, you have to know where he comes from. “I was a country boy,” he says. He grew up 285 kilometres east of Melbourne, in a picturesque township called Bairnsdale. The town was established on the banks of a river, and the rich farmland gave birth to a trade of agriculture. It was here, nudged by a cricket-playing father, that the young White took up the game. Batting came naturally, and gradually his bowling improved. “I’d been a batter through my junior cricket, and now my bowling has sort of taken over a little bit, but I like to think I’m still a batter. A bit of an allrounder, I guess,” he says lightly, as if it happened by itself.Last year, White led Victoria’s one-day side after an injury to Darren Berry, the captain. His own form wasn’t outstanding, but under White’s leadership the team won five out of eight games. The selectors, impressed with his skills, named him captain for the following season. But he averages 34 with the ball, 25 with the bat, and his one-day record is not as flattering. It provoked many to ask whether he was doing one job too many. Was he a legspinner or a batsman, and was the captaincy affecting him?”I’d like to think they’re all pretty much my strengths,” he retorts. “If someone asks me what I do, I just say ‘I’m happy to do whatever anyone wants me to do.’ I’m happy to bowl, happy to bat, happy to do anything. You’ve just got to manage them best as you can. It’s hard to divide all your time between all three, so you’ve just got to split it up into equal parts and prepare as well as you can.”It’s the kind of spirit necessary for teams touring India, and the selectors picked him hoping that his bowling would suit Indian conditions too: quick through the air, relying more on changes of pace, bounce, the wrong’un and the top-spinner. White is more Anil Kumble than Warne.White’s action came to him naturally in his teens. Warnie, being all the rage and on TV all the time, certainly helped. Not long after, they were playing together. “I started bowling it when I was 13, so obviously I was watching Shane Warne on TV and that contributed a little bit to me bowling legspin a bit more. And obviously playing with Shane now is a great help, so that’s one of the things that definitely contributed to me bowling legspin. I’ve been lucky enough to work with him over the last few years. It’s been good so far.”A receptive player, White’s take on his action’s evolution is that it just happened. “I bowled legspin and that’s just the way they came out. It’s just my unique style. I didn’t copy anyone or anything like that. When I started on legspin that’s how I bowled it and that’s how I’ve stuck with it so far.The Victorian coach, Greg Shipperd, feels his bowling style could make a difference in India. White agreed, reminiscing about the up-and-down pitches he found during his only trip there, two years ago, when he toured with the Commonwealth Academy under Andrew Symonds. “I enjoyed bowling in India because the wickets normally turned and helped my style of bowling. But the pitches have a bit more variable bounce, so I enjoyed bowling stump to stump and, yeah … I really enjoyed bowling there.” In the three-day game at Chepauk, White picked up five wickets.But bowling to hopefuls was one thing, facing Sachin Tendulkar was quite another. Late last year, White was part of a team that faced the Indians between Tests. He came away wicketless, and realised he needed to do much more. Echoing Warne’s words, he said it was “pretty difficult”. But he has begun preparing himself for further battles. You know it’s a battle for him, once he calls his deliveries “weapons”. The first thing he’s trying to do is have a varied repertoire. Or more artillery.”I’m definitely trying to work on certain things in my game along with my coaches and Shane,” said White. “A few things, spinning it a little more, and have different deliveries, and have more weapons … umm, deliveries. I have the normal stuff. I don’t have the flipper like Warnie does. I just have a legspinner, a top-spinner and a wrong’un. I rely on bounce and drift so I don’t have lots of different deliveries.”What White intends to do some time over the next month is sit and listen to Warne, and understand more from his experience of India. “I’m looking forward to speaking to him and seeing what he’s got to say, and I’m sure I’ll be prepared to listen as much as I can and learn as much as I can off him.” They might not need to speak about baked beans: White didn’t mind the food during his tour. “I ate chicken tikka masala the whole time I was in India, obviously with nan-bread, dahl and rice,” the words burst out, almost eagerly. “So I don’t mind Indian food.”However, travelling with the senior team will bring its own set of responsibilities, and the likelihood that White will savour an authentic dish filled with masala are remote. But the memories of his last trip are fresh, and you can tell he’s raring to get here. “We travelled around in a bus, and that was pretty scary,” he says with glee. “That was probably the most scary part. Travelling around the streets at night in a bus and those phut-phuts during the day were very scary. It was quite good fun!”Cows running on the road … it was organised chaos…,” White trails off. “Maybe not even organised.”He isn’t the finished product yet, and so breaking into the side won’t be easy. But White is only 21, and part of Australia’s next generation. He’s up to the challenges that lie ahead, and he’s dealing with them the same way he’s dealt with everything else so far. “I just like to not worry about it too much and just get out and play and try to do the best that I can. As long as you’re prepared well, I don’t know if there’s much else you can do.”

The National Stadium in Karachi suddenly seems a less impregnable fortress. Sri Lanka won the first Test at Faisalabad after starts of 9 for 3 and 0 for 1, to continue their unbeaten series run in Pakistan. It seemed as if Pakistan’s problems needed more than a change of coach, and not even their golden history at Karachi could be relied on.Sri Lanka have lost every Test they’ve played at Karachi – as has nearly every other team – but Pakistan’s record of only one loss in 50 years there is unlikely to bother a team firmly on a roll. Barring Marvan Atapattu and Romesh Kaluwitharana, every player scored runs or showed signs of form. Even Muttiah Muralitharan’s absence didn’t seem to hurt much any more. There was a man for every crisis, and chances were clutched with the desperation of a team hungry for victory.Until Sanath Jayasuriya took charge on the third day of the first Test, the contest was balanced. Thereafter, Pakistan bungled it on the fourth day, and fell away on the fifth. After the match, John Dyson commended his side’s spirit, comparing it to Australia’s, while Inzamam-ul-Haq announced that Moin Khan had been given plenty of chances and was being dropped. To some, it was a knee-jerk reaction. Others believed Kamran Akmal’s inclusion was the right move for a side in transition.Sri Lanka are unlikely to change their side for tomorrow. Pakistan, on the other hand, will have to field an inexperienced new-ball attack after Shoaib Akhtar withdrew with a shoulder injury a few hours after Mohammad Sami pulled out with a groin strain. Inzamam confirmed that Pakistan would go into the game with two fast bowlers new to Test cricket: Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who has played a few ODIs, and the uncapped Riaz Afridi.Shoaib should only miss a couple of weeks, but there are longer-term fears for Sami, who is doubtful for the forthcoming trip to Australia. Though Sami did not strike in the second innings at Faisalabad, his four-wicket haul in the first played a large part in limiting Sri Lanka to 243.But Pakistan have more pressing issues to deal with: Jayasuriya, for one. He played with a nonchalance depressing for Pakistan, and, with a large total to defend, the bowlers had their way. The second – and this was pivotal – was that the batsmen lost wickets in clumps after rapid starts, with few inclined to stay at the crease. It was this very thing Bob Woolmer said he would try to stop when he spoke of “skinning the Pakistani cat” as he took over the team. The results showed in one-dayers, but his side was outdone by a more determined team in the last Test, where the attack, led by Shoaib Akhtar, was inspirational and then flat, but the batsmen had no sustained phases of success.When it came, the win seemed easy. By then, Sri Lanka had not only scored more runs and taken wickets for less, but had deflated Pakistan’s spirit. After it, Inzamam spoke of survival and Atapattu spoke of winning abroad. Their words spoke volumes.Pakistan (probable) 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Yasir Hameed, 3 Asim Kamal, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Kamran Akmal (wk), 9 Riaz Afridi, 10 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 11 Danish Kaneria.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Jehan Mubarak, 7 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Lasith Malinga.

England 263 for 6 (Pietersen 77*, Jones 66, Panyangara 3-61) beat Zimbabwe 102 (Taibu 32, Wharf 4-24, Collingwood 3-16) by 161 runs, and lead series 2-0
Scorecard

Although both their batsmen and bowlers started hesitantly, England strolled to an ultimately simple 161-run victory in the second one-day international at Harare. They bundled Zimbabwe out for a paltry 102 after running up an imposing total of 263 for 6, which owed much to a record sixth-wicket stand between Kevin Pietersen and Geraint Jones, both of whom made their maiden one-day fifties. England now lead the four-match series 2-0.Zimbabwe’s openers started brightly, reaching 40 without loss in the tenth over, but they then lost four quick wickets, and never recovered. The demolition men who took advantage of a succession of poorly judged shots were the unlikely destroyers Alex Wharf, who grabbed three of those early wickets and finished with 4 for 24, and Paul Collingwood, whose darting seamers proved too much for the creasebound Zimbabwean batsmen. He took 3 for 16 in ten miserly overs.But it was Pietersen who lifted the Man of the Match award, which comes with an impressive-sounding cheque for three million Zimbabwe dollars (sadly for him, roaring inflation means that’s only about £300). After an edgy start against the spinners, when a tendency to plant the front foot across the crease left him with nowhere to go, and a lucky escape at 4 when Elton Chigumbura’s wild return scuppered a dead-cert run-out, Pietersen showed just why he has been fast-tracked into this England side. He settled his nerves by walloping Gavin Ewing for six out of the ground over wide long-on, and followed that with an effortless pick-up over the square-leg fence when Christopher Mpofu strayed down leg. As the final assault began a third six, off Brendan Taylor’s optimistic offspin, thundered high into the stand behind the bowler.Pietersen finished with 77 from 76 balls in only his second ODI, and could yet force himself into the reckoning for the one-dayers at the end of England’s forthcoming tour of his native South Africa.But even Pietersen was outpaced by the bustling Jones, who slog-swept judiciously on his way to 66 from only 46 balls. He smacked two sixes of his own, one off Ewing that was expertly caught low down by a man in the stand at midwicket, and another that zoomed over the hospitality tents at wide long-on.

From a position of some uncertainty at 121 for 5 when Collingwood departed for 7, Pietersen and Jones piled on 120, a new sixth-wicket record for England in ODIs, beating the 112 of Neil Fairbrother and Adam Hollioake against South Africa at Dhaka in 1998-99.It was a different story early on, as first Zimbabwe’s young new-ball pair and then their assortment of offspinners restricted the top order well. Mpofu and Tinashe Panyangara, both just 19, kept the ball up, teasing outside off, and England managed only 55 for 2 in the first 15 overs before the field restrictions were relaxed. Panyangara, who suffered later and finished with 3 for 61, took the early wickets of Ian Bell – squirting to point the ball after missing a perfect awayswinger – and Michael Vaughan, who was squared up by one that pitched on middle and straightened (30 for 2).Vikram Solanki, reining in his natural instinct to attack, and Andrew Strauss shared a calming stand of 64 before both fell in quick succession. Solanki had grafted to 42 when he shimmied down the track to the flattish offspin of Prosper Utseya. The ball turned past him – in fact it was called a wide – but Solanki couldn’t get back before Tatenda Taibu took the ball up near his armpit and swept off the bails (94 for 3).At the other end Strauss chipped and charged solidly to 33, but then also fell foul of the offspin. This time it was Ewing, a bushy-haired 23-year-old making his one-day debut. His first ball was a wide, but as he settled, he started turning the ball. When a shorter one looped down Strauss leant back to cut, but the ball kept coming on to him and rattled the top of middle and leg (103 for 4).Chasing more than they expected, Zimbabwe started brightly enough, but Stuart Matsikenyeri became bogged down as Vaughan packed the point area and stifled his favourite cuts. Unable to pierce the field, a frustrated Matsikenyeri tried to pull James Anderson, but only lobbed it straight to mid-on (40 for 1). It was a rare shaft of light for Anderson, who was sporting a newly-shaven head: he otherwise drifted down leg too often, and was responsible for nine of England’s dozen wides.The introduction of the equally unhirsute Wharf paid instant dividends, as he persuaded Brendan Taylor to leg-glance straight to Jones. The slide worsened: it became three wickets in seven balls when Mark Vermeulen guided his second ball firmly into the covers, where Pietersen clung on (42 for 3). Wharf struck a third time when he threaded one through Hamilton Masakadza’s rather lazy defensive stroke (53 for 4).In came Taibu to a familiar tale – clumps of wickets have been a feature of his inexperienced side’s batting. Chigumbura, who made a feisty 52 in the first match, couldn’t manage a repeat performance, popping an attempted pull back to Collingwood after collecting four singles. Taibu held up an end for a while, top-scoring with 32 before chipping a return catch to Ashley Giles, and that was about it. Taibu’s was the first of three wickets to go down at 97, and although the last pair Utseya and Mpofu frustrated the bowlers for nearly nine overs – and inched the score past 100 – the end wasn’t long delayed.Steven Lynch is editor of Cricinfo.

With Pakistan’s tour of India drawing closer, the BCCI conveyed to the Pakistan Cricket Board that tour schedules would be ready within a fortnight, after the PCB’s president, Shaharyar Khan, had expressed that the process needed to be speeded up for logistical reasons.SK Nair, the secretary of the BCCI, said that the board had to clear a few logistical issues of its own before the schedules could be announced. He told Cricinfo that matters were “in their [the BCCI’s] control”, and refused to state what the problems were, but added that the PCB had been informed.In response to Shaharyar’s apprehension about Pakistan playing in Mumbai, Nair said, “They have to give us logical reasons against a particular centre, and then we will examine them.”While both boards seemed to have come to an understanding over the delay, time and the BCCI haven’t been the best of friends. This incident was the latest in a number of delayed decisions taken by the board. The recent television rights bids, for example, were held uncomfortably close to the end of the previous rights holder’s tenure, and when the matter ended up in court, the BCCI took unprecedented measures to ensure that the Australian and South African tours of India sailed smoothly.

Murray Birnie, the Lancashire vice-chairman, has died of a heart attack in Johannesburg. He had been a Lancashire committee member for 24 years, and was in South Africa to watch the fourth Test at the Wanderers.Birnie, 67, a chartered mechanical engineer from Haslingden, joined the Lancashire committee in 1981 after playing local league cricket for 27 years. He was involved in all the major building developments at Old Trafford in recent years, and also organised highly successful testimonials for Lancashire stalwarts David Hughes, David Lloyd and Lancashire’s current chairman Jack Simmons.

After West Indies failed to qualify in the VB Series finals, Brian Lara, their captain, felt that Pakistan have the firepower to beat Australia in the best-of-three finals beginning on Friday at Melbourne.Pakistan overcame West Indies by 30 runs in the crucial league game at Perth to seal a spot in the finals with Yousuf Youhana, who made his first century of the series, and Inzamam-ul-Haq making vital contributions.Heading back home, Lara told , “The experience of Inzamam and Youhana and the attacking nature of Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq is veryformidable. I think they can chase very well. Hopefully if they get the opportunity and put Australia under some pressure they can win this final. I don’t think it’s going to be one-sided.”However, Lara warned, “Australia, of course, are favourites, and whenever they go onto the field they have eleven matchwinners and they can put the game beyond you at the halfway stage, but hopefully Pakistan can make a good series of it in the final.”Lara went on to praise Pakistan’s splendid performance against Australia in their penultimate match of the series, when they hunted down a daunting target of 266. “I thought they played really well on Sunday against Australia,” Lara said. “Australia seemed to have a bit of a problem getting their batting together, and lost many wickets.”West Indies were also on course to overcome a stiff target of 308 when they were 3 for 194 in the 33rd over. But the loss of three quick wickets for nine runs ended their hopes and they eventually folded for 277 and were forced out of the tournament.