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Joanne Cook has retained her place on the Essex Academy. Cook, 17, was the third female player to be invited on to Essex’s Academy when she was drafted in last year, following in the footsteps of Alexis Mannion and Beth Wild.Allrounder Cook is a top-order batsman as well as a medium pacer. She made great progress during the 2007 season, scoring two centuries for the Essex women’s team and was also in the wickets for the London and East Region Under-19 team in the Junior Super Fours competition – a team she also captained.Cook’s development earned her selection for this year’s Super Fours, for Emeralds, and she now has her sights sets on making further progress in the months ahead.”I’ll be training hard this winter at the Essex Academy and with my Under-19 Regional side,” Cook told Cricinfo. “My next aim is to make the England Under-19 Academy, which trains at Loughborough. I feel like I’m close to getting into it because I’ve been given the extra responsibility of captaining my regional side and if I keep working hard it should come.”My long-term goal is to play for England women. I need to keep pushing myself to achieve that and I’m sure being part of the Academy at Essex will benefit that.”Despite being the only female among an intake of nine at the newly-titled Graham Gooch Essex Cricket Academy (Gooch will be providing funds of £30,000 a year to support the Academy) the self-assured Cook does not feel undue responsibility to prove himself among her contemporaries.She explained: “I do in some ways – because the younger girls look up to me – but not in other ways because I’ve been playing cricket with boys from the age of eight so I feel comfortable with them. I was the only girl playing in junior teams at Ilford until the Under-15s before we went our separate ways.”Cook, who plies her club cricket with Ardleigh Green men (2nd XI) and Loughton Ladies, readily acknowledges being part of the Academy has advanced her progress.”It’s benefited me a lot. Training is a lot more intense with the boys so when I come back to women’s cricket it makes a difference. In particular I would say my fielding has improved most of all. Whereas I am always on the ball – thanks to the extra training – some of the girls can be a bit lax. Boys push you more to improve your game.”Academy Director John Childs was suitably impressed by Cook’s efforts last summer to reward her with a second year on the programme.With one Cook – Alastair – having already graduated from the Essex Academy to gain international honours, fingers are crossed that Joanne will soon follow suit.

It may not have been all that tough for Shivnarine Chanderpaul to relinquish the West Indies captaincy. Except for any superficial damage to his ego, it was his only real option after a turbulent year in which he enjoyed only one Test victory and two one-day wins. Would it have been any different if he and his team had held their nerve and won the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park?Probably, but the fact that they didn’t reinforced the belief that this is a side that has become so accustomed to losing that they are almost paralysed by anxiety in a tight situation. The fact that there is no obvious successor, and really hasn’t been for the last five years, speaks volumes, not just about the parlous state of the game, but the quality of individuals being produced by West Indian societies.Despite all of that, the West Indies Cricket Board must announce the new captain sooner rather than later. We can do without all sorts of wild speculation over the coming days, especially with the start of the seven-match limited-over series against Zimbabwe just two weeks away.Even if I still believe that Wavell Hinds will do a good job, I have to concede that going the way of picking a captain who is not an automatic selection in the final XI is unprecedented in contemporary West Indies cricket and would probably create more problems that it solves. For all of his apparent reluctance to take on the responsibility, too much time, money and effort has been invested in Ramnaresh Sarwan for him not to recognise that he has a duty to step up to the challenge if called upon.As vice-captain for most of the last three years and an established batsman in the middle-order, the 25-year-old “veteran” has enjoyed a free ride-seniority without real responsibility-for long enough. It may bring the best out of him and we will all say why the decision wasn’t made earlier. The other side of the coin, of course, is that the burden of leading a team that will still be losing much more than winning for some time could take a toll on his confidence and his batting, much in the same way as Chanderpaul has been affected.But like ending one footballer’s World Cup dream in a month’s time, tough decisions have to be made with an eye to the future. Unlike the legal profession, you can’t opt for a course of action, lose and then interpret it as a victory. Only politicians and their rabid following fall for that nonsense.

Former Free State captain Joubert Strydom has been appointed as the convenor of selectors for one year by Cricket South Africa (CSA).Strydom will replace Haroon Lorgat, who was not nominated by any of the CSA affiliates at the annual general meeting last week. Mustapha Khan and national coach Mickey Arthur, remained selectors with Shafiek Abrahams, the former South African spinner, being the new appointment.”The board of directors of CSA has decided to appoint Joubert Strydom as convenor for one year after which the appointment will be reviewed,” CSA’s chief executive officer Gerald Majola said. “Joubert is very experienced and has been part of the provincial and national selection system for several years now. He will give continuity.”Strydom said it was an honour to be appointed as convenor of selectors at what was “a very exciting time for South African cricket”.”We have won the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia for the second successive year which means we are going to have a big pool of young talent to work with. The challenge is to find the right combination of promising and established players.”

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Thirteen years ago, Chandrasekhar Raghu was just another cricketer. They come in dozens in India, rushing home after school, picking up a cheap bat and rushing to join the neighbourhood tennis-ball . It’s all very simple: whack the ball, indulge in a bit of hit-and-giggle, and retire home at sunset to bury your face in homework. It doesn’t happen to most young enthusiasts, but something changed, for the better, where Raghu is concerned.When he was 11, a neighbour who happened to be the secretary for the local Hanumant Nagar Cricket Club, picked him out of the street cricket milieu and invited him to come and practise at the club. “I owe a lot to Balaji,” Raghu told Cricinfo at the end of the first day’s play at Mysore’s Gangothri Glades Ground. From there his journey to state-level cricket started. Soon he was playing for under-13 cricket.Was he afraid of the leather ball, having never played before? “No,” he says with a smile, “I just used to go out and play.” But that’s where my transformation as a bowler happened. I used to be just a batsman but suddenly I discovered that with the leather ball, I could bowl pretty useful offspin.” In fact, Raghu played in an under-19 tournament as a spinner.Even though he found his touch as a batsman and became prolific at the league level, where he used to bat at No. 3 or 4, at the Ranji Trophy level he was still treated as a bowler. He admits, “I used to play at No. 8 for Karnataka, and they used to consider me as an ODI player.” An average of 12.72 in 10 first-class matches is a proof of that. “I was very disappointed in those times. I used to bat at No. 3 or 4 in the leagues, but when it came to playing for Karnataka, I would be relegated down the order and treated as a bowler. I never used to get a chance to prove myself. It was very tough. I was stagnating.”Others’ misfortune, as it would turn out, gave Raghu the opportunity he was looking for. “I was feeling very down but then suddenly two or three batsmen flopped last season and I got my chance.” And he grabbed it. Two centuries and a fifty in the P Subbiah Pillai tournament in February 2006. He rates his 117 against Hyderabad in that tournament, as his best and the turning point of his career. All of a sudden the bowler was publicly recognised as an allrounder.There were other innings that Raghu remembers fondly. “I got a hundred against Western Australia recently,” he said. “I wanted to prove to the selectors that I can do well in three-day matches. Those knocks gave me confidence – and possibly the selectors too.” It definitely did. Within months, he was picked for the Challenger Series where the best young talents in the country get a chance to play with senior cricketers.Raghu is one of those batsmen that make the game look easy; lazy elegance seeps through his batting. Though he admits otherwise – “I don’t think I am lazy, it looks like that to others” – Raghu has been a victim of his own fluent batting style. “Yes, so many times I have got out like that,” he said. “When playing very well, I would think this bowler is easy to play and I have got out trying few things. I used to get 30, 40 quickly and then get out. I have matured now. That’s why I maintain this is a mental game. Now I am learning to play to big innings.”His preference is to keep the ball on the ground but he remains a busy player, constantly looking for singles. While Joginder Sharma, who grabbed seven wickets in Haryana’s match against Andhra – including a hat-trick – was troubling some of the other batsmen today with his bounce off a length, Raghu played him with ease.So what does he think when he stands at the crease waiting for the ball to be released? “Nothing,” comes the answer with a smile. “I keep my mind blank, I don’t think about anything.” Sensible ploy. Like many Indian batsmen, he makes his living off the front foot. Without disagreeing, he says today it was part of a plan: “I thought on this pitch – it was keeping low at times – it was better to get on to the front foot. I got out playing the wrong line though”.One other amazing thing about him is that he has never had a batting coach. So where did this pleasing stroke play come from? “There was no coach, I just play like this,” he said. “No one taught me how to play. This game is played more in the mind. Its 70% mental. Venkatesh Prasad [the Karnataka coach] has helped to improve on the mental aspect. My aim is to score runs and I go about finding ways of doing that. I just play ball by ball, I don’t think much.”For Raghu, each day is taken in his stride. “I am sticking to the present,” he said. “I just have to do well in the Ranji Trophy as I want Karnataka to be the Ranji Champions. I want to score at least three centuries this season. I am not thinking too much ahead, just want to stick to the process.”

On a day when Bangladesh toasted their first Nobel Prize winner, thecricket team provided them with more good news, signing out of theChampions Trophy with a convincing win. Looked at in a certain manner, there is more than coincidence here. Muhammad Yunus, an economist, set up Grameen Bank and transformed his nation’s countryside. As for the Bangladesh side they are sponsored byGrameen Phone, a sister concern to the Grameen Bank. Talk of how better infrastructure and corporate sponsorship impacts performance.Shahriar Nafees, the architect of the win, batted like one inspired. He’spart of the upbeat and more confident generation who face teams head on.Just 28 one-dayers old and he’s already crossed fifty on five occasionsand made two hundreds, unlike any other Bangladeshi. Added to that is aTest hundred against the mighty Australians.Dav Whatmore had no doubt that the current crop came with a moreaggressive outlook, more fearless attitude. “It’s not a criticism of theolder guys,” he said at the end of the day, “they’ve done a lot forBangladesh cricket. But the younger guys seem to play with a lot lesspressure. They play for the day; they have some skill and a strong desire.They now have to show they can do it against the bigger teams.”Shahriar doesn’t seem to come to the crease with any sort of baggage.Against West Indies, he slapped the first ball for four, square-cutting itwith some venom. Such an approach has caused his downfall at times but ifyou’re instincts are to whack, you might as well go for it. Today henearly fell before scoring, surviving a dropped chance at cover afterscooping at a wide one, but cashed in by gritting it out. For the nexthour, it appeared as if he was atoning for that early indiscretion -grafting to his fifty off 92 balls.”It wasn’t an easy wicket to bat on,” Shahriar said, “and I just wanted tomake sure I batted for as long as possible. It would not have been easyfor a new batsman to get set and score immediately.” Soon he began toexpress himself. The next 73 came off 69, with Prosper Utseya being tonkedalong the way. There weren’t any half measures – down the track, dash;back-foot, punch; inside out, whack; through the line, pelt. He cramped uptowards the end but hobbled on, smashed a few more fours and ended notout.A student of Business Management, Shahriar’s development as a cricketer isa tribute to the junior system in Bangladesh. He’s someone who was spottedearly – in fact, he and Ashraful attended the same talent-spotting camp -and was nursed into international cricket. “He’s enjoyed the opportunityto tour other countries before he got the chance with the national team,”Whatmore added, “and has received valuable instructions at theacademy and A levels.”Shahriar and gang are just the early products of Bangladesh’s professionalsystem. It may not be too long before a tap is opened and if a bit ofsteel is added to the abundance of talent, Bangladesh may well be on theright track.

Whoever thought that Bangladesh would run away with the match after a brave showing with the bat saw them score 232 for 8 in 50 overs had to eat his words as England proved their superiority in the match by achieving the target with 6.1overs and eight wickets still intact.The man of the match, Alec Stewart, and the England skipper, Nasser Hussain, shared a 175 run partnership for the second wicket to steer their side to the quarter-final of the of the ICC KnockOut. Both batsmen played shots to all parts of the ground to make a mockery of the target set by their opponents.Alec Stewart, who did the most of the scoring after the departure of Marcus Trescothick at the total of 33, was all patience after completing his half-century. He was content in watching most of the proceedings from the non-striking end, as Hussain hit all the Bangladeshi bowlers with strength and vigor. Hussain was particularly harsh on spinners, especially the off-break Muhammad Rafiq, as he hit 5 sixes and 8 fours for his 95 scored in 120 balls. However, he was unlucky not to get his first ODI century as trying to steer the ball to the leg side, he top edged an easy catch back to the bowler, Muhammad Rafiq.After the departure of Hussain at the total of 208, it was an easy going for EnglandGraeme Hick making a quick-fire 23 off 19 balls to take his side to victory. Stewart remained not out on 87 off 112 balls.Earlier, a confident looking Bangladesh side cashed in on some below par bowling and sloppy fielding by England to post a respectable total on the board. The opening batsmen, Javed Omar, scored 63* and the skipper, Naeemur Rehman, contributed with 46 studded with two sixes after Bangladesh had been reduced to 96 for 4 in the 29th over. Javed, returning to the crease after a rising delivery from Gough had earlier forced him to retire hurt, grafted his inning sensibly to enable his side to a total past 200, which looked a bit difficult at one stage. It was mainly because of his efforts that the Bangladesh team could collect 83 in the last 10 overs of their innings.For England, Mark Ealham was the most successful bowler taking 3 for 48 in his ten overs. Andrew Caddick and Craig White took two wickets each, whereas one batsman was run out.England now play South Africa in the quarter-final which would be played on Tuesday.

The cricket world as a whole might not know – or, being brutally honest, care – but a five-match one-day series between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh kicks off at Harare Sports Club on Saturday. Despite international indifference, the series matters very much to the participants.Through the vagaries of the way it is calculated, the ICC ODI rankings show Zimbabwe are ranked in ninth, one place above Bangladesh. This series could change all that, as anything other than victory for Zimbabwe will mean they are leapfrogged by their visitors.Bangladesh start as odds-on favourites, and a 5-0 whitewash is not inconceivable. Zimbabwe come into these matches on the back of 15 consecutive ODI defeats against Full Member countries, and their last home series was a dispiriting 2-2 draw with Kenya in March. On paper, Bangladesh are not much better, with two wins in their last 15, but that includes their memorable victory over Australia at Cardiff and some promising Test performances.Zimbabwe’s problems have been well documented and they are still consolidating after the divisive and destructive internal battles of the last two years. What is unclear is whether they have reached their nadir or are still in freefall. This series will make that clear.So confused remains the situation inside the country’s cricket that Zimbabwe Cricket did not name a squad until less than 18 hours before the first game, and when it did, it was under a new captain – Prosper Utseya – as the hapless Terry Duffin, who had been in the country less than 24 hours after flying in from England, had been fired.The last time Zimbabwe played was in the Caribbean in May, when despite being beaten 5-0 they showed flickers of life. If they can build on that – and they do have home advantage, even if that does only equate to a few hundred die-hards at each match – then perhaps they can buy their beleaguered board some time and stave off calls for them to be slung out of the top flight.Bangladesh, meanwhile, had intended to start this series after a three-game stopover in Kenya, but those matches were switched to the end of the Zimbabwe trip and so they have only had four days to acclimatise. They did have a warm-up on Wednesday, and the indications were that they had shaken off the effects of a gruelling 31-hour journey from Dhaka.Man for man, they are the better and more experienced side, and they possess enough firepower to blast through Zimbabwe’s top order. In Mohammad Rafique they have a spinner who could prove a match-winner. It is also hard to see their worldly-wise batsmen being too troubled by Zimbabwe’s pop-gun attack, Ed Rainsford being the only seam bowler of any reasonable quality.If Kevin Curran, Zimbabwe’s coach, has managed to bring together a previously divided team then Zimbabwe might, just might, be able to spring a surprise or two. If they can’t do that at home to the only side the ICC says is worse than they are, then they finally – and officially – will have hit rock bottom.

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If Michael Vaughan’s England side was let off the hook by bad light in Faisalabad, then the – or verdict – on the women’s side against India on the final day at Delhi was slightly more heartening. Resolute batting from Charlotte Edwards (46), the captain, Arran Brindle (46), and Jenny Gunn (32) staved off defeat and thwarted India’s bid for a maiden Test win against England, Edwards’ side finishing the day on 210 for 6.The Indian women gave nothing away though. The fielding was enthusiastic, the bowling tight, but in the end the resolve of the English batsmen shone over all else. Veteran spinner Neetu David consistently found turn from a slow pitch, and she beat the bat on numerous occasions. Nooshin Al Khader, however, was the pick of the bowlers, sending down 32 miserly overs for just 30 runs, picking up the wickets of Laura Newton, Clair Taylor and Lydia Greenway to stymie England’s run chase.Earlier, England’s batsmen produced a good morning session by adding 109 to their overnight 3 for 0, with Edwards standing tall with a 94-ball 46. She was eventually out, leg before, to the persistent Jhulan Goswami, with England 73 for 3. Brindle and Gunn then added 73 for the fourth wicket before Brindle was run out for 46 as the scoring rate slowed. She hit four boundaries as well as the solitary six of the match, but was unlucky to be dismissed just four short of a deserved fifty. Her dismissal, on the stroke of tea, meant England were 146 for 4, still 165 runs adrift of their target.At this stage, Mithali Raj, India’s captain, used an attacking field to try and put pressure on England, and the efforts of her fielders would have pleased her. A hard punch down the ground just after lunch by Gunn was met by a diving mid-off fielder, saving a certain boundary. Al Khader struck again to have Greenway caught by Raj for a laborious 6 off 51 deliveries, and England looked in trouble at this stage.Yet, as it became evident that a win was out of reach, Rosalie Birch and Laura Harper put their heads down and avoided any further checks to their progress. A loud appeal for a very close lbw against Harper was turned down by umpire RD Singh – to the clear frustration of Al Khader – but it was to be the last tense image on a day in which determination was the name of the game.Goswami was eventually adjudged Man of the Match for her spirited showing with the bat and ball throughout the match.

Darren Lehmann, who was named in the squad to face New Zealand at Brisbane ahead of Simon Katich, will find his preparation time severely limited by having to testify in the court case investigating the death of David Hookes, his close friend. Zdravko Micevic, a Melbourne nightclub bouncer, faces manslaughter charges over the attack that led to Hookes’s death, and Lehmann will give an eyewitness account of what happened in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda last January when he appears before the Magistrates Court next Monday.The rest of Lehmann’s team-mates will arrive in Brisbane on Sunday evening, and there is no guarantee that he will be able to make it there before the Australians have their first net session at the Gabba on Tuesday. Lehmann has admitted that the legal obligation makes for difficult preparation ahead of the two-Test series, more so since he is just coming off a hamstring injury suffered during the Nagpur Test against India last month.In his column for an Adelaide newspaper, Lehmann wrote, “It [the court case] isn’t a nice thing and will be a difficult preparation. It’s something I’m not looking forward to but it has to be done. It is a responsibility I have to fulfil.”Undoubtedly, Hookesy will be in my mind when I go out to bat in Brisbane.”John Buchanan, the Australian coach, said there were no fitness worries over Lehmann, and even suggested that Lehmann might benefit from the court appearance. “It obviously was an important moment in his life, considering his association with David,” he said, “and so it will probably be very good for him to have all that cleared behind him before the summer season starts.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Australia finished the one-day series as they began the tour to sweep an empty contest 5-0. Ricky Ponting’s clean-hitting dominance, which lit up the inaugural Twenty20 match, was again displayed in a near-perfect 141 at Napier that grabbed Australia a massive 347 for 5, and New Zealand, as they had been in the previous four matches, were flattened. Martin Snedden, the NZ Cricket chief executive, called it “the series from hell”.The damage from this result will last until the 2007 World Cup for New Zealand, who dropped a spot to No. 3 in the ICC’s rankings and will probably now line up in the same group as England in the West Indies. But the more pressing concern is how much this disaster will affect them in the Test series, which starts at Christchurch on Thursday. “We’ve been well and truly thumped and it’s hard to take,” admitted Stephen Fleming. “We’ve got to cop it on the chin and we will become a better side.”Since the close first game at Wellington, Australia have dismissed all challenges with frightful disdain, and must have considered a tilt at the magical 400 after Adam Gilchrist brutally bashed 91 from 61 balls and departed by the 19th over. Instead Australia settled for 53 less than that, and victory by 122 runs.Ponting collected a brilliant century that was the one aspect missing from Gilchrist’s opening, and lifted the highest score for an Australian against New Zealand. While Gilchrist went berserk Ponting’s play was overlooked, but it was appreciated once he departed.Opening with a burst of back-foot boundaries, Ponting was more patient than Gilchrist, and increased his pace as he grew more comfortable, signing off in style with consecutive sixes from the final two balls. The second landed on the square-leg grandstand roof before bouncing over the back – like New Zealand’s morale. His 17th one-day hundred came from 110 balls, including eight fours and two sixes, and he finished with a ground-record score from 127 deliveries.

It was a powerful end, built on an explosive start from Gilchrist. Before the game Allan Border, the selector, was worried that Gilchrist hadn’t played well in the past 15 games, but he can stop frowning. When Australia had picked up 107 from 15 overs it seemed like 400 was a possibility as Gilchrist plastered nine fours and four sixes. The rate slowed when he was dismissed to a tame pop-drive to Craig Cumming at cover, and he was upset to lose the chance of pocketing rarely considered individual and team records (129 for 2).Ponting settled himself, and then set about lifting the rate with entertaining stands alongside Damien Martyn (40) and Michael Clarke, with whom he added 43 in a closing partnership of 94 in 10.2 overs. New Zealand’s fast men were again treated like junior net bowlers, and the situation was not helped when Chris Cairns hobbled off with a hamstring injury and stayed in the dressing-room. Daniel Vettori managed the incredible feat of giving up only 37 runs from his ten overs when there was carnage all around.Tama Canning’s comeback was forgettable apart from Gilchrist’s wicket, and he spilled 80 runs, while Kyle Mills went for 67. Lance Hamilton was also treated badly for 76 on his home ground. A real-estate agent, Hamilton closed his first international sale in his second meeting when Simon Katich under-edged a pull (37 for 1). He started well but sagged when attacked by Gilchrist and then Ponting. He was not the only one to suffer.The batsmen were quickly facing equivalent pressure when they were caught between Michael Kasprowicz and Brett Lee in their final jostle for favour before the first Test. Kasprowicz collected more wickets, but Lee was the scarier as they combined for three early blows that shut down New Zealand.Lee’s early pace was the fastest of the series and his first over contained a wide recorded at 160kph and a 160.8kph (100mph) outswinger to Cumming, who fell lbw in his fifth over (39 for 1). Fleming fought past Lee and then made the mistake of relaxing to Kasprowicz, edging him to Adam Gilchrist for 35. Kasprowicz followed next ball with the wicket of James Marshall, playing on to his pad and then the stumps, and was denied a strong hat-trick appeal by David Shepherd to an inswinger than hit Craig McMillan’s pad before his bat (60 for 3). It was a timely reminder of his worth, and he collected 3 for 36 off ten overs.Producing his side’s best batting performance, McMillan hulked 63 from 69 balls in an innings that could have ended when Andrew Symonds caught him at cover. Shepherd appeared to give McMillan out, but he held his ground and doubt swept over the ground. He stayed before holing out thinking of a six off Symonds, who then collected Brendon McCullum to a similar thought process (196 for 6). The match drifted towards its conclusion, but the overall upshot was strikingly clear.Finishing the series with a record one-day ranking of 140 points, Australia drive into the three Tests with immeasurable momentum. For New Zealand, though, the suffering has continued over a contest that rarely reached the intensity of a top-of-the-world battle.