About a dozen representatives of the ICC will visit Florida this week to assess Lauderhill’s bid to host matches during the 2007 World Cup.At the moment local officials have little to show but a dream. But the ICC delegation will be given a tour of the area, and will meet with local hoteliers, businessmen, and the organising committee who are keen to host as many as six of the first-round games.A draft document outlining the bid was submitted to the ICC last month, and the decision will be announced early in July.Should the bid be accepted, then the idea is that a 5,000-seater stadium would be built on parkland in Lauderhill, and with temporary seating the capacity could be as high as 20,000. The cricket ground will be part of a larger development which is expected to cost around US$60 million.If they do give the plan the green light, then the ICC will be taking a gamble as the stadium will not be completed until December 2006, only three months before the first match.

The schedule for the Videocon Cup, to be held in Amsterdam, has been announced. India, Pakistan and Australia will compete in this tournament, beginning on August 21.Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the BCCI, released the fixtures for the tri-nation series in Kolkata yesterday. For the three teams, it would serve as an ideal rehearsal before the Champions Trophy in England in September.The Indian team are scheduled to fly out to England after this tournament, play three practice matches before beginning their Champions Trophy campaign.Schedule
August 21: India vs Pakistan
August 23: India vs Australia
August 25: Australia vs Pakistan
August 28: Final

Sachin Tendulkar will not have fond memories of this tour of Holland. After suffering a tennis elbow and seeing his team get knocked out of the tournament, he is now down with a viral fever so acute that he is barely able to speak. Keeping him company in illness are Rahul Dravid and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar, reports Press Trust of India.Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra, meanwhile, have recovered from their viral fever, and went shopping and sightseeing with the rest of the Indian team in Amsterdam. Dravid and Tendulkar, however, were confined to their rooms, with Andrew Leipus, the Indian team’s physiotherapist, looking after them.It hasn’t yet been confirmed if Shoaib will miss the Videocon Cup final against Australia on August 28, or if there is a chance that Dravid or Tendulkar might not recover by September 1, when India take on England in the first match of the NatWest Challenge.

The Zimbabwean authorities’ decision to refuse to admit 13 journalists to Zimbabwe to cover the one-day series has thrown the tour into doubt. “Bona fide media organisations in the UK have been cleared, those that are political have not,” said George Charamba, secretary for the Zimbabwean information ministry, said. “This is a game of cricket, not politics. Those that want to bowl us out of politics will have to do so in the political arena.”So why have some organisations been granted permission and other not? We list the breakdown of who’s in and who’s not.Allowed in
The Guardian – The most surprising inclusion given its long-standing record of exposing the Mugabe regime’s excesses. In 2003 Andrew Meldrum, its correspondent in Zimbabwe, was physically deported after being found guilty of “publishing falsehoods” and now reports on the country from Johannesburg.
The Independent – Has been critical of regime.
Press Association – Supplies copy to numerous media organisations and adopts a fairly middle-of-the-road approach to coverage.
Reuters – One of its freelance contributors – Telford Vice – was refused access to Zimbabwe in May for no credible reason while attempting to cover cricket. But as with Press Association, fairly mild criticism.
Daily Mail – Has been fairly strident in highlighting abuses of Mugabe government.
Daily Express – No major coverage of Zimbabwe.Refused Access
BBC – Banned since June 2000 for alleged bias in election coverage.
The Daily Telegraph – Described at various times by the regime as an agent for MI5, the paper has repeatedly highlighted political abuses inside Zimbabwe. In April, Mihir Bose was deported from the country for what he claimed were fabricated accreditation reasons.
The Times – Has highlighted political excesses of the Mugabe regime for some time.
The Sun/News of the World – Its Zimbabwe coverage has been sparse but damning.
The Mirror – Has taken irregular pot-shots at Mugabe and reacted to the news with the headline “Butcher of Africa bans Mirror …we couldn’t be more proud”.Did Not Apply
Sky Sports – declined to bid for rights to an England overseas tour for the first time since 1989-90. In April a crew from Sky News was expelled from Zimbabwe for not getting government permission to film.
Wisden Cricinfo – Advised earlier in the year that it was not welcome, enquiries to Zimbabwe cricket whether that situation still applied went unanswered.

Western Australia 7 for 306 (Rogers 95, North 70, Dawes 4-83) v Queensland
Scorecard

Jimmy Maher, Queensland’s captain, probably regretted his decision to field first after winning the toss on a boiling-hot day at Perth, as Western Australia ran up the handy total of 7 for 306 by the close of the first day of this Pura Cup match. Chris Rogers top-scored with 95, while the in-form Marcus North made 70.Rogers was in good nick from the start, dominating two stands of 43 with Mike Hussey (16) and Murray Goodwin (13). Then Rogers and North put on 74 more, before Rogers fell when in sight of his century, one of four wickets for the persevering Joe Dawes.North eventually fell to Dawes for 70, one of five catches for the new Queensland wicketkeeper Chris Hartley, but handy contributions from Ryan Campbell and Shaun Marsh, and a perky 44 from Brad Hogg, swelled the total past 300.Queensland’s four-man pace attack toiled almost throughout the day – offspinner Nathan Hauritz bowled only nine wicketless overs – but had little joy apart from Dawes’s efforts. Andy Bichel, who had the home fans clamouring for his recall during the Gabba Test, did dismiss Goodwin, and Shane Watson managed two wickets, but Ashley Noffke was another who ended the day without reward.

The headlines on the back pages of New Year’s Eve’s newspapers summed up everything there is to say about England’s extraordinary year of success in 2004. “England robbed!” they declared, after bad light had deprived the team of a famous win, and so brought to an end their record-breaking run of eight victories in a row.England robbed? Surely not the same England that were bowled out for 139 by tea on the first day of this Test? Yes, the one and the same. In the course of those five days in Durban, England battled back from the brink – and beyond – with absolute, unblinking certainty. The only astonishing thing is that no-one is astonished by what they have achieved anymore.Never mind the past five days. What about the past five years? In 1999, England were officially the worst side in the world. By the end of 2004, however, even the Australians were obliged to acknowledge the steely game-breaking know-how of Michael Vaughan’s merry men (and “merry” is the mot juste, because England’s matey team ethic has been central to their success). “Second-best is first loser” may be the standard Aussie response to cricket’s uniquely competitive squabble for the silver medal, but as 2005 dawns and another Ashes battle looms, the potency of this new-look England team cannot be ignored.2004 was the year when England emerged from the carefully constructed cocoon that Nasser Hussain had thrown around the side in the course of his four-year tenure. It was the year that Steve Harmison spread his wings, and became a strike bowler of genuine menace. It was the year that Andrew Flintoff became the allrounder that the nation had craved since the demise of Ian Botham, so much so that he came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award – remarkable really, seeing as this was an Olympic and European Football Championships year, and that Australia came (and, let it not be forgotten, were vanquished) for a solitary one-day match.It was the year in which Harmison and Flintoff – bosom buddies since their Under-19 days – became the kingpins at the head of a slavering four-pack of pacemen, each of whom, like some 1980s children’s action-hero cartoon, brought subtlely differing skills into the equation – from Matthew Hoggard’s guile to Simon Jones’s skiddy reverse swing. And it was the year in which the carping about Ashley Giles’s role in the side were silenced once and for all. As if a record haul of 22 wickets in the home series win over West Indies was not enough, Giles’s batting blossomed sufficiently for him to match Graham Thorpe blow for blow in an epic run-chase at Trent Bridge.

And then there was the batting. As if Hussain had not done enough for England in his time in charge, he will also be remembered for the timing of his departure. In consecutive summers, all it took was one meaningful home Test for Hussain to read the runes correctly, first by abdicating in Vaughan’s favour in 2003, and then by retiring completely in 2004, following the effortless arrival of Andrew Strauss. A century on debut against New Zealand was followed by another hundred in his first match against West Indies and, as if he was just warming up, two more and a 94 not out followed in his first four overseas performances.But Strauss wasn’t the only batsman to seize the day. Thorpe, revitalised since his return to international cricket at the end of 2003, knocked off four centuries of breathtaking importance in the course of the year. Flintoff meanwhile clubbed a fifty in eight consecutive matches, more often than not in partnership with Geraint Jones, who was controversially given the wicketkeeping duties ahead of Chris Read but responded with 458 runs at 35.23 in his first nine matches.And in such a hothouse environment, even England’s understudies thrived. Robert Key cracked 221 and a matchwinning 93 not out against West Indies, but was back on the sidelines by the time England arrived in South Africa, as was Ian Bell, whose 70 at the Oval was one of the most composed debuts since … well, Andrew Strauss.In the course of their 13 matches in 2004, England produced 11 victories and two draws. That tally equalled the record for the most wins in a calendar year, as set by the great West Indian side of 1984, who took 14 games to do it, and one more than the equally great Australian sides of 2002 and 2004. At present, to be bracketed in such company is flattering in the extreme, for England have yet to demonstrate to the Australians that have learned anything from their Ashes pummellings of the past 15 years. But as a staging post for a pop at the world title, it’s not exactly a bad situation to be in.Top PerformersAndrew Flintoff The life and soul of England’s party. Flintoff’sinfluence transcends mere figures, and there’s been nothing "mere" aboutthose this year, with 898 runs at 52.82 and 43 wickets at 25.76, not tomention 16 catches. If you can’t spot him in the field, that’s becausehe’s at the heart of a post-wicket huddle, where his infectious glee rubsoff on each and every one of his team-mates, not to mention his legions offans, young and old.Andrew Strauss What no Harmison, I hear you cry? Well, it’s been afeature of England’s success this year that they have relied on no singleplayer to come up with the goods time and time again – not even Harmy.Strauss, however, has been a constant factor in England’s success, eversince he scored that century on debut at Lord’s in May. Not many playershave the mental fortitude to turn even Nasser Hussain into a quitter.

England 1973

The first World Cup – which came two years before the men’s version was born – was held in England, and won by the hosts in a one-sided final against Australia. The brainchild of Sir Jack Hayward, who paid £40,000 of the costs, the 60-over tournament comprised Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, England, Young England and an International XI, and the cup was awarded to the team at the head of the points table after the round-robin.The competition was dogged by rain in the initial stages, but the weather held fair for the final match between the two top teams, England and Australia. It was a stroke of good fortune that the 21st and final match proved the decisive tie – and England defeated Australia by 92 runs at Edgbaston. The victory was given a royal seal of approval: the trophy was presented by Princess Anne.India 1978
Australia got their revenge against England, completing a comprehensive eight-wicket win with more than 18 overs to spare in the final. This time the competition was played in a 50-over format and was contested by only four teams – India, England, New Zealand and Australia – after West Indies and Holland had to withdraw because of financial difficulties.Only six matches were played, held between January 1 and January 14. But that was six more than many people had expected: fears that the tournament would not go ahead were only ended when India – the only country which would attract large enough crowds to make it financially viable – agreed to host the tournament. The buildup was marred by controversy when England’s captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint was dropped amid rumours of jealousy of her popularity, with the older Mary Pilling replacing her in the leading role. Nevertheless, England managed to make the final, although they were soundly beaten after crawling to 96 for 8 at less than two an over.New Zealand 1982
The same four teams that ran out in 1978 – plus an international XI – contested the third World Cup, and the format reverted to 60 overs. Australia took the honours once more when they faced England in a repeat of the 1978 final. The result went the same way when – in the penultimate over – Australia reached their target with three wickets to spare. More than 3000 spectators watched the match at Christchurch, and the game was also televised.Australia 1988-89

Yet again the old firms of England and Australia met in the final, but Australia extended their advantage, scooping the title for the third time in a row. The match was held at the MCG, where England eked out a painfully slow 127 from 60 overs. Australia’s batsmen responded in equally slow, yet ominously deliberate, fashion, losing only two wickets in reaching their target with 15 overs to spare. Ireland reached the third-place play-off.England 1993
A giant leap for womankind: at last, a different finalist – New Zealand. They took on England, the hosts, for the trophy after winning all seven of their qualifying matches and conceding only 1.6 runs an over. Australia failed to qualify for the final for the first time, but England marched there thanks in no small part to Carole Hodges’ match-winning century against the old enemy in the qualifiers.England proceeded to scoop their second trophy in front of 4,500 at Lord’s: lorry driver Jo Chamberlain was the hero of the hour with a spanking 38, a run-out, wicket and a catch. Denmark managed to win one match in what was an otherwise disappointing first World Cup, while Holland also won only one match.India 1997

The sixth World Cup returned to India in 1997, and the 50-over format made a comeback as one-day cricket was standardised worldwide; it is a format which has endured. Playing in front of vast crowds, Australia picked up their fourth World Cup when they overhauled New Zealand with three overs to spare in a thrilling final at Eden Gardens. Belinda Clark played a captain’s knock with 52 as opener.New Zealand 2000
New Zealand, the hosts, pulled off a shock four-run win over the favourites Australia in a nail-biting contest at Auckland. After scoring only 184 New Zealand seemed to have blown their chances, but offspinner Clare Nicholson turned events in their favour when she bowled Belinda Clark for 91 with Australia on 150 for 7. They lost two more wickets and started the final over needing five runs, but Charmaine Mason fell on the first ball of the over. Finally, the World Cup trophy had a new name on it.

South Africa 340 for 3 (Smith 131, de Villiers 98, Kallis 54) lead Zimbabwe 54 (Kallis 4-13, Pollock 3-9, Ntini 3-23) by 286 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Zimbabwe were routed for 54 in a little over a session on the opening day of the first Test at Newlands, nine runs short of their previous-lowest score in Tests, 63 against West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1999-2000. The pitch held few demons, and as if to underline the point, South Africa raced to 340 for 3 by the close. Their lead of 286 is the highest that a side batting second has established by the end of the first day in any Test.In the history of Test cricket there can rarely have been a day as obscenely one-sided as this. Zimbabwe had the look of a very average club side, and by and large the technique to match it. The wickets which they claimed both owed more to boredom on the part of the batsmen – all three fell trying to hammer the hapless Graeme Cremer over Table Mountain – than any cunning plan. If the first session was depressing as Zimbabwe’s batsmen succumbed, the last was embarrassing, as AB de Villiers, Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis hit boundaries at will – in all South Africa piled on 249 runs in 33 overs after tea.Although South Africa’s seamers bowled well in the morning, the batsmen’s techniques were largely to blame for the humiliation. This was Test cricket in name only. The paltry crowd – some 1600 imported schoolchildren more than doubled the attendance – showed that the locals knew that this was always likely to be a one-sided encounter. But even they must have been surprised and ultimately depressed at what they saw.

On a hot and sunny day, Tatenda Taibu won the toss and batted on a pitch which appeared to offer little to the bowlers apart from a hint of early moisture. But so fundamental were the flaws in his players’ techniques that the bowlers had to do little more than put the ball on the spot and wait. The muted celebrations – only Makhaya Ntini’s 200th Test wicket produced anything resembling delight – underlined that the South Africans knew the value of their achievements. Ntini, Kallis and Shaun Pollock took some of the easiest Test wickets they will ever collect. As if to underline the unevenness of the contest, Kallis, usually reluctant to bowl these days, has rarely been so keen.Heath Streak briefly showed that he was not out of his depth, one cracking cover-drive merely emphasising the inadequacies of what had gone before. But even other more experienced colleagues, such as Dion Ebrahim, were all at sea.Pollock started the rot when he turned Barney Rogers square and had him caught behind, and thereafter it was a procession. Ntini claimed two in his opening eight-over burst, Stuart Matsikenyeri fending to third slip (20 for 3) and Mark Boucher taking his 300th Test dismissal when he caught Brendan Taylor (22 for 4). Kallis snapped up 4 for 13 with no more than gentle outswing which was still too good for the middle order.

In comparison with what was to follow, South Africa started sedately, as Smith and de Villiers saw off the new ball and Streak, the only bowler who asked any serious questions. Smith twice drove loosely, edges narrowly missing his off stump, but that was as close as Zimbabwe got to the breakthrough.After tea, the floodgates opened and dot-balls became rarer than boundaries. Smith brought up his eighth Test hundred and look set to fill his boots before he wearily skyed Cremer to Hamilton Mazakadza for 131. de Villiers was also left ruing a missed opportunity when, two short of what would have been his second successive Test hundred, he tried to drive Cremer against the spin and lofted to Andy Blignaut in the covers.Kallis and Jacques Rudolph set off with all the gusto of children let loose in the sweet shop but who feared teacher would come in to spoil their fun at any moment. Kallis hammered three successive sixes off Cremer, and the usually circumspect Rudolph cracked four fours in five balls off Elton Chigumbura. Even Streak, was savaged and Taibu looked bewildered as he ran out of bowlers to stem the flow, or fielders to plug the gaps.Kallis’s fifth six brought up his fifty in 24 balls – the fastest-known in Test history – before he became Cremer’s third wicket, again courtesy of a top-edge attempting an even bigger hit. Cremer ended the day with the remarkable figures of 9-0-86-3.Kallis departed into the lengthening shadows. The integrity of Test cricket had disappeared some time before that.Martin Williamson is the managing editor of Cricinfo.

Brett Lee’s pace teammates may be fighting to keep him out of the Test side, but the incumbent trio is united in defending him in the beamers controversy. While Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie added their views to the on-purpose versus accidental debate, Lee believed the uproar over his waist-high full toss would not affect his push for a Test return.”I know there’s a lot of talk from a few journos back home and obviously I’ve copped a fair bit over here,” Lee told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I wasn’t under any pressure [on Tuesday] to go out there and prove anything. I had nothing to do anything different.”Lee’s teammates encouraged him to remain aggressive despite the criticism from John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, and former players such as Rodney Hogg. “If Brett was fair dinkum and wanted to hit someone, they would be at the throat but they’re down at the waist,” Gillespie said. McGrath told the newspaper he was unhappy with the way Lee had been viewed in Australia, but “you expect it from the New Zealanders”.The four bowlers named in the 13-man Test squad are jostling for three positions in the first Test at Christchurch, which starts next Thursday, and the condition of the wicket is likely to determine who misses out. “We want to keep this four going forward for the Ashes and for a couple more years to come,” Lee said. “We want to make this our group.”Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, hinted yesterday that Lee was not an automatic selection despite his intimidating one-day form and McGrath said that the only difference between the four bowlers was that Kasprowicz didn’t have a Test half-century. “Only one of us doesn’t dye his hair,” was the quick reply of Kasprowicz, whose top score is 25.

Scorecard

Lisa Keightley kept Australia on course for the semi-finals with a brilliant 103 from 154 balls, as the hosts, South Africa, were swept aside by 97 runs at the de Villiers Oval in Pretoria. Australia, undefeated so far in the tournament, were asked to bat first but made solid progress throughout their innings, as Keightley added 61 for the first wicket with Belinda Clark, and 96 for the second with Karen Rolton. Johmari Logtenberg was the pick of South Africa’s bowlers, with 2 for 38 from eight overs.South Africa’s reply never really got started. Cri-Zelda Brits made a battling 49 but received stant support, with South Africa’s golden girl, Johmari Logtenberg, once again falling wastefully, run out for 3. South Africa had been fined one over for a slow over-rate, but translated that form into their batting as well, as they trickled along at barely three runs an over. At 118 for 7, the match was dead in the water, but South Africa’s tail at least gained some useful batting practice.India 141 for 3 (Chopra 64*) beat England 139 (Edwards 58, Brindle 51*, Goswami 4-27) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Charlotte Edwards and Arran Brindle made a pair of vital half-centuries, but none of England’s other batsmen could even reach double figures, as India took the honours in the vital top-of-the-table clash at the Laudium Oval, Tshwane. After winning the toss, England made heavy weather of the conditions, and slumped to 56 for 4 before Edwards was joined by Brindle in a 38-run stand for the fifth wicket. But, before they could forge a true recovery, Jhulan Goswami returned to the attack to scythe down the tail with figures of 4 for 27.Needing just 140 for victory, India were made to work hard for their runs, as Lucy Pearson, Helen Brunt and Clare Connor maintained a tight line and length in the early part of the innings, and kept the run-rate to manageable proportions. At 35 for 3 in the 20th over, it was anyone’s game, but India stretched their legs as the change bowlers entered the attack, and with Anjum Chopra and Rumeli Dhar adding 106 for the fourth wicket, England’s resistance was finally broken.
Scorecard
West Indies boosted their prospects of a semi-final spot as Sri Lanka were overwhelmed by eight wickets in a one-sided encounter at Benoni. After winning the toss and batting first, Sri Lanka slumped to 152 all out, an effort that was marred by five suicidal run-outs. Dedunu Siriwardene stood out from the ruins with a classy 52, although she too ended up short of her crease with 11 balls of the innings remaining.West Indies never looked like handing back such an advantage, as Nelly Williams anchored the reply with a resolute 70 not out from 124 balls. She added 68 for the first wicket with Nadine George, and a further 74 with Juliana Nero, as West Indies won with more than 10 overs to spare.
ScorecardNew Zealand kept up the pressure on the group leaders, by easing to a nine-wicket win over the winless Irish at Harlequins Oval. Ireland batted first and were bowled out for a paltry 91, with Helen Watson taking 3 for 19 as the pick of New Zealand’s attack, ahead of Louise Milliken and Natalee Scripps who both picked up two wickets.Only Caitriona Beggs, with a defiant 30 from 102 balls, put up much resistance, but it was in vain once Aimee Mason and Maia Lewis were into their stride. They added 83 for the second wicket to wrap up victory with more than 31 overs to spare.