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Glenn McGrath has been given the ultimate accolade as he prepares for his return to international cricket. None other than the legendary Dennis Lillee reckons he is possibly the greatest fast bowler in history.McGrath, who has been out of action all season with an ankle injury, asked Lillee to oversee his final preparations. Lillee approved of what he saw, and even believes that McGrath’s best years could be ahead of him. “He is probably the best quick we’ve seen for a long time – if not the best ever,” Lillee told Australia’s Sunday Telegraph.” You can’t write anyone off who has been that good over the years. You’d be stupid to. I have absolutely no doubt he’ll be back – and he’ll be as good, if not better.”Even before his injury crept in, McGrath had been aware of a flaw that was creeping into his effortlessly smooth action, and under the supervision of Lillee, he has made best use of his time off the treadmill of international cricket. “Glenn has never really had any problems with his action,”said Lillee, “but a couple of times over the years he has had a minor glitch which we have discussed and straight away he fixes it. He is very aware of what works for him and what doesn’t.”McGrath, for his part, has scotched all talks that his career is drawing to a close. “I’ve looked at all my goals and I want to play the 2007 World Cup,” he said. “I’ll be 37 then and I believe right at my peak as a fast bowler. I’m definitely not thinking retirement. Combined with my strength and increased fitness levels, I reckon I’ve added 10km of pace, and I’m confident I can go around 140kph consistently now. It is all just coming together for me.””You can never write anyone like Glenn off. There is more than just an injury there, it’s what goes on in here,” added Lillee, pointing to his heart. “You can lose fitness, you can lose confidence, but you don’t lose a talent – and he has a talent. Like Imran Khan, there is no reason why Glenn can’t go on until he is 39 or 40. “

The Sri Lankan board has denied receiving an official report on Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action, and officials said that the results of the analysis would not be published until the receipt of an official report from Professor Bruce Elliott.The news followed suggestions that the results had been verbally communicated to board officials over the weekend and that an announcement was imminent. “We have not yet received an official report,” said Duleep Mendis, Sri Lanka Cricket’s chief executive. “We cannot make public announcements on the basis of informal or private conversations prior to the submission of an official report.”Contrary to earlier media reports, according to Mendis, a fullanalysis of Muralitharan’s controversial doosra had not yet been completed, and Murali, who is expected back in Colombo by Friday, was continuing the assessments with Elliott in Perth.Once an official report has been received, a bowling review group, convened by the board, will discuss the conclusions. If necessary, remedial action will be undertaken before the submission of a full report to the ICC within the stipulated six-week period.The board has indicated that a public announcement may be delayeduntil the ICC has received this report and has given the go-ahead for thedetails to be released.

Billy Bowden has dismissed Bob Woolmer’s suggestions that the umpires were “subconsciously” pressured by Australia’s appealing and crowds, while John Buchanan believes that the comments are offensive. But Waqar Younis and Mark Richardson supported the theory of Woolmer, whose reasearch showed close calls went 29-6 against Pakistan during their recent tour.Bowden, who stood in two of the Tests and four VB Series matches, said that he didn’t care if one or eleven players appealed. “It doesn’t worry me, and neither does the crowd because I’ve made my decision before they get excited,” Bowden told Wellington’s Dominion Post. “I haven’t got a problem with any team and every team has a right to appeal. Australia don’t really appeal, they expect it, it comes with confidence, but it doesn’t change the way I rule on things.” Bowden said he had a great series and received good feedback about his performances.Waqar, a Channel Nine commentator, told the Brisbane Courier-Mail that there were some really poor decisions in the one-day matches, and most of them went against Pakistan. Woolmer said that his side was denied five times in the first final, and a sixth in the first over of the second when Adam Gilchrist was hit in front.”I don’t think [Woolmer] is wrong, though I am not sure about his counting,” Waqar said. “These decisions that went against Pakistan should be checked properly. The ICC should look at why they have been done. One or two are part of the game, but to get the amount that went against Pakistan …”The Pakistan Cricket Board has asked the ICC for two neutral umpires in one-day matches, which would bring limited-overs games into line with Tests. Woolmer also said that he would consider training his players to appeal after watching Australia convince the umpires with theirs.Buchanan, the Australian coach, told AAP that the umpires had the right to be offended by Woolmer’s verdict. “He needs to be careful in what he says,” Buchanan said. “At the end of any game the focus always tends to be on the one or two decisions that may have gone against a side, but we need to accept that umpires are having to make a huge number of decisions every game and we can’t expect them all to be right.”Buchanan said that there were procedures to deal with problems such as excessive and intimidating appealing. “The referee and umpires would have stepped in immediately if that was the case,” he said. “They would be in their rights to have an objection to the suggestions being made. For someone who has been in such a senior position [at the ICC], I would think certain individuals would take a very dim view of some of these comments.”Richardson, who retired after the two-Test series against Australia in November, said that the Kiwis were upset by close decisions favouring the home side during the tour. “We felt things went against us when we were over there, and I think the same will occur here,” Richardson told the Dominion Post. “The Aussies are very good at putting pressure on the umps. Shane Warne’s the best, he will talk and talk.”Richardson said that the standing of the player also counted in the umpire’s mind. “They are revered over there, and it’s hard for the umpires not to get carried away by the environment they are in,” he said. “They love their cricket, that is why they are umpiring, but they too can become in awe of the team.”He also said Adam Gilchrist tried to "burgle" batsmen and raised the statistic that he had never been dismissed lbw in a home Test. “You see the way Gilly throws the ball in the air," he said. "He tends to play on his walking, his honesty, but he still tries to burgle anyone and everyone. We couldn’t get Gilly and it gets to you. You hit him in front, you don’t get it and it does your head in.” Gilchrist did not respond to Richardson’s comments.

The first 20 over-a-side international club tournament is set to go ahead at Grace Road, the home ground of Leicestershire, after the ECB gave clearance for the event. Despite being knocked out in the semi-finals of the Twenty20 on Saturday, Leicestershire are expected to be one of the sides taking part. has reported that one other English county will take part along with a South African side, a World XI as well as Indian and Pakistani teams. The Professional Cricketer’s Association would also produce a Master’s XI.An ECB spokesman told BBC Sport: “It’s not an official ECB competition but we have no objection at all to it going ahead.” The ECB hold the rights to the “Twenty20” branding so a small change of title will be required for this new tournament.The venture is being organised by Investors in Cricket (IIC), the consortium which is now in charge of running Leicestershire. They are keen to tap into the huge Asian market in the area and also aim to take this club version of the game to other countries in the near future.

Without any advance publicity or fanfare, on January 15 the USA Cricket Association revealed its Strategic Development plan for 2006-2007. It makes for some interesting reading.The 2006-2007 Plan’s Mission Statement states that the USACA is to “develop and promote the game of cricket, to select and prepare our teams to compete successfully in international competitions, and to provide the necessary supporting infrastructure” for this purpose.This mission statement puts USACA on a different track to Major League Cricket (MLC), with which its plan will inevitably be compared. MLC’s focus is on the development of a self-sufficient US domestic cricket as its major priority, with the development of state-level infrastructures, a US based Twenty20 League, and a long-range program for “mainstreaming” US cricket as its primary goals. Its international objectives do mention training MLC national squads to competitive standards in world cricket, but this is secondary to achieving what MLC considers to be its main goal of establishing US cricket as a distinctively “American” sport. MLC’s vision of its “necessary supporting infrastructure” is geared to domestic objectives, with international recognition coming only as a result of its domestic achievements.The USACA plan sets out 12 objectives to accomplish its stated mission.The first three represent the meat of the strategy; setting out what USACA proposes to do with actual playing of cricket. There is to be a Junior and Youth Development Program in several tiers, U-13, U-15, U-17 and U-19; a senior program involving a national and a U-23 A squad, rather like MLC’s program goals; and a series of national competitions for leagues, clubs and regions (but not states, which is MLC’s unit of account). In terms of support services, action is promised on national coaches’ and umpires’ associations; and improving facilities and infrastructure. “Improving information and communications” and “restoring USACA’s image”, are inserted as statements of intent, and a wistful note is added by the objective that USACA will host ICC tournaments in 2006-2007 as well as participate in them.This strategic development plan can be best understood if it is placed alongside its predecessor, the USACA’s five-year plan the period 2000-2006 which was developed by USACA at the insistence of Clyde Walcott but which has been gathering dust on the shelf since it was first published. The differences between them are dramatic, and offer a clue to USACA’s thinking on the issues.The 2000 mission statement sounds like its 2006-2007 counterpart: “To promote the game of cricket at all levels in the United States of America, develop national teams that will be competitive and successful in international competitions and to become the symbol of excellence in sports throughout the world.” But the 2000 objectives were specific, and measurable – they represented targets to be achieved, as well as when they would be attained.The 2000 plan boldly stated that the USA would “attain ODI status by 2006 and thereby qualify automatically for [the] 2007 World Cup.” Along the way, the USA would win the ” ICC World Cup series competition 2004, the ICC Trophy 2005, Americas Regional Championships (2002,2004,2006), Win or finish in second position in Americas Regional U-15, U-19 championship in 2002 and 2003, and make a strong showing in other international tournaments where a USA team would participate”.There were also specific targets; “Increase participation of players from its current 10,000 to 40,000 in a five-year period, Certify 2000 umpires, 2000 coaches, [and] at least 150 advanced certified coaches”, and thoroughly review its “organizational and administrative structures and its constitution by 2003″. USACA was planning to host the “Americas U15 (2002), Americas U-19 (2005) Americas Championship (2006), and two visits from Full Member A teams (2003 & 2004)”. The USACA would also “embark on an aggressive promotion and advertising campaign to increase the profile of the game by staging festival Cricket games, hold ODI games between Full members at various locations, [and] Increase the general media coverage of cricket”.As of 2006, it is very clear that USACA was unable to achieve most of its 2000 objectives. It not only failed to achieve ODI status, but it saw other Associate Members achieve this and was the one left out in the cold. It won none of the tournaments it had targeted in 2000 except the Americas U-19, where the youngsters performed brilliantly and exceeded its own expectations.The USACA’s numerical targets were unmet by substantial margins, the cancellation of Project USA obviated its plans for “holding ODI games between Full Members at various locations”, and there was no “aggressive promotion and advertising campaign” or “festival cricket games” to “increase the profile of the game”. Most importantly, the “[review of its] organizational and administrative structures and its constitution by 2003″ had not even begun as of 2006.If the USACA was so singularly ineffective in achieving its five-year goals set out in 2000, is there any assurance that it will be able to do so in 2006? There are many who would question USACA’s abilities to do so, let alone raise the massive resources required to meet its ambitious new goals. If the USACA had not demonstrated its failure to meet its own stated objectives since 2000, there are many who might choose to give USACA the benefit of the doubt for the time being. But a five-year track record of failure is not easy to overlook, and there will be skeptics and cynics who will be comparing the past with the present and asking some very hard questions.If the USACA is able to make real progress on its 2006 objectives after all, the stage could be set for an interesting confrontation between two different world views about US cricket– MLC’s vision of an all-American cricket future, and USACA’s of a world cricket order where meeting and exceeding international standards would be the raison d’etre driving US cricket development. But a great deal has to happen before such a confrontation could even take place. Both MLC and USACA have more urgent short-term goals to meet, and these deserve attention in the years ahead.

Adam Gilchrist has escaped the pressures of captaincy, wicketkeeping and batting at No. 3 by taking a four-day holiday in Singapore. All 16 members of the Australian squad have been given a leave pass and Gilchrist, John Buchanan, Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke flew out of India after rains washed out the final day of the second Test at Chennai.”I’m really looking forward to this break,” Gilchrist said. That was hardly surprising, after he coped with the pressure of the first two Tests, along with the scorching heat at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. “We’ve got a few days off and we’ve all got the chance to have some time away from cricket. I’m actually going to have the chance to catch up with my family and I really can’t wait. It’s going to be a great energy boost for me.”Gilchrist, who was thrust into the captaincy role due to Ricky Ponting’s thumb injury, rejected criticism of his wicketkeeping that arose after he dropped three catches at Chennai – one of them from Sourav Ganguly off Michael Kasprowicz and a couple of half-chances off Shane Warne.”When all this initially came on, when Ricky was out, I remember thinking it was a bit of a worry,” he said. “I had an assessment of it and felt like I wanted to take it on and so far, so good. Personally, I’ve been pleased with the way it’s gone.”I’ve detected some criticism about my wicketkeeping but it’s funny, the difference between perception and what you believe in yourself. I feel like I’ve kept as well as I ever have. I missed a chance the other night off Ganguly and there have been a couple of little ones off the spinners that people have written up as missed chances. It’s a pretty tough call in these conditions to criticise a wicketkeeper to a spin bowler. I’m not sure how many of you have ever kept wicket but the ones off the spinners, believe me they’re either in or they’re out.”Most of the players will spend their break in the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, but the more adventurous ones are likely to travel a bit. Matthew Hayden will head for Goa, while some others were reportedly eyeing Fisherman’s Cove, near Chennai, as another possible location for a short holiday.The squad will reconvene at Mumbai by Saturday to begin preparations for the third Test at Nagpur, which starts on October 26.

Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, feels that the Indian selectors could have been more forthright while dealing with the axing of Sourav Ganguly, hinting that the issue should have stayed behind closed doors.Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, had recently told Cricinfo that Ganguly will not be recalled as long as the present selection committee was in office, and Waugh had a bit of advice for Ganguly.”It’s not for me to say whether he ought to still be playing for India, but it can’t be encouraging when the chief selector [Kiran More] says the present committee won’t pick him,” Waugh told , a Kolkata-based daily. “I understand Sourav wants to fight back, but it’s not going to be easy. Today, therefore, he should look in the mirror and make a call. Sourav has a lot of very fond memories to fall back on. With age, it’s never easy.”Waugh, currently in Mumbai on a business trip, felt the selectors missed the cue by not dealing with the issue in a more diplomatic manner. “Ideally, the selectors ought to have spoken to him behind closed doors,” he added. “Some of your younger players have been doing well and the focus, from what I gather, is on the 2007 World Cup. Perhaps, Sourav ought to have himself understood once he got dropped from the Test squad.”Waugh, who had been involved in some titanic battles against Ganguly-led sides, had experienced something similar. He was dropped from the one-day squad after Australia’s poor showing in the 2001-02 VB Series and it was mainly because of a fairy-tale century against England, at Sydney in 2003, that he could extend his Test career for another 12 months.

Much is at stake when an RCA President’s XI takes on a buoyed English side in Jaipur on Saturday in what will be the only practice game before the seven-match ODI series starts on Tuesday.England, who are without their inspirational captain Andrew Flintoff – who is gone home for a couple of days to see his new-born son – are keen to maintain their winning momentum while the youngsters in the home side will try hard to make an impression on the selectors ahead of the one-dayers.The drubbing in Mumbai has served as a wake-up call to the national selectors who will be present to assess the performance of players like Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina. The injury-enforced absence of Sachin Tendulkar from the Indian squad has thrown up a slot for a youngster to come in, and it will be interesting to see who finally fills his shoes.The injury scare concerning Virender Sehwag, who played with a back spasm in Mumbai, has also forced the selectors to look at the bench strength, although he has been named in the 15-member one-day squad.The English team, to be led by Vikram Solanki, had a strenuous workout in the nets today after arriving in the Pink City last night, while the RCA squad was still gathering.One player in the local side who will attract the spotlight is the former Indian international and current Rajasthan captain Ajay Jadeja. This will be his first outing against an international side since he successfully fought a five-year ban slapped on him by the BCCI for match-fixing related allegations.The game also gives an opportunity to promising youngsters like V Shivramakrishnan, who hit a brilliant hundred in Deodhar Trophy, and Jaidev Shah to test their prowess against quality opposition. However, Rajasthan players Dishant Yagnik, Vikrant Yadav, Pankaj Singh and Sanjay Gill may struggle to make it into the final XI.England squad Vikram Solanki (capt), Andrew Strauss, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones, Matt Prior, Liam Plunkett, Ian Blackwell, Matthew Hoggard, Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Sajid MahmoodRCA President’s XI squad Gautam Gambhir, V Shivaramakrishnan, Ajay Jadeja (capt), Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Ramesh Powar, VRV Singh, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Rohit Sharma, Pankaj Singh, Sanjay Gill, Dishant Yagnik, Jaidev Shah, Vikrant Yadav

Duncan Fletcher has hit back at his critics after England completed their 2-0 victory in the CB finals. His earlier calls to have faith in a ‘young side’ often resulted in derision from many quarters, but he can now reflect on a team that has beaten Australia in its own tournament.”People didn’t believe me when I said the growth in this side can go anywhere and it’s really pleasing to see the young players come through like that,” he told .”To withstand the pressure and beat Australia three times in a row is quite an achievement and there’s no better place to produce that than in Australia in a one-day series.”Whereas a matter of weeks ago England’s planning for the World Cup almost revolved around picking random names out of a hat, Fletcher now says there is a clear plan heading into the tournament.”We’ve got a side that have won here and done very, very well and yet we are still missing people of the calibre of [Michael] Vaughan and [Kevin] Pietersen who are two very important players for us, so it’s still going to be very difficult for us [to narrow down the squad].””But we’re a lot clearer than we were at the start of this series. We really believe in the side now, four in a row is a great achievement and we’ve just got to continue with that momentum.”Fletcher, himself, received a special mention as Andrew Flintoff relished his first success as captain. “The one person I really want to thank is Duncan Fletcher,” said Flintoff, “throughout the trip he has kept taking the knocks for us but he has kept backing us.””He has been our coach for a long time and he has taken this team forward. You can see the improvement of this team since he has been with us.”Last week Fletcher said Flintoff was more relaxed without the pressures of captaincy, but any job is easier when you are winning and Flintoff soaked up the moment. “To take some silverware home is a great thrill. The past four games has been as good as I have seen an England side play. It’s been unbelievable.”From where we were at in Adelaide to come back in the manner we have done is credit to the team. We knew we could get better and knew we had to.”Sounding a lot like Michael Vaughan, Flintoff said he knew what the team was capable of. “Two weeks of cricket is a long time, we knew we had it in us, it took a while to come out but I am pleased it has done. We can also take a lot of heart from beating Australia three times on the bounce. It shows what this team can do and we will take a good spirit to the World Cup.”

Career-bests from Goolam Bodi (143) and Renato Almeida (5 for 18) provided the catalyst for Easterns who inflicted a humiliating defeat over Gauteng. Facing a target of 219 runs, after Bodi’s near six-hour innings, Gauteng collapsed in dramatic fashion to the pace bowling of Almeida to be scuttled for a mere 85 runs, giving their neighbours an unexpected 133-run victory.Nick van Woerkom’s knock of 53 allowed the home team, Northerns, to declare at 218 for seven, setting North West a tricky target of 279. With wickets falling all around him, and facing a big target, Driaan Steyn showed a lot of composure to go to his maiden hundred that allowed North West to walk away with a creditable draw. Pierre Joubert followed up his first innings six-wicket haul taking 3 for 29 as North West reached 190 for 8 when time ran out.Bowlers had the upper hand in the KwaZulu-Natal Western Province clash with 21 of the 30 wickets falling going to three bowlers. First it was Rory Kleinveldt for Western Province taking 5 for 42 as Natal were bowled out for 164 in their first innings. Robert Frylinck then replied with 6 for 94 as Western Province scored 244 thanks to an unbeaten 115 from Kleinveldt. Natal’s second innings saw Quentin Friend add 7 for 31 to his 3 for 48 for the first innings as the home team only managed 150. Western Province wasted no time in knocking off the 71 for victory without losing a wicket.