Michael Holding has said that the World Cup will be devalued by the number of non-Test playing nations taking part.Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler turned TV commentator, explained that only the top-ranked Associate country in the world should be allowed to take part as opposed to the top six as is the case now.”I don’t believe the World Cup should go on for as long as it does (almost two months) and that is partly because there are far too many teams in the competition who are not good enough to be there,” he told Bermuda’s Royal Gazette. “I’ve argued about this with the ICC for some time. I simply do not believe that if you come fourth in the ICC Trophy that you should be entitled to play in the World Cup.”It doesn’t make sense to me. What is gained by a team playing in the World Cup and getting absolutely hammered? In my opinion it is counter-productive. What I believe should happen is that all the non-Test playing nations should continue to play amongst themselves, to have their own competition where only the top-ranked country goes through to the World Cup.”I see nothing wrong with giving the smaller teams the odd tour and a few games against the bigger teams from time to time. And I think the ICC should continue to invest in non-Test playing nations to improve their cricket and their infrastructure and things like that. But it’s a big jump from that to having six non-Test nations all playing against the cream of the crop. It’s not good for cricket.”Holding went on to say that he believed the tournament will be a success despite ongoing problems with stadium construction, soaring hotel prices, visa problems and reports of sluggish ticket sales. “There have been some problems in some aspects of the preparation, but the logistics of organising a World Cup which is spread out over a region made up of many sovereign nations, with different laws, governments and currencies, was always going to be hard.”We tend to do things at the last minute in the Caribbean – it’s part of our culture. Even on the morning of a Test match there’s always people hammering in nails somewhere or somebody painting something. It’s the same with tickets as well. People in the Caribbean don’t buy tickets months in advance, they tend to do it on the day of the game or a couple of days before.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Australia batted and bowled a below-par New Zealand side out of the Quadrangular final to wrap up a comprehensive six-wicket win. Incisive bowling by Kirsten Pike and Cathryn Fitzpatrick restricted New Zealand to 177 before Melissa Bulow and Shelley Nitschke, the Australian openers, took the game away with a 120-run partnership.New Zealand hardly looked like the side that had won five out of their six games and set the highest totals for each ground in the tournament – 291 at IIT Chemplast Ground and 272 at Chepauk. Today’s total was their lowest of the series and despite two fifty-run partnerships – one between Suzie Bates and Haidee Tiffen, the other between Sarah Tsukigawa and Nicola Browne – New Zealand never had much of a chance.Australia struck in the very first over when Fitzpatrick dismissed opener Maria Fahey for a duck. Haidee Tiffen, the New Zealand captain, walked in next and calmed the nerves. She struck the first boundary of the match in the eighth over, upper-cutting Clea Smith’s medium-pace to the third-man boundary. In the same over she flicked another boundary behind square and later cover-drove Sampson in the 13th over to bring up New Zealand’s 50. Suzie Bates, her partner, was living dangerously – she’d been dropped three times – but New Zealand were comfortably perched at 54 for 1.That was when the Australian fielders made up for their earlier lapses, running Tiffen out for 32. The fielding continued to improve and Lisa Sthalekar’s catch at short midwicket to dismiss Rebecca Rolls seemed to have inspired the rest. Rolls could not keep the ball on the ground attempting a flick off Pike and Sthalekar, stretching to her right, latched on with her fingertips. At 60 for 3 New Zealand were wobbling but Bates’ dismissal, after just four more runs added, had them in further trouble. Bates finally ran out of luck, mis-timing a pull straight to Fitzpatrick off Sampson.

Pike’s seventh over, the 24th of the innings, proved fatal for New Zealand. Sarah McGlashan lofted the first ball over long-on for a one-bounce four but edged the third to gully, while trying to cut. Pike maintained a straight line and Aimee Mason, the next batsman in, edged to the keeper for a first-ball duck. By the end of her 10-over spell, Pike had reduced New Zealand to a miserable 99 for 6.Sarah Tsukigawa and Nicola Browne staged some sort of revival, adding 58 off 98 balls with seven fours and a six. They attacked the spinners, Sthalekar and Shelley Nitschke, while playing cautiously against Fitzpatrick and Sampson, the two most dangerous bowlers on the day. Sthalekar eventually broke the partnership when she trapped Tsukigawa leg before for 39. Browne added 31 more with Helen Watson before she was caught behind off Fitzpatrick for 41. Pushed against the wall, the New Zealand lower order did well to add 95 runs between them but even then they were way short of a matchwinning total.Australia’s openers came out guns blazing against the insipid New Zealand bowling, Bulow and Nitschke stealing six off the first over. They kept the run-rate at over five-an-over till Bulow was dismissed for a well-paced 50. The New Zealand bowlers didn’t have much of an answer as Nitschke found gaps all over the field – cutting to point, driving in front of the wicket and pulling ferociously behind square leg.Browne’s first over, the ninth of the innings, was particularly devastating for New Zealand as Nitschke cracked three consecutive fours off the last three balls to bring up the side’s 50. She fell for a run-a-ball 81, with just 35 needed for victory, but Sthalekar, finished off the job with a breezy 32, triggering off the celebrations with a four to third man. Justifiably, after racking up the highest runs in the tournament, she was awarded the Player of the Tournament.Australia are now world champions as well as Quadrangular champions and New Zealand will have to raise their game considerably to avenge this defeat when they travel to Australia for a five-match Rose Bowl series in July.

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

Led by the allround efforts of their captain, Steve Tikolo, Kenya produced a display of controlled efficiency to dispatch Canada by seven wickets at St Lucia and in the process sent out warning signs to England and New Zealand that they shouldn’t expect things all their own way in Group C. Tikolo and Maurice Ouma produced the match-winning batting performances, but the result had been set up by an impressive showing from Kenya’s spinners.The manner of the victory – intelligent bowling, sharp fielding and calm batting – would have pleased most sides in the tournament. Tikolo, the captain with four World Cups of experience, enjoyed a fine day as his clean strokeplay closed down the run chase, but it had been early in the match that he’d really earned his crust. He quickly reassessed the pitch, introducing his spinners inside the second Powerplay, and they chocked the Canada innings. The 29 overs from Jimmy Kamande, Hiren Varaiya and Tikolo cost just 78 runs and brought five wickets.It left a target of 200 and Kenya were aware that they just needed to bat sensibly. Anderson Cummins found some bounce with the new ball but when Canada needed their bowlers to be right on the mark they sprayed the ball down both sides of the pitch. Cummins managed to remove David Obuya with one that moved away although Ouma was quickly into his stride.Umar Bhatti, whose first three overs cost 21, returned with success when he trapped Ravi Shah leg-before with a delivery that shaped back into the right hander. But the required rate never spiralled too high. With the success of Kenya’s spinners fresh in his mind John Davison, Canada’s captain, brought his slow men into the action. The difference this time was that Kenya knew what they needed and didn’t have to chase the game. Ouma worked the ball around with nimble footwork – reaching his second ODI fifty – while Tikolo used all his experience.Ouma lost his focus after completing the half-century and located mid-off with an ugly heave, but Canada didn’t have the firepower to claim further breakthroughs. Tanmay Mishra started skittishly, but a few quiet words from Tikolo calmed him down and the target came into view as Tikolo eased to his 19th ODI half-century off 56 balls. He is widely regarded as the best batsman not playing Test cricket and this was further proof.

Tikolo doesn’t show too much outward emotion, even in victory, but earlier they’d been the distinct appearance of a frown as Canada – through Geoff Barnett’s crisp 41 – moved to a comfortable 76 for 2 after 15 overs. The new-ball attack had been a mixed bag and Tikolo was quick to switch to plan B. Much of the pre-tournament talk had been about the role of spinners and the success of Kenya’s trio – albeit against the less-than-dynamic Canadians – suggests they will play a key role.Varaiya began the strangle with two maidens in his first five overs – then overs 20 to 25 brought just 11 runs – and shortly after the half-way mark removed the talented Ashish Bagai although Ouma needed to chances to complete the stumping.Batting Davison in the middle order may require a re-think from the Canadians if they want to make the most of his hitting power. Here, he was far cry from the player who lit up the 2003 tournament with his record century against West Indies, struggling without pace on the ball. The innings really came off the rails when he and Ali fell in almost identical fashion to Kamande, playing round slow straight deliveries which clattered into the stumps.Canada’s last main hope for a total over 200 lay with their second Kiwi, captain Ian Billcliff, but he struggled to find momentum during his 63-ball innings. The end was rather limp as he tried to work Tikolo through the on side, but only sent a leading edge back to the bowler. Sunil Dhaniram did his best to marshal the tail, but three run-outs of varying suicidalness ended the innings at least 40 short of par.Kenya have a taste for progressing at World Cups after their semi-final appearance four years ago, but that was given a helping hand by New Zealand’s forfeiture. This time they’ll have to do it for themselves and on this showing they won’t go down without a fight.

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

A sizzling 71-run eighth-wicket partnership helped New Zealand shrug off a start-stop batting effort, enabling them to seal a comprehensive 129-run win against Ireland at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. With this victory, New Zealand were all but assured of a place in the semi-finals and just one win in the next three games – against South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka – would gain their last-four spot.Ireland turned in a sterling bowling performance on a pitch which was a good one for batting. Their medium-pacers nagged away before the offspinners continued the good work in the middle stages. It was only in the last three overs when the wheels came off, as Brendon McCullum and James Franklin clattered 45. Chasing 264, Ireland’s batsmen began sluggishly and, barring a 75-run stand between the O’Brien brothers, couldn’t put up much of a fight.McCullum’s 37-ball 47 was the knock that changed the complexion of the game. Entering at 172 for 5, after New Zealand lost Peter Fulton, he pinched singles and twos before launching into the boundaries. Franklin provided him good company, striking three fours and a six and Ireland’s disciplined work for most of the innings went to pieces.Fulton’s was a cautious knock, and an essential one with the rest of the top order falling to poor shot selection. Standing upright and using his reach to full effect, he was decisive with his footwork: getting fully forward or fully back and effecting some meaty drives and pulls. He found the gaps easily and picked off singles between the boundaries. He wasn’t frustrated into any errors, despite the bowlers maintaining a tight line.Ireland indeed produced a superb bowling effort. Opening bowler Dave Langford-Smith bowled a fine spell of military medium, on a pitch tailor-made for attacking batting, while Kyle McCallan and Andrew White, the two offspinners, snared two wickets each. All of them were supported by athletic fielding, Eoin Morgan and wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien picking off sharp catches. Hamish Marshall and Scott Styris chased wide deliveries that were moving away. Stephen Fleming committed a similar error against Boyd Rankin while Craig McMillan, who entered in an aggressive frame of mind, paid for a loose slash against McCallan.

Even an aggressive batsman like Jacob Oram couldn’t break away, nudging his way to 20 off 48 deliveries. He tried to be innovative, with reverse-paddles and cheeky deflections, but holed out trying to loft over long-on. Fulton fell a little earlier, trying to sweep one that was too full, but New Zealand showed their lower-order muscle with McCullum and Franklin making amends for the top-order showing.Shane Bond’s early double-strike set the tone for New Zealand’s dominance with the ball. Ireland needed a rapid start if they harboured hopes of overhauling the target but Bond’s incisive spell thwarted them early. Bond struck in his first over, striking the splice of Jeremy Bray’s bat going for a drive. It was a lethal delivery, pitched on middle and shaping away and kissed the edge en route to the wicketkeeper. William Porterfield was rattled by a short one and his attempted pull was well collected by Styris, running back from the slip cordon.The O’Brien brothers settled the nerves a bit. There were just three fours in the first 15 overs, with the batsmen trying to play out Bond, but Kevin O’Brien batted confidently as his innings progressed. He cracked three towering sixes in his 49 and appeared to be set to launch a determined counterattack. That’s when a messy run-out undid Ireland. Niall, his brother, who has been in fine form throughout this tournament, pottered around for 75 deliveries for 30 but a crucial error of judgment ended Kevin’s fine knock. Patting one to the off side in the 29th over, Niall took off for a single but stopped after taking a few strides. Kevin was too far down the track by then and an accurate throw from Marshall ended the steadying partnership.None of the others crossed 20 and Daniel Vettori mopped up the tail in truly efficient fashion. He varied his speed delightfully and none of the tailenders had much of a clue against his speedy darts from around the wicket. He accounted for four of the last six wickets – his offspinning partner Jeetan Patel snared the other two – as Ireland collapsed from 110 for 3 to 134 all out. They will now prepare for the clash against Australia on Friday the 13th, which promises to be a stiffer challenge than this one.

It’s been a while since Andrew Flintoff has appeared to enjoy cricket, but a smile was back as he struck 66 on his return to Lancashire colours. The innings in the Friends Provident Trophy, against Northamptonshire, was his first half-century since the unbeaten 72 at Hobart against New Zealand in January.Following a week’s holiday after England’s exit from the World Cup, Flintoff was back in the Old Trafford nets trying to recover the batting form which had proved illusive for the past year. “I’m really pleased with the way the week has gone,” he said after his innings and a four-over spell which went for just nine runs. “I’ve been able to just get my head down and get back to working hard at my game and get back to where I want to be as a cricketer.”I’ve been working in the nets all week and getting better. I’ve spent a lot of time on the bowling machine with Neil Fairbrother [his manager] and a lot of time in the nets with Mike Watkinson [Lancashire coach] as well. Progressively through the week I’ve felt a lot better and going out to the middle was just an extension of that.”It was by no means the toughest examination Flintoff will have but after a steady start where he was content to work the gaps there were glimpses of confidence returning during the 84-ball innings. And although a packed international season starts soon he felt a return to county action could only help.”You can have a rest but I want to bat well and I thought the best way to do that was to get in the nets then get out and play. I’m pleased with the way it’s gone but now I’ve got to build on that going into the first Test at Lord’s.”He added that he always continued to back his ability. “I’ve got a good technique, I’ve just been going back to basics. The one thing I wanted to do was spend some time in the middle and have a knock.” Flintoff’s run-in towards the first Test gets tougher now, with a Friends Provident encounter against Durham and England team-mates Steve Harmison (“Harmy’s been telling me what he’s going to do to me,” said Flintoff), Liam Plunkett and Paul Collingwood on Monday, before the Championship clash against a Hampshire side that includes Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne.

For a team that sustained the heaviest defeat in its long history to the same opposition only 10 days back – conceding over 500 runs in both Tests – West Indies will snatch at any available straw. Tenuous as they are, a few have presented themselves in advance of the third Test starting at Old Trafford tomorrow.The weather has changed from polar to tropical and runs have been made, wickets taken and long spells enjoyed in warm sunshine, albeit in a leisurely three-day match inbetween Tests.Even though Ramnaresh Sarwan is back home attending to the injured shoulder that forced him out of the entire series, the experienced and reliable Shivnarine Chanderpaul has recovered from his knee injury and can resume his essential place in the middle order, so badly missed at Leeds. Chris Gayle, who damaged a rib muscle in the intervening match, too has recovered.There has even been a little help from the other side. Michael Vaughan, the England captain, has created a distraction for England with some ill-timed, and widely condemned comments on the effect of Andrew Flintoff’s high jinks during the World Cup on team morale. It will take more than a little straw to suddenly make West Indies strong again but these few might render them less compliant than they were.An MCC XI, made up almost exclusively of eager but anonymous university students, bore no resemblance to the intimidating task expected over the coming days. All the same, most West Indies players used the chance for match practice with both bat and ball.Runako Morton’s double hundred and Denesh Ramdin’s ton surely raised the confidence of two players for whom it is more essential than most. And Fidel Edwards and Darren Sammy appreciated lengthy spells in their first chance in the middle since arriving in England over a month ago. To the English media and perhaps even to the England dressing room, such developments are irrelevant. Both appear certain of a repetition of the ruthlessness of Leeds and another thumping victory.It is Vaughan’s assertion that Flintoff’s much publicised, inebriated escapade on a paddle boat in St Lucia in the early hours of the morning after the first round loss to New Zealand in the World Cup that has attracted most attention. Flintoff’s weak ankle that required a second operation this week has put him out of the series but he remains an immensely popular cricketer in England, especially in Manchester where he plays his county cricket for Lancashire.Vaughan’s quote in a newspaper interview on Monday that the St Lucia incident “did affect morale” and “changed the whole atmosphere in the camp” has drawn widespread censure, especially from Jim Cumbes, Lancashire’s chief executive.Vaughan was yesterday engaged in the kind of damage control at which shrewd politicians are so adept, claiming he had been misquoted and misrepresented. But he is unlikely to be welcomed by the Lancastrian crowd today as he was in the previous Test at his home ground at Headingley. Even if they kidnap Vaughan and hold him hostage, however, it would make little impression on the gap, in every area, that has emerged in the first two Tests.Six England batsmen have helped themselves to hundreds already, the devastating Kevin Pietersen a double. The only West Indian hundreds have been to bowlers, four in the first Test, three in the second.For all the West Indies collapses at Leeds for 146 and 141, there were extenuating circumstances – the absence of Chanderpaul and Sarwan, the bowler-friendly conditions, the weather. It was their bowling and fielding that were more shocking in both instances. Lord’s, where they totaled 437 and 89 without loss, was a more accurate guide to their capacity on a true pitch. Old Trafford’s is dry and rock hard but if its character resembles last year’s Test against Pakistan, pace and bounce, rather than swing and seam, will be the problem. Steve Harmison took 11 for 77 in the match as Pakistan – Inzamam, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and all – were toppled for 119 and 222, losing by an innings and 120 runs.The present West Indies fast bowlers struggle to take 11 wickets in a series, far less a match, and a change in the trio so far used – Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell and Corey Collymore – is necessary. Edwards, who reportedly generated genuine pace on a benign pitch against the MCC, would add bite, but control is also required to prevent England’s batting romping along at five runs an over.Ravi Rampaul might have provided it but he broke down after 21 balls in his only bowl last Saturday. A case might be made for Sammy but where would be fit in?The straws are welcome but the problems won’t go away.

Shahid Afridi will organise a summer coaching camp in Karachi for Under-19 and Under-14 players later this month.Afridi is famously the product of very little formal coaching himself, having honed his unique style on the streets of Karachi before he gained acclaim as an international. But he is keen to unearth talent from the city that he has lived most of his life in.”Sadly, nowadays we are not producing such cricketers from our city,” Afridi told , a Karachi-based daily. “I think, as national heroes, it is our foremost duty to make some sort of contribution to ensure we don’t lag behind.”Karachi’s presence in the national team has dwindled in recent years, as more cricketers emerge from smaller towns, particularly in Punjab. Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, apart from Afridi, are among the more successful Karachi talents in recent years.”There was a time in the past when there was stiff competition for places at the Karachi level and a number of those players went on to represent Pakistan. But now there are hardly a couple of players representing Karachi in our national teams,” Afridi explained.Dates for the camp have not yet been decided though trials for it will be held at the National Stadium on June 9-10. Afridi also said that other national team members will come to the camp. “I intend to invite a good number of former and current Pakistan players during the camp for giving tips as well as do some coaching.”

Chris Dehring, the managing director of Cricket World Cup 2007, has suggested a professional league in the Caribbean, working outside the authority of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), to revitalise the game. The privately owned league, Dehring said, would serve the purpose of providing the WICB with young cricketers to pick for international series.The amateurish cricket setup in the region, Dehring said, meant that young West Indian cricketers were losing out on opportunities that were being enjoyed by their counterparts in other countries.Dehring, who was speaking at a ceremony to mark the end of the schoolboys’ season, compared Xavier Marshall, a Jamaican batsman with two Tests under his belt, who played in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004 along with Alastair Cook, England’s Test opener with 18 Tests and six centuries to his credit. “Xavier comes back to a non-professional structure while Alastair goes back to his club where he was signed up from maybe 14, 15 years old – a professional structure – and he is trained and he is developed physically, mentally. A few years later, where is Xavier? Where is Alastair Cook?””We need to have it [cricket league] professionally owned, separate from the West Indies Cricket Board, who can then focus purely on the international sport and the West Indies team,” Dehring was quoted as saying by the . The league should be placed in the hands of a private board of owners who will invest money for professional gain.”They [professional franchises] would make sure [the players] are developed physically, mentally and professionally,” Dehring said. “That is what we [West Indies cricket] need.” He said England’s Football Association had a system that West Indies cricket could emulate. “The English FA doesn’t have to spend a cent developing players. They simply pick who they want from the clubs.”Dehring also pointed out that in terms of televised cricket West Indies was next door to the huge US market – “the largest pay-per-view market in the world”. After India, Dehring said, the USA was the biggest source of television revenue from the World Cup. He also criticised the WICB and the regional media for not exploring the option of getting revenue from sale of domestic rights.

Scotland will be missing three key players for their Intercontinental Cup match against Netherlands next month. Gavin Hamilton, Dewald Nel and Glenn Rogers are ruled out due to other commitments but are set to return against Ireland in Belfast.Scotland’s first match, against UAE, suffered from the weather at Ayr with play limited to 48 overs on the first day”Obviously, bearing recent weather in mind, our preparations have been limited and we have been somewhat handicapped of late,” said Scotland captain Ryan Watson. “But the Dutch have also fallen foul of the weather and are in similar circumstances, while they also play a lot on matting, so their familiarity with natural turf conditions will be limited.”We have a high regard for the Dutch who defeated us in our last full encounter, and they had us in trouble during the quadrangular series in Ireland. We are a fair match, so we will need to be on top of our game to beat them.”Squad for Netherlands match Ryan Watson (capt), Richie Berrington, Fraser Watts, Craig Wright, John Blain, Gordon Drummond, Majid Haq, Omer Hussain, Paul Hoffmann, Ross Lyons, Qasim Sheikh, Neil McCallum, Simon Smith

Netherlands 152 for 0 (de Grooth 70*, Kervezee 69* ) trail Bermuda 183 (Romaine 103*, Panchal 5-34) by 31 runs
ScorecardBermuda’s nightmare European tour continued with an abject performance on the first day of their Intercontinental Cup match against Netherlands at Amstelveen. Only a battling hundred from their captain, Irving Romaine, spared them from complete ignominy, but it was still a fairly one-sided affair as Netherlands closed on 152 for 0 in reply to Bermuda’s 183.Bermuda, already seriously weakened by retirements and other absences, came to the Netherlands on the back of two one-day defeats by Denmark, and there was nothing to today to suggest that they have turned the corner.Invited to bat in bowler-friendly conditions, they struggled from the off, and when Romaine walked out to the middle they were 32 for 3. With the exception of a brief attacking cameo from Lionel Cann, thereafter he was left to battle on his own. Roderick Master kept his end up but took 62 balls to make 2, but aside from him, there was precious little resistance.When Bermuda’s eighth and ninth wickets fell within three balls, Romaine abandoned caution and cut loose. In the next over he hammered Adeel Raja for two sixes and a four, and then cracked three successive fours off Mark Jonkman. But no sooner had he brought up a gusty hundred than Mangesh Panchal wrapped up the innings and secured his first five-for. The last-wicket stand was worth 49, the highest of the innings.As the World Cup showed, Bermuda’s bowling lacks penetration. George O’Brien was fast but failed to make the breakthrough, while the usually reliable Dwayne Leverock, brought on as early as the fifth over, came in for some punishment and was quickly withdrawn.Alexei Kervezee, at 17 a really bright prospect, and Tom de Grooth gave little succour to the bowlers and punished the bad balls, of which there were plenty, efficiently. The hundred came up in the 23rd over, and either side of that the batsmen brought up their fifties with boundaries off O’Brien.Kervezee and de Grooth were still there at the close. Both have a highest first-class score of 98 and unless Bermuda offer much more tomorrow than they did today, both should go on to complete their maiden hundreds.