If there is an opportunity for this tournament’s profile to slip any further it lies in Sunday’s match in Guyana. Too much has already been taken away from the World Cup. Murder and the talk surrounding it has left a bad taste in the mouth. The teams with the biggest followings have been dismissed in the first round. Locals, alienated by the prices and culture and of this sanitised mega-event, have stayed away from even those games featuring the home side. What enthusiasm there remains in the Caribbean for their, and cricket’s, showpiece spectacle is in danger of evaporating completely should the home team be knocked out before half the competition has finished.A West Indian loss to Sri Lanka will not technically conclude their semi-finals aspirations, but will certainly make the prospect extremely difficult. Not only will they then need to win three on the run, but will also have to hope all other permutations going their way. Conversely, a revived Windies team hold the potential to inspire fans to rally round them and infuse some much-need energy into the event, on the street and on the radio, in mini-buses and in rum shops – and, it is hoped, in the stands too.Organisers expect a big turnout for tomorrow’s game, but Brian Lara’s current worries go beyond noise from the crowd. In familiar fashion, Lara chose an extraordinarily eccentric XI for Thursday’s dismal surrender to New Zealand, leaving out prime bowling firepower in the form of Jerome Taylor in order to play an inexperienced opening batsman in Lendl Simmons at No. 8.Having digested the line-up on the team sheet, Andy Roberts, one of the three selectors, went on record to say: “I can’t find the words to describe it. If you play an extra batsman at No. 8, he has to be able to bowl. All I can say is that Simmons must have changed roles since I last saw him.”Lara’s response to that had been that, “I can simply say to Andy Roberts that I did not select this World Cup squad. I was not there in the meeting. The team was selected without me. But I still go out there and fight my very best with the squad given to me.” He was still in a fighting mood in Guyana two days later: “I was caught by surprise at the press conference. I was surprised and shocked that things like that need to be spoken about in public. It’s not healthy.”Something is terribly off in West Indies cricket if captain and selectors repeatedly and publicly fall out. In last year’s tour of the Caribbean by India, weeks of grumbling from Lara culminated in a colossal salvo against the selection committee. He was appointed for a third term as captain to provide a sense of elderly calm before the World Cup, but the constant tussle with Lara and administrators has rather undermined the rationale. Quite apart from the selection clashes has been the long-running contracts dispute with the board.If the atmosphere has been less than inspirational behind the scenes, it has was scarcely more encouraging in Antigua’s new stadium during the week, where stands were about quarter full for marquee West Indies encounters.”Even if you have empty stadiums and no contracts, this is still the World Cup,” Lara shrugged. “If you’re a professional, you should be able to play under any circumstances.”West Indies have enough on their plate without the own goals. Though they eventually reached the finals of that tournament, the last time they Indies played Sri Lanka they were bowled out on a low pitch at Mumbai in the Champions Trophy for 80. Coming on second change, Farveez Maharoof, the medium-pacer, took 6 for 14. Two batsmen reached double figures. Sri Lanka hunted the target in 13 overs.The surface at the Providence Stadium is more temperate than then, one that will still suit Sri Lanka. Coach Tom Moody has promised a better batting performance than in their tense loss to South Africa on Wednesday.”We know that we really only competed in about 30 per cent of that game,” he said. “It was only because of a brilliant spell of four balls that made it look a lot closer than it was. We know that we didn’t bat as well as we could have upfront. Thankfully [Russell] Arnold and [Tillakaratne] Dilshan gave us the opportunity to compete in the match. But we will be looking for a hell of a better batting performance at the top end.”West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul,3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 DwayneBravo, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 DarenPowell, 11 Jerome Taylor.Sri Lanka (probable)1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Russel Arnold, 7 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Futile resistance of the Day
This might just have been Brian Lara’s final appearance against his favourite foes, Australia, and he was determined to depart with a performance to remember. While others floundered his class shone through, and his dismissive treatment of Shaun Tait – four fours in 12 balls, including three in a row – was further proof of the frailties in this bowling attack. But so long as they keep posting mountainous totals, not even Lara will be able to upstage them on his own.Pre-ante-penultimate hurrah of the Day
Glenn McGrath’s farewell tour of the Caribbean had “Bridge too Far” written all over it. After his partner-in-Test-crime, Shane Warne, bowed out in near-immaculate fashion in the Ashes whitewash at Sydney, McGrath stuttered his way through the subsequent CB Series, producing a memorably geriatric performance in the first final at Melbourne. Now, however, he has swept up nine wickets in four matches to slot in one behind Wasim Akram on 54 World Cup wickets. This first-change lark isn’t so demeaning after all.Top-edged swish of the Day
This one’s too close to call. Was it Chris Gayle’s second-ball smear against McGrath – a pre-meditated pull that steepled to mid-on – or Marlon Samuels’ yippity-skippity hurtle down the track that ended up as a one-handed miscue to cover? Toss of the coin, and Samuels wins it by a (leading) edge.Rubbish attendance of the Day
Something’s gone desperately awry with the marketing for this game. The buzz upon arrival was that this match was a sell-out, and yet – for all that this was a reserve day – there was not a soul in any of the three stands at midwicket. The exorbitant ticket prices are only partly to blame. According to one disgruntled fan, the lack of over-the-counter sales points contributed to the poor attendance. “There’s no culture of buying online in the Caribbean,” he told Cricinfo. “Instead there were queues around the block for the few kiosks at the ground, and everyone assumed the seats would have gone.”Spooky coincidence of the Day
After 30 overs of West Indies’ flaccid reply, they had inched along to 114 for 5. At precisely the same moment, 770 miles to the south at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, Sri Lanka had been reduced to 114 for 5. Whoo!

Ball-by-ball scores will be available on Cricinfo throughout the match

The best things in life are free, or so they say. The Intercontinental Cup final may not be the best thing ever – particularly where Derbyshire and Northamptonshire are concerned, as they won’t release their Irish players – but there is no charge for entry for what promises to be a quality contest.In an era where the cost of sports tickets is ever-spiralling, the opportunity to see two of the best Associates, who are World Cup qualifiers to boot, is not to be sniffed at. You may have to make it to Leicester for the privilege (the game was originally scheduled for Chelmsford in Essex) but Grace Road is an intimate ground which could reward the spectators who come to see if Ireland can retain their title against Canada.All the signs are that they can. Even without Boyd Rankin, Niall O’Brien and an injured Andre Botha, and even after losing five one-day Friends Provident Trophy matches on the trot, the Irish are the out-and-out favourites. They picked up many new fans in the wake of their spirited World Cup victories against Bangladesh and Pakistan, and hope to convert more this week.Their new coach, Phil Simmons, has had years of experience at Leicester, his former home ground, so his input will help. Ireland are well established in the four-day game and, despite their recent defeats, at least they have been getting adjusted to the spring conditions of the UK, which is their home turf anyway.Contrast that with Canada, who have managed just a single day of cricket since the World Cup, when they were knocked out in the initial stages on March 22. Their former captain John Davison labelled their performance against Kenya as “village and embarrassing” and the side underperformed throughout.Ashish Bagai now takes the reins, and his immediate task has been made all the more difficult by a chaotic build-up that included lost baggage, missed flights, jet-lag and washed-out matches. Throw in the fact that some of those who didn’t play in the Caribbean haven’t played outdoors for many months and Canada could be in real trouble.Then there’s the future. This match represents the last time that Andy Pick will coach them; he will return to his duties as England Under-19 coach after the final, leaving Canada needing appoint a replacement soon.It may be Pick’s swansong, but Canada will need to perform to the best of their abilities if they are to glide to success.

Kent have been given planning permission by the local council for extensive redevelopment of their Canterbury headquarters.”We are delighted that, after two years of detailed work and extensive consultation, we have been granted approval for our redevelopment plans at the St Lawrence Ground,” Paul Millman, Kent’s chief executive, explained. “It’s no longer possible to survive as a first-class county on the basis of income from cricket alone.”The proposed developments, which include a hotel, conference facilities, fitness centre and retail outlets are designed to generate sufficient funds to upgrade the ground and secure our future. We are confident that the outcome will be a facility in Canterbury which will not only be of significant benefit to the local community, but will be a ground of which members and everyone connected with the city of Canterbury can be justly proud.”The final hurdle to clear is that the club’s membership have to approve the scheme at a special meeting.

Phil Jaques is confident that Cricket Australia has done its utmost to ensure security levels are high for Australia A’s tour of Pakistan in September. Pakistan will provide the A and Under-19 sides with the kind of security measures usually reserved for Test sides, including close protection officers at all times.”It’s one of those things, isn’t it,” Jaques told during Worcestershire’s match with Surrey at Guildford. “We put faith in Cricket Australia making the right decision with regard to our safety.”I’ve toured there before [again with Australia A, in September 2005] when incidents have happened over there not far from where we were. It was scary but it’s one of those things – you put faith in Cricket Australia and the guys that go there on pre-tour investigations to know the area.”That’s their job; they’re security people. It’s their job to make sure it’s safe for us and I’m sure it will be safe.” A security delegation from Cricket Australia has already reviewed arrangements for the tours and a Pakistan spokesman has said it was “fully satisfied with what it saw during the visit.”Jaques is hoping to use the tour to cement the Test opener spot vacated by Justin Langer earlier this year. He has competition from Chris Rogers, Shane Watson and Brad Hodge. “It’s exciting times,” he said. “Hopefully I can use the tour to push for one of those spots.” His English season has been going well – before the floods started to hit Worcestershire.He wasn’t affected by the flooding, as his house is on high ground, but he had to come to the rescue of team-mate Gareth Batty was stranded for a couple of days. “He had to stay at my house, he got cut off,” Jaques said. “A couple of other guys were stuck trying to get in.”Worcester don’t have indoor training facilities, so it’s been a question of fitting in fitness training where possible. “We’ve now got an outdoor swimming pool, though,” he said, referring to the New Road ground, which is underwater. “Fifty metres or so? It’s probably the biggest swimming pool in England.”

Scotland have named a depleted 14-man squad for next week’s quadrangular series in Ireland. With Durham refusing to release Kyle Coetzer, Dougie Brown unavailable through injury and Dewald Nel only freed by Worcester for one match, the Scots have decided to recall Warwickshire’s Navdeep Poonia, even though he has been unable to gain a county first XI spot this season.The squad, which will tackle the West Indies on Thursday, the Netherlands the following day and Ireland on July 15, is reliant on the nucleus of players who have struggled badly this season since Scotland’s abject World Cup campaign. Most of the batsmen are out of form and practice, given the recent poor weather, which explains Poonia’s inclusion but the team still seems top-heavy with bits-and-pieces cricketers at the expense of specialists.All this makes Coetzer’s continued omission all the more controversial, given that ICC rules state he should have been released by his county to represent Scotland in this event.”Although there have been one or two availability issues, we are pleased to welcome Poonia back into the national squad,” said David Loudon, Scotland’s chairman of selectors. “He is an exciting player and we are sure we have not seen the best of him yet. The rest of the squad has a good balance to it and affords the captain various options.”Scotland squad
Ryan Watson (capt), Fraser Watts, Craig Wright, Majid Haq, Omer Hussain, Neil McCallum, Navdeep Poonia, Colin Smith, John Blain, Glenn Rogers, Dewald Nel, Gordon Drummond, Paul Hoffmann, Qasim Sheikh

Former captain Habibul Bashar has urged the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to arrange cricket for players not involved in next month’s Twenty20 World Championship. With Bangladesh’s tour of New Zealand not until December, and with no domestic competition currently on, there is growing concern that the absence from action may affect fitness levels.”For the first time in my career I have been enjoying such a long break from cricket. But in the end it would not be good for us,” Bashar told . “Most of the players who are now out of the national camp are eagerly waiting to return. I think it would be nice for us if the board arranged a programme next month.”Only nine of the contracted 21 players are participating in training sessions for the Twenty20 World Championship. Several players have been active in commando training at the warfare wing of the Bangladesh Army’s School of Infantry and Tactics in Sylhet, which includes running, rappelling, sliding and swimming. Next on the agenda is team practice in Dhaka.Gazi Ashraf Hossain, the new chairman of the BCB’s cricket operations committee, said he was aware of the fitness issue but was faced with a shortage of coaching staff. “I do agree that this contracted players desperately need some programme to keep in touch with cricket. Fitness is a big issue,” he said. “Personally I am very keen to arrange a batting programme for them as you know it’s a real headache in the longer-version competition.”I will definitely try to arrange something for them in the next month but the problem is that we do not have enough coaching staff in our hand right at the moment. There is no national team coach and that’s why we have to depend on our development manager and we also lack coaches in other sectors.”Hossain said he would discuss the matter with interim coach Shaun Williams.

Patience pays
Give the bowler his due in the first ten minutes, goes the old saying. New Zealand’s openers did, and reaped the rewards. Only five came from the first two overs, before Brendan McCullum charged down the track and flayed a four through extra-cover and a six over square leg. He repeated the four-six routine in Pollock’s next over, while Lou Vincent twice clubbed such powerful drives down the ground that none of the fielders even moved. New Zealand were on their way.Hit one, get one free
Craig McMillan showed exactly how to make use of the free-hit rule. Albie Morkel overstepped with his fifth ball of the 15th over, and McMillan promptly deposited it over long-on for six. Free-hit time, and McMillan responded with a cheeky paddle shot over short fine leg for four. Thanks to the no-ball, this was now a seven-ball over, and the last one was clubbed over long-on again for another six. The last two balls of the over had gone for 17, and Albie had learnt his lesson the hard way.Subtle bouncer
The slower ball has become commonplace in the shorter versions of the game, but Shaun Pollock has devised a variation over which he so far has the copyright: the slow bouncer. It completely flummoxed Chris Gayle in the opening match of the tournament, and here it had the same effect on Lou Vincent. Pollock lost his radar later, though – the next two times he tried the trick, it looped too high and was promptly wided by the umpire.Running with your luck
In the seventh over of South Africa’s run-chase, Jacob Oram trapped Justin Kemp – then on 6 off 12 balls – and, quite justifiably, went up in a full-throated appeal. Replays suggested umpire Billy Doctrove made a mistake, but Kemp wasn’t to be bothered about that. The next ball was sent soaring over long-on, and a flicked four immediately after that further compounded Oram’s misery. Who says cricket is a fair game?Hapless Oram suffers again
Seventeenth over of the innings, and another tough one for Oram. After being struck for a four and six earlier in the over, Oram managed to draw a miscue from Shaun Pollock, but Ross Taylor made a complete mess of the chance at deep point. Kemp celebrated by blasting the next ball out of the ground, and Oram’s drooping shoulders and lethargic walk back to his fielding position said exactly what state of mind he was in.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Nasim Ashraf, has questioned Darrell Hair’s claims that he was a victim of discrimination by the ICC and said he was willing to appear at the tribunal if required.Hair’s counsel, Robert Griffiths QC, told the London Central Employment Tribunal on Monday that he suffered racial discrimination and that the India and Pakistan boards heavily influenced the ICC’s decision to effectively sack him from umpiring.Ashraf, though, said the decision was taken by the ICC’s board and not just the Asian bloc. “Hair’s charges are incorrect and since this is a case against the ICC, all Test-playing members will testify. I am also ready to go to London. There was no racial discrimination involved and it was a board decision against Hair.” The decision was taken in Mumbai last November.Inzamam-ul-Haq was Pakistan’s captain during the forfeited Test that is at the centre of the controversy. He was cleared of the ball-tampering chargesthat Hair accused his team of but was banned for four matches for bringing the game into disrepute by refusing to play on. He was sent notices and summoned to the tribunal last month while playing for Yorkshire; he’s back in Pakistan now and Ashraf insisted he wasn’t obliged to appear.”I have no knowledge of Inzamam being summoned and he has not contacted the PCB. Inzamam is not a British citizen and isn’t obliged toappear. If he wants to, though, he can go and testify. The PCB will certainly testify.”Ashraf also dismissed Griffiths’ claims of a Watergate-style cover-up at the ICC meeting where the decision on Hair’s future was taken. Griffiths alleged that a tape-recording of this meeting, attended by Sir John Anderson (New Zealand), Peter Chingoka (Zimbabwe) and Ashraf, was altered to omit crucial parts in the official transcripts. “I was part of that three-member meeting and there was no tape,” Ashraf said. “This is not correct.”

Australia’s Centre of Excellence is set for a significant overhaul after the federal government confirmed it would provide $17.5 million to help Cricket Australia improve the Brisbane facility. The government’s contribution makes up half of the $35 million project which will include a redeveloped indoor training centre, indoor pool and sports medicine facilities.James Sutherland, the CEO of Cricket Australia, said other countries were catching up to Australia in their training programs and it was important to remain a world leader in the field. He said the redevelopment was part of a strategy to help Australia retain their No. 1 rankings in Test and one-day cricket.”The Centre of Excellence through the Australian Institute of Sport programs has produced some of Australia’s greatest male and female cricketers over the last 20 years,” Sutherland said. “There is no doubt that Australia punches above its weight on the international sporting stage.”The Centre of Excellence began as the Cricket Academy in Adelaide in 1987 and has helped to train and develop 265 male players, including 43 who have reached international level, and 44 women’s players. The centre moved its base to Brisbane’s Allan Border Field in 2004. In addition to the training facilities the new funding will be used for on-site accommodation, office space, and redevelopment of the grandstand.