Glenn McGrath believes no side will threaten Australia in their push for a third successive World Cup, provided the defending champions keep up their current form. McGrath, who is poised to become the leading wicket-taker in World Cup history, said Australia had the ability to win every match in the tournament, as they did in 2003.”If we go and play the way we have I can’t really see any team getting close to us,” he told . “In any Australian sport it seems that attitude is carried right across the board.” McGrath said his confidence was genuine, like when he correctly tipped a 5-0 win in the Ashes a few months ago.”I don’t say anything I don’t believe,” he said. “We’ve been so successful over such a long time, we know how to win, what we’ve to do.”He said the experience within the squad was a major factor in their belief. McGrath and Ricky Ponting have each played in the last three World Cup finals, Adam Gilchrist in the last two, while Andrew Symonds, Brad Hogg and Matthew Hayden also tasted success in the 2003 decider.”When you walk on the field you just have to look around you, the guys that are walking with you,” McGrath said. “There are some amazing players, some of the greats of all time. It does give you a lot of confidence.”McGrath has 54 World Cup wickets from his four campaigns and is one short of Wasim Akram’s tournament record. However, McGrath said winning a third successive title with his team-mates was his main aim.”Guys like Akram are sort of heroes of mine,” McGrath said. “He is known as one of the best bowlers of all time. To finally go past him, if I get a couple of more wickets, that would be something special. It’s nice to get little milestones along the way but they are not the be-all and end-all.”McGrath, who is farewelling international cricket after the World Cup, said he had no regrets about retiring and spending more time with his wife Jane, who has had cancer and a brain tumour. “If it was just about playing, I think I could continue all the time,” he said.”It’s everything else that goes with it. The travel, the training, you name it, the time away from Jane and the kids. So I’ve been lucky enough to have 14 years at the top level so it’s my turn to move on.”McGrath has the chance to break Akram’s record when Australia take on Bangladesh in Antigua on Saturday. Should Australia win it will be their 17th consecutive victory in World Cup matches.

Daryl Tuffey should be ready to bowl before the end of the month, as his recovery from a shoulder injury progresses. Tuffey, who was sent home from the World Cup when he sustained the problem in March, said he was focusing on a potential international return at the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September.”The arm is pretty good,” Tuffey told the . “If I needed to bowl I could be bowling but they [New Zealand Cricket] don’t want me to take any chances.” He said he should be “in the mix” for the Twenty20 squad, and if selected it would be a good way to ease back in with short matches.Tuffey also voiced his support for his Northern Districts team-mate, Daniel Vettori, who is a strong chance to be made New Zealand’s new one-day captain after the resignation of Stephen Fleming. Tuffey said the two had different perspectives on the field.”I’ve been under both of them and I found they are kind of different,” he said. “Flem is a batsman so comes from that mentality and Dan is a bowler. I think Dan’s a fine captain. He will make a fine one-day captain from what I witnessed with him at ND.”

Jersey will host the ICC World Cricket League Division Five (WCL Div. 5) tournament in 2008.The ICC’s decision follows a recent visit to the island by a development team to inspect the country’s suitability for promotion to Associate membership, which will be voted on at the ICC Annual Conference at Lord’s in June.Jersey has been an Affiliate Member of the ICC since June 2005 and as such is one of the more recent additions to the ICC’s Development Program. Selection to host this global event is recognition of the successful developments that the Jersey Cricket Board (JCB) has achieved over the past two years since gaining membership.The largest of the Channel Islands, Jersey is located off the north coast of France and has a population of around 90,000 people. Approximately 3,500 participate in the game in Jersey. There are six grounds with turf squares on the island, which play host to a league structure made up of more than 40 teams competing across two weekend divisions, three evening league divisions and two indoor league divisions. There are also a further 47 teams that compete at junior level.Chris Minty, JCB’s director of cricket, said: “This is tremendous, not only for Jersey cricket, but also for Jersey. We are looking forward to the challenges that this will present and will be doing all we can to ensure it is a successful tournament.”Keith Dennis, chairman of the JCB, commented: “We feel very proud and honoured that the ICC has awarded this big tournament to Jersey and it’s a tribute to the structure we have in place here and, of course, our facilities, together with support from our local government and sponsors. This has created the opportunity to be in a position to host such a tournament and we are looking forward to it.”The WCL Divison 5 is scheduled to take place sometime in May or June of 2008, but the exact date is yet to be confirmed. Originally planned to be an eight-team event, a recent decision at the ICC Development Committee meeting earlier this month opted to expand the league to include 12 teams – Botswana, USA, Afghanistan, Norway, Nepal, Singapore, Jersey, Mozambique, Bahamas, Germany and two teams yet to qualify from the East-Asia Pacific region.The WCL is made up of five divisions with the Europe region contributing eight teams to the overall event: Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland (Division 1), Denmark (Division 2), Italy (Division 3), Norway, Jersey and Germany (Division 5).ICC Regional Development Manager for Europe Richard Holdsworth said: “Jersey’s excellent facilities and administration will ensure this is a memorable event for those countries participating. This will do the game of cricket a tremendous service in Jersey.”The top two teams from the Division 5 tournament will progress to WCL Division 4 which is a six-team round-robin event to be staged in late 2008 at a venue yet to be confirmed.

The West Indies Players’ Association has lashed out at the non-selection of Brian Lara and six other leading players who have signed personal endorsement contracts with Cable & Wireless, accusing the West Indies Cricket Board of acting as "judge, jury and executioner" in the matter.On Sunday, the West Indies squad for the first Digicel-sponsored Test against South Africa was announced, and though Lara’s name was officially omitted, with the captaincy passing to Shivnarine Chanderpaul, he was nonetheless offered an invitation to join the squad, which Lara – bound as he is by contractual obligations – was reported to have neither accepted nor declined.In a press release, the WIPA president, Dinanath Ramnarine, was extremely critical of the course of action that the board had taken. "It is clear that as soon as the players cross one hurdle, another is erected in its place, until we have reached the stage where the board has exposed itself as judge, jury and executioner," he wrote. "And all the while, it bold-facedly maintains that it respects the binding decision of Justice Saunders regarding the players’ rights to enter into personal endorsement contracts.”The players and their careers, and the hopes and aspirations of Caribbean people, should not be made scapegoats in this issue," added Ramnarine. "WIPA strongly deprecates the manner in which the Board issued an invitation to Mr Brian Lara to make himself available for selection to the squad for the first Test match. WIPA wishes to strongly record its wholehearted support for the position which Mr Lara has taken in response to the Board.In summary, the WIPA proposed that, in order to ensure the best available side to take on South Africa on March 31, "the status quo achieved for the VB Series in Australia … be maintained." This, they added, would be in the best commercial interests of the two competing companies, and was the desired resolution as voiced "by the overwhelming majority of the Caribbean people." Nevertheless, the WIPA warned that, if such a course of action was not taken, they would be left with "no other alternative but to take such actions as may be necessary to protect our members’ rights and the interest of West Indies cricket”.West Indies squad Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith, Donavon Pagon, Daren Ganga, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), Narsingh Deonarine, Ryan Hinds, Courtney Browne (wk, vice-capt), Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins, Dwight Washington, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Reon King.

Division Two

The game of the day – although, in truth, there wasn’t much competition – came at Taunton where Marcus Trescothick and Neil Edwards helped to hunt down 121 in the last session to help Somerset climb to the top of Division Two.But Trescothick injured his quad muscle and had to bat with a runner during his innings of 69. Nevertheless, he and Edwards batted with an Australian-like aggression to post 50 in the first five overs. In the end, their stand was worth 95, with Cameron White then anchoring as Trescothick saw them home with 69 from 42 balls.Earlier, Lance Klusener’s 122 led Northamptonshire‘s brave battle to hold out for the draw. Starting with three down and trailing by 161 runs, Northants lost three quick wickets and were in some trouble at 120 for 6. Then came a remarkable seventh-wicket stand of 173 between Klusener and Alex Wakely, who added 66. Johan wan der Wath contributed 37 as Northants reached 358 to make Somerset bat again.Andrew Caddick ended with 4 for 91 in the second innings, to finish with seven wickets this match. He now has 46 in his nine Championship matches this term.Two days of rain at Trent Bridge, rendered Nottinghamshire‘s match with Gloucestershire a draw, as Somerset eased past them to the top. Notts moved on from 271 for 4 to 400 for 8 – David Hussey moving on to 180 and Chris Read made 52 – before Gloucestershire declared after the first ball to bring an early finish.

Division One

A similar story at Edgbaston where, also after two rained-out days, Yorkshire had to settle for a draw with Warwickshire. In another parallel, Yorkshire made 400 before declaring (with nine down). Anthony McGrath was left unbeaten on 188. Warwickshire eased to 254 for 2 in reply, Darren Maddy not out on 135 and there were fifties too for the Ians Westwood (51) and Bell (65). Yorkshire gained enough bonus points to squeeze ahead of Sussex at the top of the table.Division One

Division Two

New Zealand’s six major associations have released their player contracts for 2007-08 with Andre Adams, Daryl Tuffey and James Marshall picking up deals after missing out on the national list. Each outfit named a 12-man squad and Adams and Tuffey were rewarded at the Auckland Aces while Marshall is at the Northern Knights.One major name missing was Hamish Marshall, who has moved to England to qualify as a local player on the county stage. Last month Marshall rejected a New Zealand contract, but he left open the possibility of returning home to the first-class game as an overseas player.Auckland Andre Adams, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Paul Hitchcock, David Houpapa, Richard Jones, Tim McIntosh, Rob Nicol, Mayu Pasupati, Lance Shaw, Daryl Tuffey, Reece Young.Canterbury Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Leighton Burtt, Andrew Ellis, Chris Harris, Brandon Hiini, Johann Myburgh, Ben Rae, Iain Robertson, Amandeep Singh, Shanan Stewart, Kruger Van Wyk.Central Geoff Barnett, Brendon Diamanti, Bevan Griggs, Greg Hay, Brent Hefford, Greg Hegglun, Peter Ingram, Tim Lythe, Dominic Rayner, Robbie Schaw, Ewen Thompson, Tim Weston.Northern Graeme Aldridge, Brent Arnel, Daniel Flynn, Nick Horsley, James Marshall, Bruce Martin, Peter McGlashan, Mark Orchard, Tim Southee, BJ Watling, Brad Wilson, Joseph Yovich.Otago Craig Cumming, Derek de Boorder, Neil Broom, Shaun Haig, Mathew Harvie, Nathan McCullum, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott, Greg Todd, Nic Turner.Wellington Matthew Bell, Dewayne Bowden, Michael Burns, Jeremy Dean, Grant Elliott, Kevin Forde, Chris Nevin, Iain O’Brien, Michael Parlane, Neal Parlane, Jesse Ryder, Luke Woodcock.

ScorecardA match of fluctuating fortunes had a surprisingly tame finish, as Sussex moved to the top of the championship table with a 108-run victory at Liverpool. Lancashire, whose batting failed them dismally at the crunch, virtually surrendered their own championship hopes for another year.True to the pattern of this match, the balance during the morning session shifted from one side to the other. Sussex had finished the second day on 127 for 2, with Mike Yardy and Murray Goodwin firmly entrenched on 52 and 68 respectively. Both fell without adding to their overnight scores, Yardy caught down the leg side trying to glance a poor ball from Dominic Cork, and Goodwin caught in the slips off a fine delivery from Glen Chapple that moved away off the pitch.Their replacements, Chris Adams (42) and Carl Hopkinson (32), fought back well after a dogged start, taking their team through almost to lunch – before both fell in quick succession to Muttiah Muralitharan to bring Lancashire back to even terms again. Adams was caught on the midwicket boundary lofting a sweep, after being dropped off a similar stroke when 19. This proved to be a very significant miss. Who knows how the match might have gone had it been held?Andrew Flintoff did some more bowling during the morning session. He worked up an impressive pace, overdid the bouncers, and suffered several snicks to the boundary – which he took with wry good humour. He finished with the interesting figures of 8-5-26-0.Lancashire continued to fight back during the afternoon session, and the Sussexinnings steadily subsided for 268. With Lancashire requiring 242 to win, thematch was still finely balanced. Murali had the best bowling figures forLancashire, 3 for 120 off 31.2 overs, although he was less impressed himself as he inspected the scorebook. He bowled some of his usual magic balls, but was uncharacteristically inaccurate at times.A good finish looked assured as Mal Loye attacked the bowling confidently fromthe start of the Lancashire chase, and Adams, the Sussex captain, broughtMushtaq Ahmed on quickly, and kept him on. Both sides went at it hammer andtongs, but it was Lancashire who cracked. They reached 65 for 1 before the final twist of the match. It was supplied by the unsung Robin Martin-Jenkins, who had bowled erratically in the first innings: now, in quick succession, he had Brad Hodge caught at the wicket and produced a superb yorker to bowl Loye.Flintoff proved a big disappointment to his home crowd, as he failed to knuckledown and apply himself to the situation. Before tea he appeared to have acharmed life. His first scoring stroke would have been straight down thethroat of long-on had he been on the boundary instead of 20 yards inside, andthen a leading edge looped just clear of the off-side fielders. Immediatelyafter tea, he tried to pull Mushtaq and lobbed a simple catch off the top-edgeto backward point. He departed for 11, with some of the crowd making theirdisenchantment clear.As long as Stuart Law was there, Lancashire had hope. Unlike Flintoff,he tried to dig deep, but was caught at slip for 16 off the reliableNaved-ul-Hasan. Lancashire were now 97 for 5, and it was all downhillfrom here. The remaining batsmen showed little fight as the two Pakistani bowlers, in their different styles, worked their way down the list to bring their team an unexpectedlycomfortable victory. Mushtaq took four wickets and Naved three. Adams’sastute captaincy had much to do with it, but Lancashire had nobody toblame but themselves.

Less than 48 hours after Paul Collingwood lifted his first piece ofsilverware as England captain his mind was turning towards the nexttrophy up for grabs. The team arrived in Johannesburg on Mondaymorning, along with India, completing the line-up for the ICC WorldTwenty20.The celebrations after the victory at Lord’s will barely have calmeddown – and Collingwood said the team was still ‘buzzing’ – but in themodern international game there isn’t much time to reflect. However,although the seven-match ODI series has denied England any warm-upmatches for the tournament, Collingwood believes the tight schedulecan benefit them.”We played some fantastic cricket against them [India] and we comeinto the World Twenty20 with a lot of confidence. We have gotexperienced Twenty20 cricketers amongst our squad and hopefully theycan give us a little bit of an edge over the other teams. We are alllooking forward to it, we are buzzing, it has only been a couple ofdays since we won the game on Saturday and I think that quickturnaround could work in our favour.”I think the same kind of skills are used in both forms ofthe game, maybe it’s just a little bit quicker. Of course it wouldhave been great to get a couple of games in, but all the players arein good form and confident, and when you are confident you go out andplay your best cricket. I think that will be a massive advantage tous.”The English domestic game has been at the forefront of Twenty20cricket and that is reflected in the 15-man squad with Jeremy Snape,Darren Maddy, Chris Schofield, Luke Wright and James Kirtley beingnamed in various specialist roles. But despite a seemingly significantadvantage in Twenty20 – Maddy and Snape are both in the top 10 ofmatches played, while no one else featuring in South Africa is on thelist – Collingwood was reluctant to think of his team as likelywinners.

“I wouldn’t make us favourites, that’s the beauty about thiscompetition,” he said. “Every team is coming here and thinking theycould win it. Twenty20 cricket is like that; it only takes one inningsto turn the match around or one bowling spell. But I think it is anadvantage that we have been playing a lot recently. Our skills shouldbe up to scratch, obviously we are match-fit, and that’s the edge thatwe need to go all the way.”Although Collingwood said everyone was match fit, there are still hugequestion marks over Andrew Flintoff. He played through the pain atLord’s, after a steroid injection, and Collingwood didn’t commithimself to how much of a role he will play in the next two weeks.”We are just going to have to assess it as we go along. He’s desperateto play, obviously he has a little bit of soreness in the ankle sowe’ll have to be sensible. But so long as he is desperate to play andit’s the right decision for the day then Freddie will be playing.”And as Flintoff showed at Lord’s, when he claimed 3 for 45 includingthe scalps of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, he adds an aura tothe England team. “He is a massive player, I’ve always said he’s twoplayers in one,” added Collingwood. “Not just on the pitch, but hischaracter off it too. He’s vital to us in the dressing room and spurseveryone on. It’s great to have him here and hopefully he’ll play abig role.”With or without Flintoff, the team won’t be short on big-hitting poweras the lower order demonstrated against India. Dimitri Mascarenhasslammed five sixes in five balls at The Oval, but most of the talk hascentred around Sussex allrounder Luke Wright who made 50 off 38 ballson debut.He was promoted to open in the deciding match and although he fell fora second-ball duck, Collingwood said Wright’s place is likely to be atthe top where most of his success for Sussex stems from. “Maybe he’llbe in the top three, we’ve got to finalise our strategies but he’sobviously done very well up the top of the order and those six overs[with fielding restrictions] are going to be crucial.”There isn’t much time for Collingwood and Peter Moores, England’s coach, to put thefinishing touches to those plans and work out their best eleven.England’s opening match is against Zimbabwe, in Cape Town, on Thursday.

Pakistan 147 for 4 (Nazir 59) beat New Zealand 143 for 8 (Gul 4-15) by six wickets
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

New Zealand’s least-favourite claim to fame is their status as cricket’s most reliable semi-finalists. In five of the nine World Cups they have reached that stage of the tournament and gone no further, and that pattern was repeated in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20.Chasing 144 for a place in the final, a late wobble from Pakistan’s middle-order wasn’t enough to turn the match back in New Zealand’s favour. Imran Nazir led the assault with a 41-ball 59, adding 60 in seven overs with Mohammad Hafeez, before the captain, Shoaib Malik, sealed the match with a six with seven balls remaining.New Zealand’s participation in this match was unexpected to say the least – South Africa’s astonishing capitulation against India at Durban on Thursday gave them a lifeline, and for much of the match it looked like they were still clinging to it. Pakistan’s bowling was accurate and committed throughout, with Umar Gul outstanding with 3 for 15 in his four overs, and when their own turn came to bat, Nazir and Hafeez flogged the new ball with such gusto that Pakistan were always ahead of the rate.All the same, New Zealand contributed immensely to their own downfall. Ross Taylor enduring a particularly high-profile shocker – while batting he managed to run out both Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond with his non-existent calling, and later in the field he dropped Nazir on 44 at mid-off as Jacob Oram came into the attack.It proved to be a pivotal miss – Nazir smacked two sixes before the over was out to reduce the requirement to 49 from 48 balls with nine wickets in hand, and not even the loss of three wickets in 13 balls could derail their momentum. Nathan McCullum later missed Shoaib in the deep with five runs still to get, but New Zealand’s day in the field was summed up when Lou Vincent was cracked on the back of the head by a pinpoint shy from deep cover. It was an uncharacteristically ragged display all round.Take nothing away from Pakistan, however, whose cartwheeling celebrations at the moment of victory summed up the spirit that has carried them to the final. They dominated the match from the very first over, when Mohammad Asif once again set their agenda with his tight line, length and nip off the seam. Though New Zealand’s openers, Vincent and Brendon McCullum, survived the test to add 50 for the first wicket, they were never able to break the shackles.An untimely rain-break sealed New Zealand’s fate. Vincent fell just nine balls after the resumption, superbly caught by the bowler, Fawad Alam, as he drilled the ball back down the pitch, and McCullum followed soon afterwards for 26, as he swung lustily at a low long-hop from Afridi, and was pinned lbw dead in front of middle stump.Scott Styris thumped a four and a six in his first seven balls before picking out Tanvir with a lofted drive to deep point, and two balls later, Peter Fulton slapped a length delivery to cover. Craig McMillan went for broke and holed out to long-off for 12, as did Oram, who swished across the line and was caught behind off Gul. Taylor’s running then did for the next two batsman, and though he made some amends by taking 17 off Asif’s final over, New Zealand’s total of 143 for 8 never looked like being enough.In response, New Zealand’s bowlers were off the pace – most notably Shane Bond, who was flogged for a first-ball four by Hafeez and was later picked up off a good length over midwicket. Mark Gillespie leaked three boundaries in his first over as well, and at 54 for 0 after six overs, Vettori had no option but to bring himself into the attack at the earliest opportunity. He was as tight and probing as ever with his subtle variations, but Nazir picked the right balls to take on, and both Vettori and Scott Styris were lofted into the stands.Styris made a timely breakthrough when Hafeez went down to sweep his first delivery and was adjudged lbw, but Pakistan were unruffled. They had progressed to 96 for 1 by the time Nazir fell to Jeetan Patel – also lbw – and not even the loss of Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi in quick succession could stop them. Shoaib and Misbah-ul-Haq combined to pick off the remaining 37 runs, and Pakistan’s joy at the finish was unfettered.

Group A

Habib Bank needed only 18.3 overs on the final day to defeat Pakistan Customs by 262 runs in their first-round Group A Quaid-e-Azam Championship match at the National Bank of Pakistan Stadium.Having reduced Pakistan Customs to 77 for 5 on the third day, Habib Bank began the final day with 308 runs to defend. By the end, Pakistan Customs captain Rehan Rafiq was left holding fort. He batted for over three hours and faced 112 deliveries for his unbeaten 43 as Pakistan Customs were bowled out for 122.The wickets were evenly spread among Habib Bank’s bowlers. Danish Kaneria stood out with figures of 3 for 21 from 11 overs. Fast bowler Fahad Masood took 3 for 30 in 12 overs while Kamran Hussain followed his 5 for 30 in the first innings with 2 for 38. Former Test fast bowler Irfan Fazil got 2 for 28.Habib Bank will now travel to Hyderabad to play their second-round match against the home side at the Niaz Stadium from Friday. Pakistan Customs will play against first-class debutants Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), in their next four-day match at the NBP Sports Complex Stadium.Afsar Nawaz scored a splendid hundred to take Karachi Whites to a 50-run lead in the first innings against Hyderabad, on the final day at the Niaz Stadium. The match, however, ended in a dull draw.Resuming on 386 for 7, Karachi Whites went past Hyderabad’s 409 and finished on 459. This gave them three points from the match. In their second innings, Hyderabad batted out time and scored 229 for 6.Nawaz, who has been playing first-class cricket for a decade now, scored his seventh century. His 108 runs came off 211 balls in just under five hours. Fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed, who scored 50 off 48 balls with nine fours, added 93 runs for the eighth wicket with Nawaz and took Karachi Whites closer to Hyderabad’s total. A partnership of 51 between Nawaz and Tabish Nawab (10) for the ninth wicket secured the first-innings lead.Hyderabad’s centurion Rizwan Ahmed also got among the wickets. He picked up 4 for 147 in 42 overs with his legbreaks. In Hyderabad’s second innings, Zahid Khan and captain Hanif Malik added 122 for the third wicket. Zahid scored 80 off only 95 balls while Malik contributed 64.After making a century for Karachi Whites, Nawaz went on to take a career-best of 3 for 19 runs off 10 overs.

Group B

Rawalpindi beat Karachi Blues by a convincing margin of 152 runs on the final day of their Group B Quaid-e-Azam Championship match at the United Bank Limited ground.Needing 230 to win, Karachi Blues were bowled out for 77 inside 39 overs after a sub-standard batting display. Only three batsmen reached double-figures and the wrecker-in-chief was fast bowler Rizwan Akbar, who took 4 for 37, and finished the match with figures of 9 for 84. Mohammad Ayaz, another fast bowler, showed promise on his first-class debut, taking 2 for 38 and 2 for 10.