South Africa start favourites LONDON, May 13 — If the South Africans do not win the World Cup, they will have only themselves to blame. Since coming back to world cricket in 1991, they have the best chance to win the game’s most coveted prize and place themselves in cricket’s elite group of World Cup champions. Calcutta in grip of World Cup fever CALCUTTA, May 13 — With the greatest carnival of cricket barely hours away, the city is yet again living up to its sports-fanatic image, as the young and the old brace up to savour every moment of the battle royales between the bat and the ball over the next 39 days.

TAUNTON : Australia's Shane Warne in action against Somerset in a World Cup warm-up match at Taunton in Somerset on Wednesday May 12, 1999. Australia beat Somerset by 33 runs, with Warne returning match figures of 3 for 35 — AP/PTI Tendulkar ‘best in the world’ LONDON, May 13 — Tendulkar’s gun, an absolute gun, says Michael Atherton, captain of England till last year and one of that country’s top batsmen.

How India scaled cricket's Everest
THE 1983 World Cup win in England changed the face of one-day cricket in India. Not only did money start flowing into the game but the players too started picking up good money for their efforts on the field

Bitter rivals set for World Cup launch
LONDON, May 13 — Hosts England and reigning champions Sri Lanka will launch the 1999 cricket World Cup at Lord’s here tomorrow in an enthralling clash of cricketing cultures.

Decks cleared for DD telecast
NEW DELHI, May 13 — The telecast of the cricket World Cup matches on Doordarshan was finally cleared today with the England and Wales Cricket Board being paid the final instalment of Rs 13 crore.

Weather will hold key: Lloyd
LONDON, May 13 — West Indies team manager Clive Lloyd believes England’s unpredictable weather will dictate the scoring in the seventh World Cup with 300 plus scores unlikely if the sun doesn’t shine.

Pak seek another warm-up match
LONDON, May 13 — Pakistan has appealed to cricket World Cup organisers to allow them another warm-up game after three practice matches against county opposition were all ruined by rain.

Will history repeat for India in 1999?
NEW DELHI, May 13 — Ever since India broke the mighty West Indian domination in 1983, the subsequent editions of the World Cup have produced new winners interestingly all underdogs.

McMillan fashions New Zealand win
LONDON, May 13 — Title contender Australia and rival New Zealand posted comfortable victories in World Cup warm-up matches while the Pakistanis watched a downpour wash away their third straight match and valuable practice opportunity yesterday.

South Africa start favourites

LONDON, May 13 (UNI) — If the South Africans do not win the World Cup, they will have only themselves to blame. Since coming back to world cricket in 1991, they have the best chance to win the game’s most coveted prize and place themselves in cricket’s elite group of World Cup champions. They have the fast bowlers and the utility all-rounders in sufficient numbers to fancy themselves in the peculiar playing conditions that mark the early part of an English summer.

Their batsmen ran into ominous form in New Zealand where the conditions prevailing in the southern summer were very similar to what can be expected in a dampish summer. They may be highly regimented, who are sometimes found short of flair, especially on the big occasions. Here in England they have a fine opportunity to redeem themselves after losing early control of their quarterfinal against the West Indies in the last World Cup in 1996 which even they dominated to the extent of winning each of their five preliminary league games.

The UK’s biggest bookmakers quote cramped odds against the South Africans. The form book upholds such faith since they have won an astonishing 79 per cent of their matches in an up and down game.

By winning a major cup event in Dhaka early this year they have also tried to throw away the tag of chokers. They will dominate the early games and the format of the current World Cup is such that South Africa can expect a semifinal spot by right.

They are a great team when it comes to defending a target but they are not so hot when it comes to chasing on big occasions. This may work against them and the element of luck would also be a very important factor when it comes to the do-or-die games like the semifinals.

The South Africans’ biggest threat would be a Pakistan side, rejuvenated in spirit, under an inspirational skipper in Wasim Abram. They appear to have peaked early this time as opposed to their sensational stretch run in the World Cup in 1992. They have such firepower in their fast bowling that they can expect to win matches and force their way into the semifinals. Their chances would then revolve around how well their batsmen perform. A side well known for responding best to adrenlin flow, Akram’s men have many reasons to wish to conquer the world and so stop it rumour mills from working over time.

South Africa and Pakistan are the sides with an excellent chance of being at the winner’s podium on June 20 at Lord’s. The two teams which can hope to expose the soft under belly of South African batting in a big game are Australia, a side that has paid great attention to the details of limited-over cricket and recognised the need for specialisation, and India, the eternal dangerous floater always capable of raising its cricket.

The Aussies may be a shade over reliant on Adam Gilchrist to provide the thrust, while India would also be heavily relying on the top three batsmen — on Saurav Ganguly to provide the kick start, on Sachin Tendulkar to sustain the batting well into the end overs and on Rahul Dravid to anchor the batting in the event of the openers not firing in unison.

But both sides have the clever fast medium to make the most of help to swing and seam bowlers in England and variety in terms of great spin bowlers in Shane Warne and Anil Kumble.

The two teams that have a reasonable chance of winning are England, the home side which has performed very well in their own summers in this decade in which they have beaten all commers in the Texaco Trophy and the West Indies who have struck a semblance of form in sharing a series in the Caribbean with the Australians.

In their skipper Brian Lara’s bat lies the key to greater success for the pioneering professionals of the modern era. The two teams that have an outside chance of winning are Sri Lanka, the defending champions, whose current form is not good enough for their chances of retaining the cup to be very high and New Zealand who are the dark horses of the tournament. Both the teams are capable of bringing off huge upsets but it remains to be seen if they have the consistency to fire in a six-week event. Of the remaining four, Zimbabwe are to be feared as a team who once made a winning debut in the World Cup in 1983 when they beat Australia in their opening game. Since then they have come of age and can be a formidable opponents on the day their batting holds together. Bangladesh, Kenya and Scotland are here for the experience and to complete cricket’s grand dozen.

South Africa team attack awesome
Geoff Boycott writes

WHEN the visiting Cup teams arrived in England for two weeks preparation and practice they must have wondered what all the fuss was about regarding the English weather. Lovely dry sunny days and so warm for the players that they enjoyed net practice like new born spring lambs jumping around ! But as soon as the practice matches came around down came the rain. Soggy outfields - showery rain with damp or wet pitches ruined or abandoned most games. If you were lucky to be playing in a part of England which was drier than most, then you got some cricket. But many players will go into this World Cup underdone and wishing for more batting and bowling 'in the middle'. Too many players will be apprehensive about their form and nervous as to how the pitches will play. No batsmen can feel totally confident that he is ready and can handle the bowling.

You only have to take note of the slowish totals achieved and the individual batting scores to be aware that opening batsmen have had a tough time against the new ball. Seam bowlers have controlled low scoring matches with spinners playing little or no role and middle order batsmen having an easier time against the older ball.

It will be a miracle if rain does not interfere with play and so we are bound to have the difficult and baffling Duckworth/Lewis rain rules. When that happens its the luck of the calculations.

There is bound to be a bit of feeling in the first match between the hosts England and World Champions Sri Lanka. There was some needle in their confrontations in Australia recently and various quotes from the rival captains indicates there is still a bit of overspill. Sri Lanka threatens to surprise us with new innovations which may mean putting Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana down the order. England are more used to English conditions. Without rain interference the home team appear more likely to prevail with an abundance of little seamers. If England lost this opener it would send nervous shock waves throughout the country. Nobody dare think about defeat !

India have the toughest opener against the strongest seam attack in the competition. Nothing has happened in the warm up matches to suggest that South Africa are anything but favourite. In-form and focused with batsmen making runs and that awesome seam attack of Pollock, Kallis, Donald and Klusener. Having the favourites tag around their neck can be a burden and they could be a bit nervous in the first match. Therefore, India have to play well and try to catch South Africa cold. Everyone will be conscious of the confrontation between Tendulkar and Donald. Thankfully Sachin has at last made runs and success or failure of the best batsman in the world can have a big psychological effect on both sets of players. Ganguly worries me - a touch player with superb timing it is vital he gets his feet moving early on to combat the movement off the pitch. I am not surprised Rahul Dravid had made runs because he tries to get forward at every opportunity and has a textbook technique. The batting motto for everyone should be get forward when you can and play straight - not across the line ! Cut out the flamboyant and risky shots. Graft and work hard for your first few runs and whichever batsmen "gets in" do not give your wickets away because it may be harder for the next man. On these juicy pitches making enough runs is the key to success. Keep batting simple — PMG

How India scaled cricket's Everest
By Abhijit Chatterjee

THE 1983 World Cup win in England changed the face of one-day cricket in India. Not only did money start flowing into the game but the players too started picking up good money for their efforts on the field. Also, the Indian fans, having tasted a big win for the first time, crammed the venues of one-day matches at home thereby enabling the Board of Control for Cricket in India to make more and more money.

Not only that The World Cup win saw cricket nurseries coming up in various corners of the country. More and more youngsters started taking to the game and in fact cricket from being just a sport became an industry. This in turn saw cricket, mostly confined in the metros till then, going to every nook and corner of the country.

Previously the one-day game was treated as just a diversion from the traditional game of cricket even if matches spread over days failed to yield any result. But the win in 1983 gave the game a big boost in India. But on the reverse side over the years one would see that the traditional game was neglected, so much so that the finals of the National Cricket Championship for the Ranji Trophy are now held in empty stadia and it is only the bang-bang variety of the game that draws the spectators to the grounds.

Prior to 1983 India's record in the World Cup was dismal, to say the least. Their first outing in the World Cup in 1975 (when the inaugural World Cup was held in England) was against the hosts to whom they lost by a whopping margin of 202 runs with Sunil Gavaskar, then already acknowledged as a batsman of class, scoring a laborious 36 not out in 60 overs. (This effort should be the slowest knock not only in the World Cup but in any one-day international).

In their next match India played East Africa (a team which had qualified through the ICC Cup) and won by a handsome 10-wicket margin, having learnt a few lessons from their previous outing against England. However, in their concluding match of the league India were beaten by four wickets by New Zealand whose cause was served by an unbeaten 114 by Glenn Turner. Thus ended India's campaign in the first World Cup.

In the second World Cup held in England in 1979 India were placed in a comparative weaker group "B" along with the West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. But in spite of being placed in a weaker group the Indians lost all their league matches. Not only that. The humiliation handed out by Sri Lanka, then only an associate member of the International Cricket Council, must have hurt the players the most.

In their first match against the West Indies, winners of the title in 1975 and tipped to regain their title, India lost by nine wickets, while in their next match, against New Zealand, India lost by eight wickets. And to top it all lowly Sri Lanka outplayed them by a margin of 47 runs at Old Trafford to end India's campaign in the second World Cup.

Between 1979 and 1983 Indian cricket went through a lot of changes. The Indians had learnt a lot from their humiliating defeats in the second World Cup. Also, a number of utility players, including skipper Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny, Madan Lal and Ravi Shastri, had found a permanent place in the squad adding to the team's allround strength. And just prior to the World Cup in 1983 the Indians had recorded an impressive one-day win against the West Indies in the West Indies. And earlier India had beaten England in India. These wins created confidence in the Indians' own abilities and gave their morale a big boost

India began their campaign in the 1983 World Cup with a win against 1979 championship the West Indies, whom they defeated by 34 runs at Headingley, Leeds. Batting first after being sent in, the Indians scored 262, with Yashpal Sharma scoring 89, and then restricted the West Indies to 228 with Ravi Shastri and Roger Binny claiming three wickets each. India were off to a great start in the third edition of the World Cup.

The next match of the Indians, whose performance in their first match had forced people to sit up and take notice, was against Zimbabwe at Leicester. India won the toss and asked Zimbabwe to bat first. The Indians restricted their rivals to 155 all out and then scored the required runs for the loss of just five wickets. Sandeep Patil top-scored with 50 while Mohinder Amarnath pitched in with 44. Madan Lal, who claimed three for 27, picked up the man of the match award. Two wins from as many matches by India went almost unnoticed as the London bookies were still offering odds of 50-1 on India winning the tournament.

India then ran into Australia at Trent Bridge. Australia won the toss, opted to bat and piled up 320 runs in 60 overs, thanks largely due to a century by Trevor Chappell and good knocks from Kim Huges (52) and Yallop (66). Australia were helped by India's poor bowling and ground fielding as a number of catches were floored. India, in reply, could muster just 158 as MacLeay picked up six wickets for 39 runs. A feature which did not go unnoticed in the match was the sidelining of Sunil Gavaskar as also Dennis Lillee from the game.

In their next match India could do no better as they lost to the West Indies by 66 runs. The bowlers were off target and the fielding was sloppy as the West Indies piled up 282 in 60 overs and then restricted India to 216 all out with only Mohinder Amarnath (80) and Kapil Dev (36) offering some resistance.

It was the next match which has become a folklore of Indian cricket. Playing against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge, India, needing a win to stay in the race, batting first after skipper Kapil Dev won the toss were reduced to five for 17 before Kapil took the initiative to repair the damage done by the Zimbabwe bowlers on a moist wicket. Getting support from Roger Binny (22), Madan Lal (17) and Syed Kirmani (24 not out), Kapil scored an unbeaten 175 (then the highest ever knock recorded in the World Cup) as he took the India total to 266. Talking about his innings later Kapil says that his first priority was to keep his natural game under control and try to last the full sixty overs. But then his natural instinct took over and he started belting the ball all round the wicket. A pity the cameramen of the BBC were on strike that day and the innings could not be recorded for posterity. Zimbabwe could not overtake the India total and ended at 235 all out and India's maiden entry into the semi-finals of the World Cup now seemed a distinct possibility.

It was in the next match that Indian cricket really matured. They were to take on Australia and the outcome of the match would provide a ticket to the semi-finals. Winning the toss and opting to bat India scored 247 all out in 55.5 overs . Australia began badly, losing opener Trevor Chappell with only three runs on the board. Their innings could not take off as they lost wickets in regular intervals. They were soon six for 69 and ended their innings at 129 thereby giving India a victory by 118 runs and a ticket to the semi-finals.

By virtue of this win India finished second in the pool with 16 points with four wins from six matches behind the West Indies, who had garnered 20 points from five wins.

In the semi-finals India took on England at Old Trafford on June 22. England won the toss and straightaway opted to bat. Kept on a tight leash by Kapil Dev, Balwinder Sandhu and Roger Binny, who accounted for the two openers, Fowler and Tavare, and of course Mohinder Amarnath, England scored 213 in their 60 overs. The run out of Allan Lamb after he had scored 29 did hurt England's innings but on that day the Indians bowled and fielded with all the effort at their command.

Sunil Gavaskar (25, his highest score in the tournament) and Srikkanth put on 46 runs for the first wicket. Then useful contributions from Mohinder Amarnath (who won the man of the match award), Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil saw India overhauling the England total in the 55th over of the innings for the loss of four wickets and India had achieved what many had thought was an impossible task when the tournament began on June 9.

In the final at Lord's on June 25 India were put in by the West Indies. The underdogs began poorly, losing Gavaskar in the fifth over. Srikkanth scored 38 off 57 balls but with the other batsmen not able to get going India could score just 183 before they were all out in 54.4 overs.

Though there was despondency in the India team Balwinder Sandhu brought some cheer by claiming the wicket of Greenidge early in the innings. But Haynes and Vivian Richards took the score to 50 before Haynes fell. But it was the fall of Richards' wicket, caught by a running Kapil Dev off Madan down in the deep that the Indian camp could breathe a little easy. And as the West Indies needed 68 runs in 35 overs with five wickets in hand Kapil and Mohinder Amarnath claimed wickets in quick succession to take India to their maiden triumph in World Cup.

And with this win Indian cricket came of age.

Bitter rivals set for World Cup launch

LONDON, May 13 (AFP) — Hosts England and reigning champions Sri Lanka will launch the 1999 cricket World Cup at Lord’s here tomorrow in an enthralling clash of cricketing cultures.

To add to the drama, this will be curtain-raiser laced with bad blood and personal enmity.

It is also a contest neither side can afford to lose.

Rival captains Alec Stewart and Arjuna Ranatunga will wear forced smiles when they toss up before a 30,000 sell-out crowd but their bitter relationship is well documented.

Stewart believes the Sri Lankans present themselves as happy-go-lucky, but in fact take gamesmanship to the very edge. Ranatunga, the man who lifted the 1996 trophy, believes the England skipper does not know what he is talking about.

Whoever wins this opening group A fixture — the first of 42 matches expected to attract a worldwide television audience of two billion — the two are unlikely to exchange a beer after the game.

The teams’ deteriorating relationship dates back to an encounter during a tri-nation tournament in Australia earlier this year, when Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was called for throwing.

Ranatunga, later given a six-match suspended ban for his behaviour, first led his team off in protest, then gave the umpire a finger-wagging lecture.

Stewart allowed himself to be drawn into the controversy and was caught on a stump microphone calling the Sri Lankan captain a disgrace. That was followed by several more confrontations between players.

According to the bookies, England go into tomorrow’s game as the favourites but it is hard to compare the sides.

England have packed their eleven with one-day specialists and medium-paced seamers. It is a functional, workman-like team short on world-class talent. Pace bowler Darren Gough is their only proven wicket-taker.

The Sri Lankans are all about flair, relying on the exotic spin bowling of Muralitharan and the extravagant, top-bracket batting of Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda De Silva.

The home team is unlikely to surprise anyone with their tactics. They will play ‘conventional’ cricket, starting their innings cautiously and trying to build momentum, with Graeme Hick and Andrew Flintoff hitting out when needed.

Sri Lanka, in contrast, have, according to their captain, “a few tricks up our sleeve.”

At the last World Cup they turned the game’s conventional wisdom on its head, taking advantage of flat batting wickets and early-over fielding restrictions to attack from the very first ball.

Here, with damp wickets likely to favour the bowlers, they may experiment instead by opening their attack with Muralitharan rather than their pacemen.

Defeat is unthinkable for either side.

Group ‘A’ is likely to be dominated by tournament favourites South Africa, leaving a tough four-way fight between England, Sri Lanka India and Zimbabwe for the last two qualifying places.

Neither team has been playing well in the run-up to the World Cup and their morale would badly deflated by an early loss.

England have won only one match in their last seven one-dayers — although they came out on top in their latest confrontations with Sri Lanka, winning three out of five.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have only won four out of their last 18 matches — although they beat England at Lord’s last year in the final of a three-team tournament.

Sri Lanka may just hold the psychological edge in the portly shape of their skipper.

Love him or loathe him, the experienced Ranatunga, playing in his fifth World Cup, is a highly intelligent cricketer and tactical schemer. Stewart, in comparison, can appear straightforward and one-paced.

Ranatunga may never become Stewart’s greatest buddy, but he might just condescend to have a friendly word or two with him before tomorrow’s game after all.

Just to remind him that England, unlike Sri Lanka, have never won a World Cup. Just to remind him of the pressure he is under, considering that the English game is struggling for popular appeal. Just to remind him that Stewart has barely hit a run in the last month, that ...

Calcutta in grip of World Cup fever

CALCUTTA, May 13 (PTI) — With the greatest carnival of cricket barely hours away, the city is yet again living up to its sports-fanatic image, as the young and the old brace up to savour every moment of the battle royales between the bat and the ball over the next 39 days.

While corporate giants, desperate to cash in on the cricket frenzy sweeping the city, have plastered its walls with "come on India" boards, people in a nearby village have fallen back on religion to brighten India’s prospects in the last World Cup of the millennium.

A special "yagna" was held in Pero village in the adjoining Howrah district yesterday to give the Indian cricketers the strength to conquer the other teams in the competition.

"We did such a yagna in 1983 also, and the team came out with flying colours. This time also, history will be repeated," said Sudhamoy Chatterjee, a villager.

In keeping with the hype, the West Bengal government has made arrangements to show live World Cup cricket matches featuring India in a simulated stadium ambience on giant screens in and around the city.

"This would enable a larger number of cricket aficionados to sit together and cheer their favourite heroes Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly," state sports secretary Sumantra Chowdhury told PTI.

He said special projectors would be used to show the matches telecast by Doordarshan live on 30 giant screens to be put up on open grounds in Calcutta and its adjoining districts - Howrah, north and south 24 Parganas.

If India entered the semi-finals, more giant screens would be put up, he added.

But the ones really charged up are the teenagers. Hari, a class XI student, has had a tough time persuading his parents into giving him a month’s study leave in the evenings to watch the matches.

"I know I cannot afford to be slack in my studies as this is a very crucial year of my career. But then, how can I miss the exploits of Sachin and Sourav, my heroes ?", he said.

Cut-outs and walled portraits of the cricketing heroes have also appeared at various places in the city. Though mostly done by young amateurs, one can easily recognise the Brian Laras and the Tendulkars and the Gangulys towering over the denizens.

But the real fun will begin once the competition gets going. Already, a number of clubs have bought new television sets by collecting subscription from their members.

"We always like to view the matches together. One doesn’t get the kick by watching the game in the solitary confinement of one’s living room," said Prabir Ghoshal, secretary of Rakhi Sangha Club in the southern part of the city.

"We will also have late night feasts after the matches, as we did during the last soccer World Cup in France," he said.

Decks cleared for DD telecast
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 13 — The telecast of the cricket World Cup matches on Doordarshan was finally cleared today with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) being paid the final instalment of Rs 13 crore.

According to reports, Nimbus, which had been given the right to exclusively market the World Cup matches on Doordarshan following a Mumbai High Court order, provided the balance payment of Rs 13 crore to the ECB today on behalf of the national television. The ECB had to be paid a total of Rs 26 crore for providing the rights for the telecast.

Reports said that while Rs 13 crore had been paid earlier to the ECB by another private agency, Stracon, the balance payment was made available by Nimbus today paving the way for the telecast on Doordarshan. Although the deadline for the payment to the ECB had expired on Wednesday, DD had sought an extension till today for making the payment.

While the clouds over the telecast on DD got cleared, the controversy over exclusive marketing rights on Doordarshan still persisted with the bank guarantee provided by the Nimbus still being verified. At the time of going to the Press, the senior officials of Doordarshan were still closeted in a meeting at the DD headquarters in Mandi House trying to verify facts about the bank guarantee provided by Nimbus.

Sources disclosed that although Nimbus had been able to provide the bank guarantee of Rs 30.56 crore for getting exclusive marketing rights on Doordarshan, the officials were trying to verify it. Only after all the facts have been verified by the DD officials, will the contract be finally signed with Nimbus. The private agency had apparently provided the bank guarantee of Rs 30.56 crore from the ICICI bank.

Weather will hold key: Lloyd

LONDON, May 13 (AP) — West Indies team manager Clive Lloyd believes England’s unpredictable weather will dictate the scoring in the seventh World Cup with 300 plus scores unlikely if the sun doesn’t shine.

"Big scores will only emerge if the sun comes out and dries the wickets," Lloyd said.

Rain has already forced 12 of the 36 warm-up matches played by the 12 participants against county teams to be abandoned, with Pakistan missing all its three matches.

"Its a pity that teams have not had a decent warm-up for the World Cup," Lloyd told the Associated Press yesterday during a rain-enforced interruption in West Indies match against Surrey.

He said this tournament will be different from the last one in the Indian subcontinent, "and one can’t expect scores in excess of 300 if the sun doesn’t come out," Lloyd said, his mood reflecting the gloomy weather.

A smile appeared on his face when the dark clouds over the cricket grounds blew away and the match resumed.

"The weather is keeping our younger crop of bowlers from getting used to the conditions," said Lloyd. "But otherwise we are okay for most of our leading batsmen and the top bowlers have played a lot of (county and league) cricket in England."

Skipper Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Phil Simmons, Paul Adams and Sherwin Campbell have all had extended stints in English county cricket championship while the others have honed their skills as club professionals.

Aggressive one-day specialist Simmons was the most talked-about cricketer in England last summer when he led Leicestershire to the county championship title as a standby skipper for injured James Whitaker.

West Indies has in recent times appeared to be a pale shadow of the past when it dominated the World Cup’s early tournaments under Lloyd’s captaincy.

The West Indies won the first two competitions in 1975 and 1979, giving Lloyd the distinction of being the only captain to have hoisted the World Cup trophy twice.

Lloyd, the lanky cricketer dubbed "The Cat" for his agility, was deprived of a hat-trick when the West Indies failed to chase a modest total of 183 against India in the 1983 final.

As the tournament returns to England after a 16-year gap, Lloyd’s brief is to restore the team to its former glory.

It does not bother him that his wards are not listed among the main title contenders.

"You can’t be the favourites forever," Lloyd said. "But the West Indies are now on their way to reclaim a place among contemporary cricket’s leading teams."

The will to succeed will get an ideal foil in the support from a legion of boisterous fans — expatriates from the Caribbean — who always turn out in large numbers to cheer the team in England.

Pak seek another warm-up match

LONDON, May 13 (AFP) — Pakistan has appealed to cricket World Cup organisers to allow them another warm-up game after three practice matches against county opposition were all ruined by rain.

Pakistan’s last chance of an outing against Lancashire yesterday was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Team manager Zafar Altaf said he wanted to arrange a game tomorrow, two days before Pakistan’s first World Cup match against the West Indies at Bristol.

"It is the action people want to see, not technical equations due to the rain," he said.

Pakistan’s attack, arguably the competition’s deadliest, have bowled just over 17 overs between them in a competitive situation since arriving in England.

The clash with Durham on Monday lasted just 10 overs while a weekend game against Derbyshire went just beyond the half-way mark.

Will history repeat for India in 1999?

NEW DELHI, May 13 (UNI) — Ever since India broke the mighty West Indian domination in 1983, the subsequent editions of the World Cup have produced new winners interestingly all underdogs.

Until Kapil Dev ran yards behind to hold the intended pull of master-blaster Sir Issac Vivian Alexander Richards, which eventually turned out to be the turning point in India’s sensational 43-run victory at Lords, it was the Caribbeans under the astute leadership of “big cat” Clive Lloyd who were ruling the roost.

The facile winners in the first two editions, in which Richards and Lloyd played significant roles, the West Indians with their foursome fearsome pace battery of Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, “big bird” Joel Garner and Andy Roberts and a strong batting line up of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Larry Gomes, Jeff Dujon and Baccus, besides, Lloyd and Richards, started as the odds-on favourite.

But the day at Lords, belonged to India, as Kapil Dev’s “dare devils” upset the applecart of their more fancied rivals to win the World Cup.

In fact, India had set the trend which was later followed suit by Australia (1987 Reliance Cup, when the edition for the first time moved out of England), Pakistan (1992, in which coloured clothing and white balls were introduced) and by Sri Lanka (1996).

As the carnival moved out of England and co-staged jointly by India and Pakistan, both the hosts started as firm favourites considering the weather conditions and the pitches. But they faltered at the penultimate hurdle and Australia were crowned champions.

It was for the first time the length of the matches was reduced to 50 overs from 60 overs.

In fact, it was England who had called the shots initially. Chasing Australia’s 253 for five, which was gettable considering the pitches in the sub-continent, the poms were going on merrily at 135 for three, with Mike Gatting using his reverse sweep against the spinners to perfection.

But it was the very shot that cost England the cup. In a strategic move, Border himself came on to bowl and got rid of Gatting, whose pre-determined shot ended up in the hands of wicket keeper John Dyer. This turning point saw England collapse like a pack of cards and the Kangaroos were crowned champions, the margin of victory being a wafer-thin seven runs.

When the focus shifted to the hard and seaming wickets at Australia and New Zealand in 1992, it was the former, who started as favourites enjoying the tag of the reigning World Cup champions.

This edition also saw South Africa playing their first World Cup after they were readmitted by the ICC the previous year. Led by Kepler Wessels, the springboks lost just two matches in the nine-team league and qualified for the semifinals, before the farcical rain rule put paid to their hopes.

Replying to England’s 252 for six, South Africa were on the threshold of entering the final requiring 22 runs from 13 balls, more so with four wickets in hands and all rounder Brian MacMillan and K.D. Richardson at the crease when a sudden downpour at the Sydney Cricket Ground dented their chances. When the game began after rain relented, the rain rule was applied and South Africa were asked to make an impossible 22 runs off just one ball.

Luck was with the eventual winners Pakistan. Remember a team getting bowled out for just 74 runs and escaping defeat, needs a lot more luck. And that dame luck smiled on the faces of the Asian giants, who shared a point each with England, who went about their demolition job and were cruising well towards victory when rain intervened.

This one point helped Pakistan enter the semifinals and the Imran Khan-led lions did a swift demolition act thrashing England by 22 runs to win the title. Pakistan had amassed 249 for six and the Brits replied with 227.

The sixth edition co-staged by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 1996 was marred by controversies and for the first time a record 12 countries were seen in action.

Sri Lanka, the underdogs, resorted to pinch hitting strategy and this gave a new dimension to the shorter-version of the game. Clobbering the bowlers around, the dynamic openers Sanath Jayasuriya and the diminutive wicket keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana, gave a harrowing time to the new-ball bowlers taking advantage of the field restrictions in the first 15 overs.

A bomb explosion that killed several people in the strife-torn island raised many a eyebrows about the security aspects for the players forcing Australia and the West Indies to forfeit their league matches. Even a friendly match between India-Pakistan XI and Sri Lanka could not instil confidence in Australia and the West Indies as Sri Lanka’s entry into the quarterfinal was cemented even before the first ball was bowled.

With their new pinch-hitting strategy working wonders, the Lankans successfully chased big targets. The West Indies, despite suffering a sensational 73-run defeat at the hands of debutants Kenya, did manage to qualify for the quarterfinals and went on to enter the last four stage, where they lost from a potentially winning position. Chasing Australia’s 207 for eight, the West Indies lost their last seven wickets for 29 runs in a most sensational turnaround, to collapse from 173 for three at one stage.

India humbled archrivals Pakistan at Bangalore to enter the semifinals, where they took on Sri Lanka. The islanders notched up 251 for eight and India, from a decent 98 for one, lost wickets at regular intervals amidst charged up atmosphere at the Eden Gardens as the frenzied crowd hurled mineral water bottles onto the ground. The match was finally awarded to Sri Lanka.

In the final against the Aussies, Sri Lanka created a history of sorts by successfully chasing the target. Never before in the final of the World Cup the team batting second had been successful.

With history against them, Sri Lanka methodically chased the target of 241 for seven set by Australia. Despite losing both their openers, their crisis-man Aravinda De Silva, who became the third player in the world to score a century in the final (earlier two being Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards), alongside Asanka Gurusinghe and skipper Arjuna Ranatunge made mincemeat of the Australian attack to finish losing a mere three wickets.

With the cricket extravaganza back to its place where it had originated, will history repeat itself for India, or as had been the tradition of the four previous World Cups-will it throw a new champion in the new millennium?

Tendulkar ‘best in the world’

LONDON, May 13 (PTI) — Tendulkar’s gun, an absolute gun, says Michael Atherton, captain of England till last year and one of that country’s top batsmen.

And, England’s opening bowler Angus Fraser thinks the Indian pace duo of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad is as impressive as Australia’s top pacemen Glen McGrath and Jason Gillespie or South Africa’s Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock.

Australian captain Steve Waugh is quoted as saying that Tendulkar is ‘easily the best batsman in the world’ and he will ‘sit second only to Bradman in the history books’.

Atherton told a British newspaper that India has got a good nucleus of a team with five top-class players in Srinath, Prasad, Anil Kumble, Tendulkar and skipper Mohd Azharuddin.

Indian fielding “is slightly suspect compared to the top drawer sides”, he said, but felt that would not be a huge problem as grounds in England are not that big.

However, Fraser considers Robin Singh’s fielding “top drawer”. He (Robin Singh) was magnificent in Sharjah — almost in Jonty Rhodes class, the paceman said.

Atherton said the Indians would be a major force in the World Cup. They proved in 1983 that they can win in English conditions and their two main seamers (Srinath and Prasad) will exploit English conditions as well as anyone.

On the Indian attack, Atherton told “The Sunday Telegraph”: Prasad’s slower ball is as good as anyone’s in the world. But Srinath might have to pitch it up a bit more to fully exploit the conditions.

Their third seamer (Ajit Agarkar) has taken a lot of wickets but he just seems to bang it in halfway down the track. The weakness is their fourth and fifth seamers with Ganguly, the sixth.

He also predicted Pakistan’s tearaway paceman Shoaib Akhtar would come in for punishment. “I think Shoaib might go round the park. Actually, in England the bowlers who kiss the surface can be more effective”.

McMillan fashions New Zealand win

LONDON, May 13 (AP) — Title contender Australia and rival New Zealand posted comfortable victories in World Cup warm-up matches while the Pakistanis watched a downpour wash away their third straight match and valuable practice opportunity yesterday.

It was also bad news for World Cup debutants Bangladesh and Scotland who lost their matches while West Indies beat Surrey by 88 runs in another rain-affected match.

Michael Bevan with an unbeaten 68 and an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 81 with Shane Lee led Australia to a 33-run victory over somerset.

Australia made 243 for 5 after winning the toss. A brief break caused by rain reduced Somerset’s target to 241 off 47 overs. It was bowled out for 208 with Shane Warne and Damien Fleming taking three wickets each.

In Arundel, Craig McMillan hammered 95 off 92 balls to set up a seven-wicket victory for New Zealand over Sussex.

McMillan thumped 10 fours and a six to see his side reach the target of 220 with 10.2 of its 50 overs in hand.

McMillan added 136 in 23 overs with former Warwickshire man Roger Twose (56) after New Zealand had lost Matthew Horne, caught behind for seven with eight on the board.

After Twose’s departure, skipper Stephen Fleming joined McMillan and the pair shared a third wicket stand of 68 in 13 overs. McMillan fell with his side 10 short of victory.

Bangladesh’s World Cup ambitions suffered an untimely setback as it followed warm-up victories over Essex and Middlesex with a 44-run defeat against Northamptonshire.

Kevin Curran and Kevin Innes hammered 98 from the last 10 overs to boost the county’s side to 279 for five. In reply, Bangladesh were 235 all out.

Scotland, scoring 126 for nine, went down to its second warm-up defeat, this time against Yorkshire at Scarborough. Yorkshire, faced with a revised target of 128 runs in the rain-shortened match, cruised to a five-wicket victory, reaching 131 for five with five balls to spare.

Gavin Hamilton, playing against his Yorkshire county team-mates, was saved from serious injury by his helmet when he was struck on the side of the head by a beamer from Craig White.

Speculation over West Indies captain Brian Lara’s fitness intensified as he stayed in the dressing room for his third and last practice match against Surrey before the World Cup.

Ridley Jacobs hit 80 and Ricardo Powell, who is yet to play a one-day international, made 53 in the team’s 88-run victory.

Team manager Clive Lloyd said Lara, 30, was recovering from the wrist injury sustained during the recent Test series against Australia, but refused to confirm if doctors had cleared him to play in the first match.

"There’s no denying that Lara in peak form is crucial for us," Lloyd told the Associated Press. "He’s resting and we’re waiting and watching," said Lloyd.

West Indies play Pakistan on Sunday.

Pakistan said it will appeal to World Cup organisers for another game after missing its final practice match due to rain against Lancashire. It is the only team in the 12-nation tournament not to complete the three-match warm-up series.

"As captain I get frustrated," said skipper Wasim Akram.

Manager Zafar Altaf said he would try to arrange a game for the team tomorrow.

"It’s the action people want to see, not technical equations due to the rain,’’ he said.

Sampras booed and whistled off court

ROME, May 13 (AP) - Pete Sampras sounded as disappointed as the crowd.

Just eleven days before the start of the French Open, the only major he hasn’t won, the American star was booed and whistled off the court in the Italian Open following a second-round rout in which his deficiencies on clay were on full display.

And he looked lost trying to explain his performance last night in the 6-3, 6-1 loss to Brazilian qualifier Fernando Meligeni.

"I’m ... disgusted with the way I played," said Sampras, seeded second. "To lose 3 and 1 is pretty much a clay-court lesson."

Even Meligeni, ranked 58th, was stunned.

"This isn’t normal for me. When you play against Pete, you know you’re playing a guy who was No. 1 for six years in a row," Meligeni said. "He’s a legend for us."

Two other big-serving seeded players were knocked out in straight sets: No. 5 Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands and No. 12 Greg Rusedski of Britain. Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who supplanted Sampras as No. 1 in the rankings, No. 3 Alex Corretja of Spain and No. 4 Patrick Rafter of Australia moved into the third round, as did No. 14 Andre Agassi of the USA.

In today’s action, Rafter faces Agassi, Kafelnikov takes on 1997 French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, and French Open champion Carlos Moya of Spain plays unseeded Argentine Franco Squillari.

Sampras repeatedly took something off his ground strokes just trying to keep balls in play. He served poorly, putting in 47 per cent of his first serves for the match that figure dropped to 25 per cent in the second set.

Unable to escape via aces or service winners, as he did in coming back to beat Bohdan Uhlirach of the Czech Republic in three sets in the first round, the American had no backup plan.

"On clay, you have to figure out a way. You have to fight, that’s clay-court tennis," he said. I haven’t won the French, so obviously I don’t have the ingredients yet. I just have to go back to the drawing board."

He said he may head to Paris today to get some practice in before heading to the world team cup in Dusseldorf, Germany, next week.

Then it’s on to Roland Garros, where Sampras’ best showing was the semifinals in 1996. He lost in the second round last year. By contrast, he owns a total of eleven titles from Wimbledon and the Australian and US Opens.

"I’m not in the rhythm I want to be in heading to the French," he lamented. I need to get into a rhythm."

BERLIN (DPA): World number 1 Martina Hingis breezed into the third round of the $ 1.04-million German Open on Wednesday, but number 2 seed Jana Novotna fell by the wayside.

Hingis needed only 65 minutes to dump unseeded Spaniard Gala Leon-Garcia, 6-3, 6-2. Hingis won the final four games of the match and triumphed on first match point.

The reigning Wimbledon champion Novotna, by contrast, could not get her act together on the red clay and crashed out in her first match of the event, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, to Romania’s Ruxandra Dragomir.

All eight top seeds had a bye into the second round.

Another seed to drop out in the second round was number 11 Dominique Van Roost, a 6-3, 7-5 loser to Elena Likhovtseva.

Reigning French Open champion and number 4 seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario also almost crashed out, but managed a hard-earned 7-6 (7-0), 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6) win over Corina Morariu of the USA.

Number 6 Nathalie Tauziat hammered Silvia Farina 6-2, 6-3 and 16 seed Barbara Schett routed qualifier Miriam Schnitzer, 6-0, 6-3.

Jayalakshmi, Archana enter final

LUCKNOW, May 13 (UNI) — Jayaram Sai Jayalakshmi and Archana Venkatraman will clash in the final of the Bank of Baroda ITF Women’s Tennis Championship here tomorrow.

In the semifinal Archana Venkatraman earned a hard fought victory defeating Janaki Krishnamoorthy in straight sets 7-6 (7-4) and 7-6 ( 7-2). Both the sets were decided by tie breaker .

In the other semifinal, Rushmi Chakraborty conceded the match to Jayaram Sai Jayalakshmi as she was indisposed. She lost the first set at 3-6 and trailed 0-1 in the second set.

Archana and Janaki took two hours and eight minutes to decide. Both the girls fought for each and every point.

In the first set Archana took 3-1 lead after she broke Janaki’s service in the third game. Janaki levelled the score at 4-4 when she broke Archana’s service at 40-30. The first set ended 6-6 when tie breaker was applied. Archana took 3-1 lead in the tie breaker but Janaki levelled 3-3. She added one more point before lost the first set at 7-6 (7-4).

In the second set Janaki broke Archana’s first service and took a 2-0 lead but Archana levelled the score at 2-2 after breaking Janaki’s service. Afterwards both broke each other’s service and the game ended 6-6 draw.

In the tie breaker Archana took a 5-0 lead before winding up the match. She conceded two more points and won the second set and match at 7-6,(7-4),7-6 ( 7-2).

Earlier in the other semifinal match, Rushmi Chakraborty, being indisposed, conceded the match to Jayaram Sai Jayalakshmi.

She lost the first set at 3-6 and trailed 0-1 in the second set.

Both won their services till sixth game. The score was 3-3. In the 7th game, Sai Jayalakshi broke Rushmi’s service at 40-15 and then held her service to take 5-3 lead. In the next game, Rushmi was leading 40-30 but she made a double fault and in deuces she got advantage twice but was not able to hold on and made double fault again losing the first set 3-6.

In the second set Sai Jayalakshmi held her service and took 1-0 lead but Rushmi conceded the match.

Inter-bank T.T. from today

CHANDIGARH, May 13 (TNS) — The State Bank of Patiala will organise the Inter-Bank Table Tennis Tournament at the Reserve Bank of India, recreation club, Sector-17, here from May 14 to 19.

According to Mr J.S. Dua, Assistant General Manger, State Bank of Patiala, the tournament will have the team championship to be played on the lines of the Corbillon Cup. Individual competition will start from May 17 in the men's singles, women's singles and veteran singles.

Mr Vijaya Raghavan, Regional Director, RBI, will inaugurate the tournament while Mr K.S. Baghel, General Manager, State Bank of Patiala, will preside.

The RBI, the SBI, PFC, HFC, NABARD, UTI, IDBI, Bank of India, OBC P&SB and hosts State Bank of Patiala have confirmed their entries.