OCA upset over issue of two captains

The Orissa Cricket Association on Tuesday strongly reacted to reports that opener Shiv Sundar Das, presently leading the India 'A' team in England, would not captain the side in the one-day matches and sought an inquiry into the matter.

Expressing surprise over the reported appointment of Hemang Badani as skipper for the one-dayers, OCA general secretary Asirbad Behera said the issue of a second captain was never raised during the entire selection process and the training camp.

In a letter to BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, Behera sought to know as to when and by whom the decision to have a second captain was taken.

Expressing grief over the "wrongdoing", Behera said there was no precedent of having two captains (one for one-dayers and one for other matches) for touring teams. "If this practice is followed in future when the Indian team visits abroad, then I have nothing to say," he said.

Windies pick unknown fast bowler for second Test

The West Indies selectors surprised by naming 21-year-old fast bowler Fidel Edwards in the 14-man squad on Tuesday for the second cricket test against Sri Lanka.

Edwards, whose only first-class match was for Barbados against the Windward Islands in the 2002 Busta Cup, replaces reserve wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh in the squad from the drawn first test that ended on Tuesday.

The second Test starts Friday in Kingston, Jamaica.

The selectors gave no explanation for their choice in the written statement from the West Indies Cricket Board. But observers said captain Brian Lara had been impressed with Edwards' bowling at net practice before the third Test against Australia last month.

Edwards, from Barbados, is a half brother of Pedro Collins, the fast bowler who played 19 Tests for the West Indies until he was dropped during the series against Australia.

Edwards' inclusion brings to five the number of fast  bowlers in the 14. The others are Merv Dillon, Corey Collymore, Vasbert Drakes and Jerome Taylor.

He is the sixth new player introduced in the last two series'. The  others were Baugh, Taylor, opener Devon Smith, all-rounder David Bernard, off-spinner Omari Banks and fast bowler Tino Best.

Team: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Omari Banks, Corey Collymore, Merv Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor.

Smith says success in England will help erase W'Cup memories

Success in the triangular series in England will help erase bitter memories from the World Cup, South Africa cricket captain Graeme Smith said on Tuesday.

South Africa, which hosted the 14-nation World cup in March, was surprisingly eliminated in the first round after misjudging the victory target and tying a rain-hit match with Sri Lanka.

"The country took it badly," Smith said. "We know we owe the South African public something big -- that's why we have come here."

England plays Zimbabwe in the opener of the series at Trent Bridge on Thursday, while South Africa plays its first match on Saturday against England at the Oval.

Ten matches will be played over the next two weeks.

Smith took over the captaincy after Shaun Pollock was fired after the World Cup.

Like England and Zimbabwe, there was also a team reshuffle.

Smith, at 22 years and 82 days, became the second youngest captain in Test history when he replaced Pollock in March, and only six current players have been on senior tours in England.

He described the team as young and enthusiastic and singled out Pollock to lead from the front.

"I think (the current team) is transitional because of the outlook we have on what kind of team we want to be," said Smith.

Smith, who said England was the favourite in the series, has led South Africa to victory in two Tests over Bangladesh and in a tri-series that also included India.

"We have come here to perform and put the results on the table. We are coming here as a disciplined and consistent unit," he said.

"I think if you play international cricket for a long time you can kind of lose that little bit of edge," he said.

"May be that's what we have got back in the side, that passion and pride in representing South Africa."

South Africa lost the Lord's final to Sri Lanka in the inaugural tri-series in England five years ago and was defeated by England 2-1 in the five-Test series later that summer.

ICC threaten to cancel Test funding to Kenya

The International Cricket Council has threatened to withold the half a million dollar two-year development funding to Kenya until a full-fledged national league is approved.

The ICC has tried to intervene over the last three months in the leadership squabbling between the Kenya Cricket Association and the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association over the running of the 12-team league, scheduled to start on June 29.

The staging of the competitive league is part of a joint initiative between the ICC and the KCA to help the east African nation effect transition towards full Test status by 2005.

But the ICC Global Development Director Andrew Eade warned Kenya that time was running out.

"Should the club season be indefinitely delayed, there is every chance that the ICC will cancel the joint initiative before it commences," Eade said in a letter to the KCA.

India, Pakistan willing to play cricket

Rivals India and Pakistan are willing to resume cricketing ties, but it will depend on their governments, an Asian Cricket Council official said on Tuesday.

"Both boards are willing to play, but it will be up to their governments," Syed Ashraful Haq, the chief executive officer of the Kuala Lumpur-based ACC, told reporters on Tuesday in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.

Haq, a Bangladeshi, said officials from the Indian and Pakistani cricket boards had expressed their wish at the ACC's annual general meeting, held in London on June 14.

The two countries could meet on the field as early as August, when a tournament between teams from cricket academies in India, Pakistan and hosts Sri Lanka is planned, Haq said.

He also hoped that Pakistan's scheduled tour of India in February 2004 will go ahead.

Besides multinational cricket events, Pakistan and India haven't played each other since Pakistan toured India in 1999-2000. After that tour, India banned its players from touring Pakistan.

India played and won against Pakistan in the World Cup in South Africa in March.

Under a schedule laid out by cricket's international body, Pakistan is to tour India next February. But Pakistan has said India must still tour there first.