The manner in which Barbados captured the 2007 Carib Beer Cup was an example of a team in a class of their own.Ruthless fast bowling by Tino Best and crafty left-arm spin by Ryan Hinds spectacularly turned an evenly poised match into a stunning collapse and a win over Guyana at Bourda that guaranteed them the island’s 20th first-class title. In less than two hours Guyana were swept aside for 90 in only 30 overs. It turned the match on its head and set up Barbados’ first victory in a first-class match in Guyana in 27 years.It left Barbados with a modest target of 108 to achieve their fourth victory in five matches and even though they lost five wickets, the result, completed at 3:53 p.m. on the penultimate day, was never in doubt because of the outstanding work of Best and Hinds. On a strip which fast bowlers have long complained is too much in favour of batsmen, Best generated lively pace and disconcerting bounce to break the backbone of Guyana’s batting inside the first hour.Already set back by the unavailability of captain Ramnaresh Sarwan with a chipped bone in the right thumb, Guyana were virtually beaten from the time Best knocked over three wickets with fast bowling of awesome quality. The fear he put into batsmen at one end allowed Hinds to benefit with a five-wicket haul in which a few of his victims were dislodged when they tried to go after him.It was Barbados’ third successive win that was won in less than three days’ playing time and emphasised the wide gulf between themselves and the opposition. It pushed them to 54 points from a maximum 60 and they can now sit back to find out who will be their opponents in the Challenge final in Trinidad from February 22 to 26.Skipper Hinds described the season’s performance as a big team effort, pointing to “hard work, unity, consistent performances and believing in everyone”. He also spoke of an informal session among the players the previous night that had a big impact on what transpired yesterday. After the start was delayed by half-hour because of seepage from overnight rain, there was a steady flow of wickets. Guyana, who took a first innings lead of 17 runs, wobbled from 22 for 1 at the start of the day to 63 for 6 a quarter-hour before lunch. By then, it was obvious Barbados would not be denied.”It was a total team effort. The bowlers really stuck it out. The fast bowlers really bowled well and allowed me to come in and bowl well,” Hinds said. “We had a lengthy discussion – not a team meeting. The guys were on the balcony just talking cricket. We worked out that their batting was a bit inexperienced without Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Deonarine.”Hinds also dedicated the victory to last season’s manager Lawrence Maxwell and birthday boy Fidel Edwards who turned 24 on Tuesday. It was Edwards’ fellow fast bowler Best who worked up a storm with the key wickets of stand-in captain Travis Dowlin, Assad Fudadin, Azeemul Haniff and Royston Crandon.”The inspiration came from God, my teammates, my coach. Last [Tuesday] night I asked God to give me the strength to work hard and bowl quickly,” Best said.His removal of Crandon and Haniff was a spectator’s joy. Both were tested with lifting balls. The former ended up giving a catch to second- slip off the shoulder of the bat and the latter, in self-preservation, gloved a catch to first slip.”Bourda is a hard, flat, placid surface. Wayne Daniel always says that if you bowl fast in the good areas, sometimes you get bounce,” Best said. “Corey Collymore always tells me about hitting the ball on the seam. That is what happened. I just bent my back and everything worked out fantastically.” Only three Guyana batsmen reached double-digits.After the match, coach Vasbert Drakes lauded the quality of his attack. “The bowlers have been taking wickets consistently and quickly. They’ve been creating quite a bit of pressure,” Drakes said. “The guys are happy with each other. They are playing ‘team cricket’. The guys have been bowling in partnerships. We have some good quality bowlers. They are setting some high standards for themselves.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken strong objection to the recent remarks of Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, about Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif with regards to the doping issue, calling them “unwarranted” and “irresponsible”. The board has sent an official letter of protest to the ICC.Speed, while talking about the ICC’s policy of targeted dope tests in the forthcoming World Cup, had called the whole affair of Shoaib and Asif continuing to play cricket after having tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid an “embarrassment” for the game.Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, told Cricinfo, that Speed’s comments were uncalled for and inflammatory. “The board takes strong objection to the irresponsible remarks by Malcolm Speed to a case that is subjudice,” said Ashraf, referring to the fact that the overturning of the bans on both players was referred to the International Court of Sports Arbitration by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency).”Both players were voluntarily dope-tested and withdrawn from the Champions Trophy after which the due legal process of the PCB’s anti-doping code was strictly followed,” added Ashraf. “They were let off by an appellate tribunal after which the ICC has admitted it had no legal grounds over the case. WADA has filed a case over it and the matter is now subjudice. These remarks then are utterly irresponsible and unwarranted.”The chairman also criticised the statements of two international players he did not wish to name who had also lashed out at the possible inclusion of the fast bowling pair in Pakistan’s World Cup squad. “I don’t want to mention the names of the two top international players from a top cricket country but I would like the ICC to examine whether the remarks made by them constitute a breach of a certain code of conduct.”Shoaib and Asif were finally dropped from the Pakistan squad yesterday for medical reasons. While injuries to one’s knee and the other’s elbow is the official reason given by the board for their withdrawal, speculation in Pakistan has centred around fears that the duo were still carrying traces of Nandrolone in their body, a fact that could have led to stringent bans had they tested positive during the World Cup in ICC-conducted tests. The PCB has rubbished such speculation.Ashraf asserted he did not want to get into a public slanging match over the issue but had been compelled to respond. “We have asked Percy Sonn [ the ICC president] to instruct other ICC officials not to issue such inflammatory remarks. We do not want to engage in a public debate on this but since the remarks appeared in public, we are forced to state facts and clear the names of players, the PCB and Pakistan.” The chairman also reiterated the board’s commitment to a zero-tolerance policy on doping, pointing out that Pakistan remains one of only four cricket countries that carries out internal dope tests.The exchange of remarks is not likely to warm relations between the ICC and Pakistan, already a little cool after the Oval fiasco of last August and the doping scandal in October.

Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper, has been fined 20% of his match fee for showing dissent following his dismissal in New Zealand’s Super Eights match against Sri Lanka in Grenada on Thursday. McCullum reacted after he was adjudged leg before to Muttiah Muralitharan by umpire Asad Rauf after facing just two deliveries.Mike Procter, the ICC match referee, found McCullum guilty of violating 1.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct in a hearing after the match. He pleaded guilty to the charge and apologised to the umpires in the hearing, also attended by coach John Bracewell, team manager Lindsay Crocker and the match officials.”There is a thin line between disappointment and dissent and Brendon crossed that line,” Procter said. “His reaction was unacceptable but, to his credit, he acknowledged that fact at the hearing and apologised for his conduct.”All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee.

The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup between Ireland and Canada will take place at Chelmsford between May 21 and 24. It will be the first time and Intercontinental Cup tie has taken place in England. The previous finals have been in the UAE and Dubai.Ireland, the holders, qualified by topping Group A, beating UAE and Namibia and drawing with Scotland. Canada qualified through victories over Bermuda and Kenya, although they lost to Netherlands.The new format of the tournament means sides play a minimum of three four-day matches in this tournament, increasing to seven four-day matches in 2007 and 2008 when it is hoped the event will be a full round-robin format. That compares to a minimum of just two three-day matches per year under the previous structure which, until the semi-finals, was regionally based rather than global.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Ireland’s World Cup adventure ended with a chastening experience as they crumbled for 77 against Sri Lanka in Grenada. Farveez Maharoof took three wickets in an over and Muttiah Muralitharan bamboozled the middle order before Sri Lanka raced home in 10 overs, leaving everyone with an early lunch.All ten Ireland wickets fell for 49 in 20 overs – 23 of those coming in a final-wicket frolic – as Maharoof and Muralitharan shared eight victims. A mark of the ruthlessness shown by the Sri Lankans is that this was an even more destructive performance than the Australians managed.But Ireland’s campaign has been highlighted by their spirit and excitement. They remained buoyant until the end – albeit an early one – as Boyd Rankin and Dave Langford-Smith finished their World Cup with a wicket apiece. Mahela Jayawardene, though, didn’t want to be back after dinner, finishing the chase with a flourish. His mind will already have switched to the semi-finals.After Jayawardene put Ireland in, the early overs lulled everyone into a false sense of security, while the start of Maharoof’s first over didn’t suggest the bounty that would soon come his way. Jeremy Bray dispatched the opening two balls to the boundary, a flick over square leg and a drive through cover, before being deceived by a slower ball, popping an off side drive.Ireland then changed the batting order, promoting Andre Botha to No. 3, but that experiment lasted two balls as he flashed outside off stump with no footwork. While Botha’s was a poor shot, Eoin Morgan couldn’t do much about his dismissal – a perfect line and length from round the wicket producing an edge, which Kumar Sangakkara pouched brilliantly low to his left with the ball almost behind him.Chaminda Vaas, back in the side after controversially missing the match against Australia along with Muralitharan, wasn’t at his best with the new ball, drifting into the pads too often, but Nuwan Kulasekara kept a tight line. William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien survived 10 overs before Maharoof struck again, Porterfield top-edging a pull to mid-on, but Ireland’s problems were only just starting. At the start of the 19th over Muralitharan – 447 ODI wickets, the Ireland team had 85 – took the ball and by the end of it had added two more scalps to his tally.

Ireland’s batsmen are not the first, and certainly won’t be the last, to be made to look foolish by Murali’s skills. Niall O’Brien edged a conventional offbreak and Kenny Carroll’s first World Cup outing lasted two balls before he swept and missed at a doosra. Muralitharan collected one of the easiest four-wicket hauls of his career as the lower order proved clueless against his variations.There was also time for Maharoof to show his fielding skills. Trent Johnston drove a ball back down the pitch, Maharoof dived in his follow through, picked up and threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end. His day wasn’t quite faultless as he spilled Langford-Smith at deep square-leg and Langford-Smith brought out the long handle, swinging a maximum over deep midwicket and shimmying down the pitch to whip Muralitharan through the on side. It was a shot to tell the grandchildren about; the innings won’t be remembered quite so fondly.But the reputation of Ireland’s players has been unanimously lifted by their World Cup exploits, none more so than Rankin who now heads to Derbyshire to take up a county contract. He claimed his 12th tournament wicket when Upul Tharanga slashed to point in the opening over. Sangakkara drove a sharp catch to cover, one final chance for Langford-Smith’s distinctive celebration, before Jayawardene added the finishing touches in a stand of 56 off 41 balls with Sanath Jayasuriya. The one consolation for the Irish fans is a few extra hours to spend on the beach. Then it’s back on the plane and a return to their normal lives, with enough stories to last a lifetime.

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and Michael Holding, the ex-West Indies fast bowler, are among the people who will form part of the ICC’s newly-constituted cricket committee. Also included are Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel, chief ICC match referee and former Sri Lanka captain Ranjan Madugalle and Craig Wright, the former Scotland captain.The new structure is designed to be representative of all interests in the modern game and replaces the previous set-up which was made up of the nominated representatives from each of the Full Members (boards and players) and leading Associates.The new 13-member committee, which will meet for the first time on May 30 and 31 in Dubai, will be chaired by ex-India captain Sunil Gavaskar, a World Cup winner in 1983. It will also feature recently appointed Western Australia coach Tom Moody, another player to enjoy World Cup success – with Australia in 1987 (as a squad member) and 1999 – and someone who coached Sri Lanka to the final earlier this year.The ICC executive board, which previously approved the recommendation of the chief executives’ committee (CEC) to amend the structure of the cricket committee, approved the personnel set to sit on it at its meeting in Cape Town in March.The remit of the cricket committee is to discuss and consult on any cricket-playing matters and to formulate recommendations to the CEC which relate to cricket-playing matters.The committee (and the interests from which its members are drawn) will be made up of the following people:Chairman – Sunil Gavaskar (former India captain and opening batsman and World Cup winner in 1983)Past players (2) – Ian Bishop (former West Indies fast bowler) and Mark Taylor (ex-Australia captain)Representatives of current players (2) – Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka captain; Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman, was the original nominee for this position but he is unavailable due to commitments playing county cricket in the UK) and Tim May (ex-Australia offspinner, World Cup winner in 1987 and now CEO of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations)Full Member team coach representative (1) – Tom Moody (former Sri Lanka coach)Member Board representative (1) – Duleep Mendis (former Sri Lanka captain and now SLC Chief Executive)Umpires’ representative (1) – Simon Taufel (member of the Emirates Elite Panel and named Umpire of the Year three times in a row at the ICC Awards)Referees’ representative (1) – Ranjan Madugalle (ICC chief match referee and former Sri Lanka captain)Marylebone Cricket Club representative (1) – Keith Bradshaw (took over as the MCC’s Secretary and Chief Executive in October 2006 in succession to Roger Knight; former first-class cricketer for Tasmania in Australia. MCC is the custodian of the Laws of Cricket)Statistician (1) – David Kendix (a statistician/scorer and the man responsible for the creation and development of the LG ICC Test and ODI Championships and nominated by the ICC to sit on the committee)Media (1) – Michael Holding (former West Indies fast bowler and now part of the commentary team for Sky Sports in the UK)Associate representative (1) – Craig Wright (former Scotland captain)Commenting on the change to the cricket committee, ICC CEO Malcolm Speed said: “It is excellent news that both the new structure and the make-up of the committee have been approved. The game of cricket now has at its disposal a group of outstanding cricket brains covering all aspects of the game and with their collective input we will be able to ensure that, moving forward, a strong sport is able to grow even stronger.”Simon Taufel said: “The Emirates Elite Panel of umpires is very pleased to have representation on the cricket committee and be able to have input into how the game is structured at the highest level. There is an enormous amount of cricket experience on the Elite Panel of umpires and we hope to be able to contribute in a positive way to improving the game for all participants and spectators.”Michael Holding, who has already sat on an ICC panel of experts that examined the issue of illegal bowling actions, said: “If the ICC believes I can make a contribution to the committee then I am delighted to take part as I am always happy to be involved in anything that is for the betterment of the game.”Details of the committee’s agenda and of the meeting itself will be announced in due course.

:Sunil GavaskarDilip helped bring about a renaissance in Indian cricket. My first Test was in the West Indies in 1971 when he was perhaps at his very best. He showed us how to play fast bowling and in doing so gave us the confidence we needed to beat the West Indies. One of his great strengths was that he was always very positive and he spread that through the team. He was a great influence on me as a player and someone I always looked up to. He was a very popular member of the team and a bit of a prankster. He was great fun to have around the dressing room and he always lifted the spirits. I was lucky to have him there when I first broke into the Indian side in 1971.Bapu NadkarniHe was perfect technically as a batsman. Unfortunately we made a good stroke player into an opening batsman, but he was my ideal No 3 or 4 batsman. He was very helpful, always open to youngsters, crazy about talking about the game, and was always willing to teach. Slightly outspoken, but people who understood him loved him and I was one of them. He played with me at the Associated Cement Companies, Mumbai, and then India. We had two tours together and he showed in each instance that he was a team-man.Nari ContractorA courageous cricketer and a very outspoken man, and that is where he couldn’t get along with the Mumbai cricket people. I noticed him during the Times Shield in the late 1950s; though he looked like an ordinary upcoming batsman, he continued to improve and came up with impressive performances to come into national reckoning. I went personally, as captain of the Indian team, in 1961 to watch him make a brilliant century against Pakistan at Bangalore during the 1960-61 tour. He was in my list for the West Indies tour. Just before the Bridgetown Test, during the tour game against Barbados, I asked him if he would like to open since our regular openers had failed. His answer was a sound ‘OK’ and that showed his courage.Vasu ParanjapeOne of the best allround batsman of his time and it was a pleasure to watch him bat. A slightly shaky starter, but once he got going he was a delight. Two double-hundreds, first an unbeaten one against New Zealand at the CCI in partnership with the late Hanumant Singh and then in 1971 against the West Indies, prove that. I was at Brabourne when he played that stupendous knock. Along with Ajit Wadekar, he formed the backbone of the Bombay team and could take on any domestic attack.Farokh EngineerHe was a very defensive batsman, though technically correct than me. But he would always ask me how I could manage to hit boundaries and sixes. I would get sometimes frustrated at his inability to rotate the strike as he couldn’t drop the bat and take the single which I did. He would sort of plead, “I’m trying”. But he was a lovely opening partner, and just like my other opening partner Sunil Gavaskar, he had tremendous confidence and patience.

Confusion surrounds the future of Zimbabwe’s wicketkeeper-batsman Brendan Taylor after reports that he has been playing club cricket abroad despite a ruling by Ozias Bvute, the board’s managing director, that nationally contracted players were forbidden from doing so.Taylor, who is reported to be playing on a three-month contract in the Netherlands, is said to have had a blazing row with Bvute which led to him refusing to play in the Logan Cup, Zimbabwe’s domestic competition.Taylor has been named in the Zimbabwe side to meet India A later this month, but rumours persist that he will not play. “I don’t think he will play for Zimbabwe again,” a source close to the player told Cricinfo, “but thatdepends on Bvute.”Taylor is no stranger to clashes with authority, and unlike many team-mates, he does not rely on income from the game.The return of Tatenda Taibu as wicketkeeper-batsman – assuming he does sort out his own differences with the board – reduces the reliance on Taylor and the board may well seize the opportunity to ditch him and send a clear message to others who are thought to be considering their futures.Were Taibu and Taylor to be unavailable, then the keeping place would probably go to Tafadzwa Mufambisi, another player overlooked because of his attitude.

Michael Vaughan is getting all too used to making comebacks. Since the tour of Pakistan in 2005-06 he has been in and out of the captaincy hot-seat on no fewer than seven occasions, although this latest return to the colours is subtly but significantly different. It was not another injury that led to his omission from the recent one-day series against West Indies; it was his acceptance that that aspect of his career had run its course. And it was not yet another stand-in who took his place in the manner of Andrew Strauss and Andrew Flintoff last year; it was Paul Collingwood, England’s officially appointed one-day captain.Fortunately for Vaughan, Collingwood is one of the most grounded men in the game and will doubtless settle back into the ranks for this Test without a moment’s hesitation. But Vaughan would be forgiven for feeling a little on edge as he surveys his troops on Thursday morning. It was from an identical situation in 2003 that he himself inherited the Test captaincy from Nasser Hussain. Hussain, like Vaughan, had surrendered the one-day role after that year’s World Cup, and he went on to endure one last distracted Test at Edgbaston before realising that his command of the dressing room had gone for good.Three days into his latest spell at the helm, Vaughan was showing none of the angst that marked the end of his predecessor’s tenure. “I’m feeling very refreshed,” he announced, after a month’s break in which time he had watched England’s two Twenty20s against West Indies but merely dipped in and out of the 50-over games, much like the rest of the nation’s sports-watchers. A stiff back, sustained during last week’s rain-wrecked Roses match at Old Trafford, caused a murmur of alarm, but otherwise he announced himself to be fully fit – both physically and mentally.”Only time will tell, but the split captaincy has worked to date,” Vaughan said. “I haven’t felt [the team] has moved on [without me], but I think the big test was when I saw Colly lead them out in the Twenty20 game, would I feel any bitterness or resentment? I didn’t feel any of that, so I guess it was the right decision to move forward.”Me and Colly are great mates,” he said. “When I took the England captaincy I said I wanted 11 captains, and we now have two. Strauss has done the job as well, and there’s also Freddie [Flintoff] when he comes back. The more leaders you can have in the dressing room and on the training pitch to drive the team forward, the better.”

For the time being, however, England have been shorn of so many of their established leaders that the sight of two official captains might be something of a blessing. If Matthew Hoggard’s back spasm is as serious as the medical team fear, then England’s attack will have lost the services of their last remaining link to the 2005 Ashes. At least one debutant is expected to feature in Stuart Broad; a second could follow if Chris Tremlett sneaks in ahead of James Anderson, while the most experienced man in the line-up will be none other than Monty Panesar, who was a wide-eyed new boy when the teams last met in India 16 months ago.Vaughan, however, was determined to look on the bright side. ” It’s new and exciting to see,” he said. “It’s a brand-new attack with no Harmison, Flintoff, Giles or Simon Jones. We had a great attack in 2005, but it’s exciting for us all to see how they react to playing in front of a lot of people, against a very good batting team. It’s going to be a great challenge for whoever plays.””We have some good options,” he said. “Tremlett is bowling nicely with his bounce. Broady got a five-for [at Chelmsford], Jimmy got a five-for in the Roses match, and Sidey [Ryan Sidebottom] came in the early season and did exceptionally well. The Indian side are full of experience, more so in the batting, so it will be an exciting challenge for our young four-man attack to come up with plans to outdo them and, if they get the opportunity to be aggressive, to get 20 wickets in a Test match.”In the circumstances, the onus shifts squarely onto England’s batsmen to provide the support required for such an untested attack. And few players have lorded it over the Indians quite so handsomely as Vaughan himself, whose golden summer of 2002 featured 615 runs in seven innings, including 197 at Trent Bridge, 195 at The Oval, and an even 100 in the first Test at Lords – the second of his five hundreds in nine matches on this ground.”I always feel I play quite well at Lord’s, but tomorrow’s a new day, a new game, and I’ve just got to make sure I go out and try and do the basics,” said Vaughan. “Like most times when you play well, it’s about doing the basics well, and once you’ve done that you can elaborate a bit more, and attack the bowlers more. That’s the style of batting I have when I’m playing well, and I felt I was doing that reasonably well earlier in the summer.”Vaughan marked his last England comeback with a memorable century against West Indies on his home ground at Headingley, but he had no hesitation in admitting that the big test of the season was just about to begin. “We know this is a bigger series,” he said. “There is a lot more media, more supporters, and more exposure. It’s a real good challenge for the team to see if we have moved forward from the winter, because we know that’s how we’ll be judged. We’ve played to a similar standard and now we need to raise it again.”

ScorecardLuke Wright celebrated his call-up to England’s Twenty20 World Championship squad with a breathtaking 73-ball 125 as Sussex completed a two-wicket win in a high-scoring match at Hove. Still, when Wright was fifth out with 86 still needed, it required sensible innings from Carl Hopkinson, Robin Martin-Jenkins and the tail to see the chase home.Wright, who earlier this season hit a Twenty20 century off 45 balls, was in supreme touch as he struck 19 fours and four sixes. He displayed the clean striking that made him the leading run-scorer in this year’s Twenty20 and caught the eye of England’s selectors.He showed brutal strength through the off side and made full use of a short leg-side boundary as Gloucestershire’s attack, apart from Jon Lewis, was made to look pedestrian. He was finally dismissed when a top-edged sweep found Chris Taylor and he left to a long standing ovation.Wright’s domination was highlighted by a fourth-wicket stand of 73 where Michael Yardy’s contribution was 17 off 32 balls, but Gloucestershire almost pulled the match back. Lewis had removed the first three wickets and returned to shift Rana Naved-ul-Hasan with 14 still needed. However, Andrew Hodd and Saqlain Mushtaq finished the job, ensuring Wright’s effort wasn’t in vain.It was always going to take something special to overshadow Hamish Marshall’s 105-ball 122, which powered Gloucestershire towards an impressive total. He shared a stand of 180 with Kadeer Ali (76) before James Kirtley, another of England’s Twenty20 selections, claimed four late wickets.