There have been many great days, many great Test matches for the Barmy Army,but none compared with the fifth Test in Sydney, where 8,000 proud Britscheered Nasser Hussains men on to a famous win.England played magnificently and deserved the victory, but there is no doubtthe team fed off the volume and unstilting support of the Barmy Army, justas we fed off them.And after the deafening final day in Melbourne, the Barmy Army had backedthe team into a position where, for the first time in the series, Englandhad all the momentum.Barmy Army chief Paul Leafy Burnham said after the Sydney win that he hadnever before seen or heard the England fans in such good voice.The crowd definitely riled them up in Melbourne and the momentum had pickedup. We played all the cricket in Sydney, he said.The whole Hill area was standing up. Watching from the back, it was as goodas Ive ever seen.Everyone had a smile on their face and even the police changed theirattitude.It just gets bigger and bigger and better and better. Melbourne was asunbelievable noise again.There were record crowds here and the number of Barmy Army is also gettingbigger and the noise we generate is the best Ive ever seen.Dean Headley, Allan Mullaly, Darren Gough, all heroes of Englands 1998victory at the MCG, praised the support of the Barmy Army for lifting theside just as Australia began to get on top.Deano ran in to claim six wickets, Gough finished it off and the both theteam and the fans celebrated wildly.After Sydney it was the same. Even Steve Waugh, who had just saved his Testcareer with an historic, and brilliant, century praised the Barmy Army forthe support.What he would give for a bit more than Aussie Aussie Aussie.!I think its important to compare the noise with the performance of theEngland team, said Leafy.The Australia tour was marred occasionally by the dispersment of the Englandfans, which made it difficult to make an impact from day one of the Test,and importantly, day one of the series.But it just added further weight to Leafys calls that the Barmy Amry need areserved area.It always seems to be the first day, said Leafy.The first day of the series was so important. Look at the first day of theseries when Nasser decided to bowl. Its a shame that there was no realnoise in Brisbane that day.We are probably the only group of supporters in the world who would stillcheer on the team despite everybody thinking that it was the wrong decision.Even the players looked as if they thought it was the wrong decision. Butit still wasnt fair to him because he didnt have the crowd behind him.It just didnt seem he was getting backed. Youve got to give someone everychance if they come up with a decision like that and I dont think it was.Its very difficult to get everyone together on the first day.But Leafy and his trusted sidekick Katy worked tirelessly through the tourto bring everyone together as the Barmy Army grew and grew.The New Years Day party brought 2000 revellers to Coogee, a chance to bringeveryone together, to sing the songs and to raise over Aus $20,000 forcharity.Thats why we had the party in Sydney with Dermot Reeve. It was a crazy dayto have a party but we thought everyone could get together and sing thesongs which happened.But it wasnt really until day four here that it all got together in theground.we had a problem with the rent-a-crowd who came along.We need our own area where we can get everyone together. In Sydney Theydidnt help. They pinched the songs, printed some questionable literatureand invaded our little area again.They were definitely put there to compete with the Barmy Army.The experience in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney just reinforced what Ivealways believed we do need our own area. The whole idea is to get everyonetogether, make as much noise as you can so the players hear it.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, India

“I know that there are a few people who will not agree with me on India’s chances in the coming World Cup. After losing so badly in New Zealand, most people have begun to say that there is every possibility that India will not even progress to the second stage. My opinion on this matter is one of optimism. I am confident that India will go through to the Super Six stage, and then most probably to the semi-finals as well.”Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka

“Sri Lanka are down but not out. Despite their confidence being at a low ebb after disappointing tours to South Africa and Australia, I believe that they have a very good chance of qualifying for the Super Six in the World Cup. After that, anything is possible.”

Javed Miandad, Pakistan

“Pakistan can switch from being the best team in the world to the worst in the blink of an eye. [But] the World Cup, in my view, is a high-prestige arena that could potentially show off the tournament’s best – if Shoaib Akhtar plays and remains fit – bowling attack. Pakistan may be seen to be a foundering team, but one just cannot write them off. The 1992 World Cup is just one example of the team, dubbed no-hopers, clicking in one game and sweeping through to take the Cup.”
Colin Croft, West Indies

“The West Indies will be a good unit in the not-too-distant future, but the World Cup has come just too early in the development of many of these [young] players. Consequently, they will have to work exceptionally hard if they are to progress from the pools to the Super Six. But miracles do still happen, even in these days of high technology and clones.”Ken Rutherford, New Zealand

“The Kiwis have always prided themselves on a thorough team ethic and an ability to pull together when times are tough. Fleming has great belief in his side, and with his own captaincy almost faultless, New Zealand will be exceptionally well-prepared. [But they] will need to turn to their star talent if they are to reach the latter stages of the 2003 edition.”Alistair Campbell, Zimbabwe

“As has come to be almost World Cup tradition, Zimbabwe will enter the tournament in 2003 as one of the least fancied contenders. The prognosis, then, makes for only the slimmest of chances for progress into the Super Six. But as in the past, there will be at least a couple of matches in which the big guns will be obliged to sweat profusely for a win – and perhaps a nasty shock or two awaits them as well.”
Ian Botham, England

“The temptation to write off an England side that has been outplayed by an Australian team is often irresistible. But to say that England is nowhere near the top of the cricket heap would be a tad unfair. They will really have to play well against India and Pakistan if they want to make it to the next stage.”

Bobby Simpson, Australia

“On paper, I expect Australia to at least reach the final, but the white ball and probable seaming wickets may pose a problem and expose some batting frailty, particularly with Mr Reliable Steve Waugh missing. An all-fit Australian team has the most potent bowling attack in the world, and that is why they hold the World Cup and are the best Test team. Undoubtedly they will seek to bowl the opposition out rather than just try to contain them.”Fanie de Villiers, South Africa

“I feel that as South Africa have, at home, a far better record than the other sides, there is no reason to not go all the way. To my mind, they are better than sides in the league phases, and looking beyond the first round, I can only see Australia as the one side who can measure up.”

Tributes have been coming in, following the shock news of the death of Charles Knott, the former Hampshire cricketer and chairman, aged 88.Former Hampshire captain Robin Smith was shocked to hear of the death of Charlie Knott when I spoke to him at his Cape Town hotel this evening.Robin, who is hosting a touring party at the Cricket World Cup, was saddened by the passing of the man who invited him to join Hampshire way back in 1981.”I remember feeling very nervous when my brother Chris and I went to his home in Highfield,” said Robin. “He made us feel very much at home however, and put us both at ease.”Charlie was a legend at Hampshire, and although very tough with us if we made mistakes, he was also a good friend to all the players.”Robin continued, “One of the sad tasks that he had to perform was telling a player, sometimes just a youngster, that the club were not offering a new contract. He did that with feeling, something he did not enjoy, but was necessary.”I offer Iris, and his two daughters Gaye and Dawn my deepest sympathies.”County Director of Cricket Tim Tremlett remembers seeing the name of Charles Knott on the honours board at Taunton’s College, marking the occasion when he took a hat-trick in the Gentlemen v Players fixture in 1950.”Mr Knott was the cricket chairman when I joined the staff in the summer of 1975, and he offered a lot of advise to me, which I listened to as he was a tremendous bowler in his own right for Hampshire.”And it was that record for the county that gained him a lot of respect, so much so that he was Cricket Chairman for 21 years and was influential in bringing Barry Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall, Andy Roberts and the Smith brothers to Hampshire.”He reminises also about a game of snooker he played against Charles and professional standard partner Jim Bailey with Kevan James at the Old Yacht Club across the road from the Northlands Road ground.”They took us to the cleaners. We got absolutely hammered!”He has nearly 50 years of friendship and association with another legendary Hampshire spin bowler as well. Peter Sainsbury looks back with great happiness at the time he spent with him.”We go back to when I started on the ground – that is how long ago it was,” he said. “He was still playing when I joined the staff, although I never actually played with him.”But he was chairman of cricket when I played and when I coached and he was a very fair man. In fact, we were good pals – you cannot say that too often about Chairmans of Cricket and coaches these days!”It is terribly sad to lose Mr Knott, who was a fine amateur bowler in his day and a lovely man. He will be greatly missed.”He had a smile on his face though when going back to the early part of the 1952 season when the team and staff had their picture taken. “It was the first ever picture I had taken with the team, but I had to borrow his sweater as I did not have one.”We didn’t get sweaters until we were well established then.”

In the best match of the tournament so far, Zimbabwe won a battle of nerves to beat Sri Lanka by four wickets and claim a place in the final of the Sharjah Cup. It was Zimbabwe’s first win over Sri Lanka for three years.Grant Flower, with his 37th one-day half-century, calmly helped finish the good work that Zimbabwe accomplished in the field – after being asked to bowl first, they restricted Sri Lanka to 193. With Heath Streak for company, Flower nursed Zimbabwe to their target after Sri Lanka grabbed three wickets for nine runs to reduce them from a comfortable 158 for 3 to a shaky 167 for 6.Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers kept their team in the battle, grabbing important wickets as fortunes swung to and fro. Under pressure in only his second ODI, the 20-year-old legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi grabbed 3 for 37 and was easily Sri Lanka’s biggest gain in a match that will be Sanath Jayasuriya’s last as captain.Lokuarachchi has a quick run-up and arm action, and the ball that get rid of Sean Ervine for a duck was one of the highlights of the match. Well flighted, it slanted across the left-hander, drew him forward, landed in the bowlers’ footmarks, beat the batsman as he prodded tentatively, and turned late and sharply to hit the stumps.Zimbabwe had the edge at the halfway stage of their innings, despite playing around with their batting order. Tatenda Taibu joined Flower at the fall of the third wicket, after Gavin Rennie (26) nicked Lokuarachchi to Prasanna Jayawardene behind the stumps. But Taibu, showing no nervousness, struck a breezy 31 and helped put on a crucial 55 runs for the fourth wicket with Flower.Their partnership helped Zimbabwe consolidate after Craig Wishart and Doug Marillier’s early fireworks. They rattled up 26 runs in the first three overs, with ten coming in the first over from a wayward Charitha Buddhika. They put on 36 before Wishart (14) shouldered arms to an incutter from Prabath Nissanka and watched in dismay as it crashed into his stumps.Jayasuriya introduced Kumar Dharmasena before Muttiah Muralitharan, and he slowed the Zimbabwean charge, bowling faster and flatter through the air, and conceded just seven runs in his first five overs. When Muralitharan did come on, he struck in his first over to dispose of Marillier (32) with a bat-pad catch that Marillier suggested had only involved the pad. But that was Murali’s only wicket, and it made a telling difference in the final outcome.Earlier Streak and Andy Blignaut, with three wickets apiece, led a spirited Zimbabwean effort in the field. Sri Lanka were strangled by a steady medium-pace attack, good catching and attacking captaincy. Five Sri Lankan batsmen passed 20, but the top-score was Hashan Tillekeratne’s 31.Sri Lanka’s problems began with the second ball of the match. Streak angled one across Jayasuriya, induced an inside-edge and saw the bails fly. Jayasuriya walked off with a duck, a sad return for his 300th one-day international. He is the sixth person to play as many.Marvan Atapattu briefly counter-attacked, easing the pressure with six well-struck boundaries. Then Dion Ebrahim prompted a change of script, catching Avishka Gunawardene (24) off Blignaut with a full-length dive at cover, plucking the ball while still airborne.Kumar Sangakkara, with hundreds in his last two innings, marched in with the score at 51 for 2. He was promptly handed another rescue mission when Atapattu (29) chased Ervine’s first ball and nicked it to Taibu (58 for 3).But Sangakkara (25) flopped when it really mattered. Just when Sri Lanka looked set on the road to recovery, he pulled a short ball from Raymond Price to a running Grant Flower on the midwicket boundary (106 for 4).Streak returned and soon removed Dharmasena (19), who popped an easy catch to Rennie. Four quick wickets followed, for just ten runs. Nissanka helped add 25 for the last wicket, but it was all too little and too late. Zimbabwe would sweep past the modest target, into the final.

It was perhaps inevitable after the previous three days, that Somerset would win this Frizzell County Championship match at The Rose Bowl, however it was not before a Hampshire fight back and a scare for Somerset that the result was achieved well into the evening session.Derek Kenway’s previous days efforts lasted just one ball on the fourth day as he played a thin edge off Nixon McLean. He had battled for 6 hours, but sadly left without that elusive century. Chris Tremlett batting with a runner (Will Kendall) played some timely shots as he and Shaun Udal added some impetus to the mornings play. Udal however, drove at Simon Francis to Keith Dutch at mid-off, and then Alan Mullally lasted 5 balls before he was trapped by the big West Indian McLean.James Bruce held his end well as Tremlett continued to foil the Somerset bowlers, his grandfather Maurice would have been proud of some of his driving. All good things must come to an end, as McLean bowled the tall batsman for 43 five minutes before lunch, just after Hampshire had reached the 300 mark.Set 128 for victory, the visitors struggled against the pace of Mullally and Mascarenhas and it was the latter that dismissed the opening batsmen for just 20 runs. Jamie Cox the first innings hero then fell to the admirable James Bruce, trapping him well in front lbw, and then he enticed the Somerset skipper to edge to the wicket-keeper.At 59 for 4, Hampshire were perhaps sniffing at an unlikely victory, but a vital dropped catch, shortly after the fourth wicket fell was probably the defining moment. James Bryant and Ian Blackwell then gathered their thoughts, the sun came out making batting easier and the pair took their side to victory.After four drawn matches, this was Hampshire’s first Championship defeat of the season, and missing Wasim Akram (tonsillitis) and the injured Tremlett proved costly.Chris Tremlett had a scan on his right foot yesterday and as a result will miss at least the next three weeks.

India’s loss was South Africa’s gain when Adrian le Roux accepted thejob as fitness trainer for the South African squad last week – an irony not lost on the man himself who was surplus to national requirements just 16 months ago.Le Roux was snapped up by the touring Indian team when they played Free State two summers ago and enjoyed himself so much he says he agonised about leaving the team in the lurch.”It wasn’t an easy decision because of how well I had got on with the Indian team,” said Le Roux. “It was an amazing experience being part of the set up. I’m extremely grateful to the Indian team for allowing me to be a part of their squad because I learned so much in my time there – and also made a lot of friends.”In the end though, the lure of patriotic duty was just too strong. “This was an opportunity I could not refuse. The chance to serve your own country doesn’t come along for everyone so I had to say ‘yes’.”Le Roux’s time with the Indians was no holiday, however, and he became widely credited with becoming the first man ever to train an Indian team to full fitness – a notion the man himself is keen to dispel.”I believe my success with the Indian team has been greatly exaggerated. Obviously I’d like to think I made an impression and was able to help but they were in pretty good shape when I arrived. They are not amateurs!”But clearly he did make an impression and the likes of Rahul Dravid and Javagal Srinath were not shy to say so.”I basically tried to introduce a culture of fitness and training so that the players accepted it as a normal part of their day. I’m not sure the Indian team had a history of that before. I asked them to accept that being a professional sportsman, particularly a cricketer, meant daily training. There was some aerobic work but also a lot on flexibility and injury prevension. It’s hard work staying in good shape!”So if Sachin Tendulkar called for some advice now that Le Roux isemployed by the opposition, would there be a conflict of interests? The answer is given with a laugh but the content is completely committed: “If Sachin called me for some advice I wouldn’t hesitate for a second! I’m a professional and so is he and there’s no problem with two professionals exchanging advice. It would be an honour.”

BAT Sports remain top of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League after forcing a tame draw against arch championship rivals Havant.But their lead has been trimmed to a mere five points by South Wilts, who beat Liphook & Ripsley by four wickets at Bemerton to cement themselves firmly into contention after the seventh round of fixtures.BAT travel to Salisbury for a potentially crucial all-day game in the 18-match calendar on Saturday week, June 28.The eagerly awaited clash between the two Premier powermen of the past three seasons fizzled out into a damp squibb after the Havant, the defending champions, batted the visitors out of the game with a massive 288-7 in 66 overs.No team has ever scored that many batting second in the SPL and, with only 56 overs bowled back at them, BAT were in no mood to give their biggest rivals an inch.They were content to play out time at 179-5, with Damian Shirazi batting almost three hours for 82 not out.The stalemate was largely due to the excellence of the Havant Park strip, on which bowlers toiled in the sun to prise out just 12 wickets at a cost of 467 runs.Havant’s traditional pitches are notoriously slow and low, but this strip – one of four relaid two winters ago – was an absolute belter."Our players were a bit surprised to be playing on a much harder than normal strip, but it played superbly and the batsmen thrived on it," said Havant team manager Mark Readman."We didn’t get our runs as quick as we might have liked, simply because of a lull in the scoring caused by wickets falling at the wrong time late in the innings."That prevented us from declaring before our 66 over allocation was complete," he added.Adrift in the honours race after having lost to South Wilts a fortnight ago and been held to a draw at Liphook last week, Havant needed to apply the pressure from the start.They began on a positive note, with Damian Carson (22) and left-hander Simon Barnard seeing off the perils of the new ball during a 48-run opening stand.Carson fell to the first ball Mark Page bowled, but his departure opened the door for Richard Hindley to play arguably his best Premier League innings.Hindley, who spent the winter playing and coaching in New South Wales, looked in immaculate form, punching drives through the covers and playing sweetly off his legs.By lunch, he had almost caught up the equally impressive Barnard, who completed his second consecutive half-century just before the interval.The pair made hay immediately after the break, with Dan Goldstraw – BAT’s eight-wicket hero against Calmore Sports – being smacked for 22 runs off one remarkable over.Barnard struck the first ball for three and then Hindley thumped four boundaries in succession – his straight on-drive, which rocketed to the long-on rope, particularly eye-catching.The two left-handers added a quality 145 runs for the second wicket before Barnard (73) was trapped in front by Terry Rawlins at 193-2.Apart from a couple of blemishes, BAT kept their shape well in the field and when Hindley eventually fell for 93 – his innings included 12 fours (and an over-thrown six) – they sensed some bowling bonus points were on the table.An untimely stutter – four wickets fell for 28 runs – cost the champions the opportunity of a declaration.Paul Gover, in hindsight probably overcautious, chipped an unbeaten 32 and Graham Benton struck an aerial 18, as 30 runs came off the final two overs.It was certainly entertaining to watch, but Havant’s near four-hour sojourn of the crease ultimately gobbled up too much of the playing time for there to be a positive outcome.BAT, with an hour less batting time, needed to be 100 without loss if they were to offer a serious challenge.They weren’t – Australian Matt Cox, bowling a tight off-spin line, removing Neil Parlane and Richard Kenway to have BAT an uncertain 50-2.From that point on, it was simply a case of whether could prise MCC Young Cricketer Damian Shirazi from the crease.They seldom looked like achieving their aim and, with David Banks (50) playing a selection of good shots, BAT’s reply reached 125-3 before the wicketkeeper was neatly snapped up at short-leg.Shirazi’s main aim was to frustrate Havant and glean a second batting point for BAT at 175.He finished with a somewhat tedious 82 not out, but did the job BAT required of him as time was called with the visitors 179-5 in ten less overs than Havant bowled to them.

On the first day of this match, the wicket had a green look to it that suggested it might have offered something to the bowlers. On the third day, Somerset racked up the highest score against Hampshire in the County Championship since 1909!But, the Somerset supporters have endured as tough a season as their Hampshire counterparts and they were still unhappy despite watching Ian Blackwell smash a career best 189 (211 balls, 32 fours and two sixes) as their side declared on a mammoth 705-9.For, once again on the picturesque Taunton ground, the most likely result tomorrow, barring a batting collapse that is by no means a far-removed hope when it comes to Hampshire, is a dull if high-scoring draw.Resuming on 338-4, Tom Webley (59), Blackwell, Aaron Laraman (52) and Rob Turner (67 not out) all enjoyed themselves on the placid wicket as the Hampshire bowlers all toiled – and, for what must be a record, all five front line bowlers conceded a century of runs. Only Chris Tremlett with four wickets came away with any kind of satisfaction.It was another desperately hard day in the field for Hampshire as Somerset continued unrepentantly to the tune of 367 runs in only 72 overs.Bad light prevented an immediate response to the Hampshire second innings but it did brighten sufficiently for eight balls to be bowled from which James Adams hit a four.Still 306 runs behind, it is going to take a good batting performance to save the game. And on this wicket, it should be achieved. It should!

Roughly 150 cricket fans have staged a demonstration in Karachi, to protest against their city’s exclusion from the itinerary for South Africa’s tour of Pakistan, which gets underway next week.Karachi, in the south of Pakistan, and Peshawar, near the Afghanistan border in the north-west, have both been dropped at South Africa’s request, after concerns about security. The demonstrators responded with placards reading: “Karachiites are cricket crazy, not terrorists”, “We want Pakistan-South Africa match in Karachi” and “Don’t take away Karachi as international venue.””People in Karachi are passionate about the game of cricket,” said Nawab Mirza, a local member of Parliament. "They feel hugely deprived not to see South Africa play here." Karachi staged its first one-day international in 16 months last month, when Bangladesh were the visitors. But a recent bomb blast raised fears of a repeat of the situation in May last year, when New Zealand were forced to evacuate their hotel – and abandon their tour – after an explosion killed 15 people.”This is injustice to the people of Karachi and we demand South African captain Graeme Smith brings his team to the city,” said the president of Karachi City Cricket Association, Muneer Hussain. “We would make sure they play here without any trouble.”But Smith himself was unsympathetic to Karachi’s demands. “Excuse me for being blunt," he wrote in his column for The Cape Times newspaper, "but I can’t help thinking that a bomb intended for someone else will hurt just as much as one intended for you. To say the bomb in Karachi wasn’t serious because it was a business conflict misses the point completely. The question should be about the general stability of a region.”The South Africans arrive in Lahore on Tuesday, where they will play a one-day game against City Nazim XI on October 1.

A hamstring strain threatens to spoil Chris Cairns’s comeback plans. Cairns, who bowled for the first time in an ODI since a World Cup match against Zimbabwe in March this year, limped off after sending down just three overs in the rain-hit match against India at Chennai on Wednesday. Cairns bowled with a fair amount of pace, taking the wicket of Virender Sehwag with the last ball of his first over, and Stephen Fleming was clearly disappointed with the latest injury concern.”It’s a shame and it’s the most frustrating for Cairnsy. What he was delivering was pretty good, and he’s been pretty excited about getting out there,” Fleming said. “We feel for him but hopefully it’s not too bad. He’s icing it at the moment and we’ll assess it tomorrow.”Cairns has five more days to recover, though: New Zealand’s next match in the tournament is on October 29, against Australia at Faridabad.