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It’s back! After a phenomenally successful debut season, the Twenty20 Cup returns tomorrow for its much-anticipated encore. All around the counties, open-collared shirts will be the order of the fortnight, as the committeemen throw off their ties and blazers, and throw open the gates to embrace the masses.Last year, Twenty20 cricket was greeted with initial scepticism, but the response of the British public and the world at large has been phenomenal. More than 80,000 tickets for this year’s competition have been sold in advance, while the success of South Africa’s PRO20 tournament, and the stirrings of a professional league in the USA are clear evidence that the format is here to stay.More than anything else, it was the onfield action that made last year’s tournament such a success – contrary to many expectations, the three-hour, 40-over format really did produce thrilling entertainment, and not at the expense of cricket’s core values either. But that has not stopped the counties from once again pulling out the stops with their sideshows. To last year’s face-painting, bouncy castles and pitch-side jacuzzis, this year we can add that most 21st century of phenomenons – speed-dating – as well as a host of other wacky crowd-pleasing schemes.At Durham, the players will need to watch what they say in the post-match press conferences. Although the media will be attending, the only people who will be permitted to ask questions will be children. On the face of it, that might appear to be the easy option, but when Sven-Goran Eriksson took part in a similar stunt prior to the European Championships, he was repeatedly asked whether he was about to take over the management at Chelsea. By the end of that, trial by tabloid seemed a far preferable option.Last year, the competition was blessed with glorious weather, and that has clearly lodged in the memories of many of the committeemen. Essex, Glamorgan, Hampshire and Worcestershire have all come up with the “beach on the boundary” idea, with cocktails, hot tubs and limbo-dancing on offer. Glamorgan, in fact, have hedged their bets on the weather, with their “beanie or bikini” competition encouraging the fans to turn up in beachor ski-wear, depending, presumably, on the overhead conditions.Even the old duffers at Lord’s are getting in on the act. On July 15, they will be hosting their very first Twenty20 match – Middlesex v Surrey – after being refused planning permission for floodlights last year. But who knows what the MCC members will make of it all. For the first time ever, flags, banners and fancy dress will be permitted inside the hallowed ground, while (perhaps in recognition of the efforts of Michael Vaughan’s England team) the indoor school will be taken over by the PlayStation generation, where a new cricket game will be available for those idle thumbs among the crowd.Leicestershire and Worcestershire will both be shelling out prizes if the spectators manage not to shell their catches. At New Road, £1000 will be on offer if anyone can cling on to a six, although at Grace Road, they are being slightly presumptious about the type of person who will do so – the successful fielder will take home a year’s supply of lager. At Headingley, however, the ball will be arriving from the sort of height to unnerve even the boldest of outfielders – it will be parachuted into the ground by the RAF Falcons.And then, of course, there’s the speed-dating, as pioneered by Worcestershire and Warwickshire, who are even putting one of their own up for grabs. The left-arm seamer, Neil Carter, will be joining 20 other local guys and gals, who will have until a wicket falls to size up their opposition. Meanwhile Glamorgan are running a competition to find the most eligible bachelor and bachelorette in Cardiff.It may not quite be cricket, but it all promises to be entertaining nonetheless.

ScorecardDinesh Mongia made a superb start to his short-term county stint with Lancashire, scoring 89 in a championship game against Warwickshire. Coming in to bat at No. 5, Mongia put together 171 runs with Mal Loye, who top-scored with a monumental 184. Loye and Mongia helped Lancashire to a first-innings lead after Warwickshire had amassed 499. At the close of a rain-restricted third day, Lancashire were 505 for 8.Mongia, drafted in as Lancashire’s overseas player after Carl Hooper was sidelined for at least three weeks with a fractured thumb, played an impressive innings which finally ended when he was trapped lbw by Ian Bell. Had Mongia scored 11 more, he would have become only the fifth player to score a hundred on debut for Lancashire.

50 overs India 260 for 6 (Dravid 104, Ganguly 55) beat United Arab Emirates 144 (Tauqir 55, Tendulkar 3-21, Pathan 3-28) by 116 runs
Scorecard

This was supposed to be a gentle initiation into the new season for the Indians, where Virender Sehwag would be gunning for the first double-century in one-day international history, Sachin Tendulkar for his 38th ODI hundred, and India for a total way in excess of 350. None of that happened, but while UAE stayed in the game till the halfway stage, allowing India to score just 260, their incompetence with the bat meant that India were still able to canter to a comfortable 116-run win and take home the bonus point as well in their Asia Cup campaign opener at Dambulla.The Indians hadn’t played international cricket for three months, and it showed. Many of the batsmen struggled for timing and form – with Sourav Ganguly being especially woeful through the first half of his innings. However, Rahul Dravid showed the way – yet again – with a classy 104 off just 93 balls, while the trio of Indian seamers had just too much firepower for a batting line-up which was woefully out of their depth.However, till Dravid stamped his authority on the game, the Indians were in serious danger of being embarrassed by a spirited UAE side which bowled with plenty of discipline and control, and showed lots of spirit in the field. They had last played a one-day international more than eight years ago, but if today’s performance is any indicator, that period has been well spent.The script went wrong for the Indians at the very start – Sehwag flicked the third ball to leg, started off for a single, then saw Tendulkar stop after initially committing to the run. Sehwag out for 0, 200 short of his projected score; India 0 for 1. Tendulkar himself left soon after, inside edging a flick to short midwicket for 18 (30 for 2). Fahad Usman pocketed the catch, and Asim Saeed won himself the small matter of US$1000, which was on offer for the wicket. India could have been in even greater strife if UAE had pouched a couple of catches from Ganguly when the batsman was on 0 and 3.Struggling for form and fluency, Ganguly repeatedly groped for the ball early on, and the ball repeatedly sneaked past outside edge and inside edge, or rapped him on the pads. Ali Asad, the right-arm seamer, was the pick of the bowlers, consistently getting the ball to swing away from the right-handers. Better support from the fielders – both of Ganguly’s missed chances came off his bowling – would have given him far better figures than the none for 38 he ended up with.India managed just 58 in the first 15 overs, and then lost another wicket soon after when VVS Laxman chipped back a return catch to Mohammad Tauqir, the offspinner, ending an innings which promised much – his effortless pulled six off the front foot to bring up the Indian 50 was among the shots of the match – but delivered only 14 runs (65 for 3).Then came the revival, with Dravid at the forefront. The slow pitch had bothered most of the others, but not Dravid, who simply rocked back, waited, and repeatedly guided the ball in the arc between backward point and extra cover. There was little risk in the approach, yet the runs flowed effortlessly. Equally importantly, he injected some much-needed urgency into the running between the wickets, an aspect of India’s game which had been awfully shoddy early on.

At the other end, Ganguly’s monumental struggle ended for a laboured 55, when he holed to long-on (153 for 4). Yuvraj played a short cameo, and Dravid continued to show splendid one-day nous. With the overs running out, he shifted gears effortlessly, defeating the cordon of off-side fielders and the huge, slow outfield to find the boundaries. His century came with one such clean strike, a magnificent cover-drive off Rizwan Latif. He finally fell in the last over of the innings, bowled going for a cross-batted swipe off Latif, but by then he done enough to ensure that India had a reasonable score to defend.As it turned out, 260 was more than sufficient. Not for the first time a minnow side showed far more skill with the ball than the bat. Repeatedly shuffling across the stumps, their batsmen were sitting ducks for Irfan Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who kept swinging the ball into the batsmen and trapping them in front. They shared the first five wickets, before Zaheer Khan, returning after a long injury layoff, celebrated with a wicket off his first over, forcing Syed Maqsood to edge to Laxman at slip.UAE had slipped to 45 for 6, and an extremely early finish seemed likely, before the lower order decided to play spoilsports. Tauqir braved a barrage of short deliveries from Zaheer, taking plenty of blows on the body and helmet, in scoring a half-century on debut, before Tendulkar winkled out the tail in a trice.S Rajesh is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Kaushal Lokuarachchi, the allrounder who bowls legspin, and Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner, have been called up as replacements for Muttiah Muralitharan for Sri Lanka’s forthcoming five-match one-day series against South Africa. The addition of the two spinners expands the squad to 15.Sri Lanka’s selectors will decide on Muralitharan’s replacement for their 14-man Champions Trophy squad after they receive a full medical report from his surgeon, Dr David Young. That is expected by the end of the week.Lokuarachchi, although just 22, has enjoyed a rollercoaster career since starring in the Under-19 World Cup in 2000. Having broken into the national squad in early 2003, he was then suspended after his involvement in a fatal late-night car accident.He reclaimed his place in the squad against Australia earlier this the year, before being dumped again, and was overlooked during the Asia Cup. But after a fine tour of England with the Sri Lanka A team, the selectors have given him another chance.Herath, who made his one-day debut earlier in the year against Zimbabwe, has slowly cemented his place in the Test squad and is the likeliest selection for the Champions Trophy.”Obviously the loss of Murali leaves us with big shoes to fill, but we drew a Test without him in Australia and we won against South Africa without him,” said John Dyson, the coach, in conversation with reporters. “The guys are starting to feel that they can perform without him and this is a great opportunity to prove that.”Sri Lanka take on South Africa under lights at Premadasa International Stadium on Friday.Sri Lankan squad: Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Saman Jayantha, Avishka Gunawardene, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Rangana Herath, Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

Steve Tikolo, the captain of the Kenyan team, slammed the ICC for the fact that Kenya have played virtually no international cricket since their semi-final appearance at the 2003 World Cup. “Most of us are really disappointed. After our World Cup performance we have hardly played any games,” said Tikolo ahead of Kenya’s first match of the Champions Trophy, against India. “Going 18 months without a single one-dayer makes us feel disappointed. We are not getting any respect.”When asked who he blamed for this, the reply came straight back with no hesitation: “Obviously the ICC, because they’re the custodians of the game all over the world. All we had was a series against Pakistan A and India A. That’s all that we had.” Kenya last played a one-day international against Pakistan at Sharjah in April 2003.At no point during the press conference did an obviously disheartened Tikolo mince his words. “If you have one-day status and don’t play any ODIs then the status is as good as useless. We need to play more games. We’d like to see more teams coming to Kenya. Triangulars are going on, but Kenya aren’t being invited.” He explained that playing top-flight cricket was critical to Kenya’s cricket future. “Without games you only go backwards. You need to play against the best to keep pace. Kenya’s future doesn’t look good.”Tikolo was also not particularly happy about the ICC’s claim to be working hard to globalise the game. “They are talking about globalisation of the game, but what they are doing with Kenya doesn’t point to that,” he said. But he thought the idea was still plausible: “It is possible to globalise the game. Look what football and rugby have done. I don’t see any difference in cricket.”But the lack of matches wasn’t the only bone Tikolo had to pick with the ICC. Their handling of the Maurice Odumbe affair has also not gone down too well. “Some players were mentioned by Maurice’s ex-wife, but I don’t think there was any substance to it. No investigations were done to prove this. And I think, on the ICC’s part, to let Catherine allege that some of the players were involved was very disappointing.”But despite all this turmoil, Tikolo insisted that his team was upbeat and looking forward to their matches in the tournament. “We’re looking forward to the game. It is a big one. Every team is going to come hard at Kenya after the performance in the World Cup. We are focused and we just need to concentrate on our game rather than think about the opposition. We need to play to the best of our abilities. We need to play cricket as it is played.”And what’s more, he does not believe that the games are lost before they begin: “Anything can happen on a given day. We can beat them.”If they do pull off a stunning upset – either against India or Pakistan – you can be sure the old whispers about the game being fixed will do the rounds. That angers Tikolo. “It is really disappointing when that happens. We gain respect only if we beat other teams. And for people to insinuate that these matches were fixed really hurts.”For the moment, though, it’s time for Kenya to put all that away, and concentrate on their first game against India.

Richard Collins, a consultant surgeon at the East Kent NHS Trust, will be Kent’s president for 2005.Collins, 61, who has been Kent’s medical adviser for the last 19 years and a committee member since 1999, was delighted with the nomination: “I am very conscious of the very notable names who have preceded me and will do my utmost to do all I can to help the cause of Kent cricket.”Although he doesn’t have first-class playing experience, Collins enjoyed his club cricket, having represented Buckhurst Hill in the Essex League for 16 years, and he has been a full MCC member from 1968. Brian Luckhurst, the current president, will introduce Collins as his successor at the next AGM, in March.

The showdown between the West Indies board and the players over contracts has been brewing for some time. If the clash has only just hit the headlines, the writing was on the wall from the moment the US$20 million three-year deal was signed at a hotel next to Lord’s last July.Cable & Wireless had sponsored West Indies cricket for 19 years, but in June, 2004 its three-year contract expired. The West Indies board had been rumoured to be about to get into bed with Digicel as far back as November 2003, and it did just that.In the normal course of events, one sponsor giving way to another does not pose any major difficulties. But Digicel and Cable & Wireless are not only in direct competition, they are bitter rivals. In Caribbean brand terms, it was like Pepsi replacing Coke.The further complication was that Brian Lara and seven other players in the squad touring England had personal deals with Cable & Wireless. While C&W were the official sponsors that was fine. But it didn’t go down too well with Digicel. At the time, one board insider warned: “It could compromise the any contact negotiations and cause problems."The press release heralding the new deal highlighted that Lara would be at the signing. Board officials and Digicel bigwigs stood around, delayed the big moment, but Lara never appeared. The WICB claimed that there was no problem and all was well, although even Digicel’s chief executive was realistic enough to admit that Cable & Wireless "obviously wouldn’t be too happy that we have lifted this sponsorship.” Five weeks later Lara signed a four-year deal with Cable & Wireless.Irish-based Digicel started a US$600 million mobile telecommunications investment in the Caribbean as recently as 2001, and according to some analysts it has already outstripped Cable & Wireless in the region.For its part, Cable & Wireless wasn’t sitting back. It committed as an official sponsor of the 2007 World Cup and started signing individual players to endorsement deals. Those brought the players into direct conflict with the board, whose contracts prevented them from representing any rivals to its major sponsors.Although both the board and Cable & Wireless claimed that the split was mutual, there were suspicions that the Digicel offer was higher. Although Cable & Wireless had been sponsor for 19 years, as Teddy Griffith, the board’s president, said simply: "Loyalty has a cost."In the Caribbean, players generally earn more from endorsements than they do from salaries attached to board contracts. So that there would be a showdown was inevitable from the moment Digicel came on board, and if the WICB thought otherwise then it was deluding itself. The same sentiment applies if it expected its leading players to ditch a sponsor who had been good to them personally on the promise of jam tomorrow.

Sri Lanka Cricket is pleased to forward the flight details of the Sri Lanka National Team tour to New Zealand 2004/2005.

• Sri Lanka National Team Departure date 16th December 2004, Time – 10.55 A.M., Flight No. EK 348.
• Team leaves Sri Lanka Cricket Headquarters on 16th December 2004 at 8.00 A.M.

Practice SessionThe final practice session of the Sri Lanka National team before their departure to New Zealand will be on Tuesday 14th December 2004 at 2.00 P.M. at SSC Grounds.

Shane Warne believes Australia’s one-day match against New Zealand at Hamilton in March should be moved after he played on the “terrible” pitch there for the FICA World XI yesterday. Warne, who captained the guest side as they were dismissed for 81, said New Zealand’s pitches in general were not up to the required limited-overs standard.”You couldn’t play a one-day international out there,” he said after his side’s four-wicket loss to New Zealand. “I think the authorities are probably going to have to look and see if the [Australia] game can be moved already.” Warne also criticised the surface at Christchurch, and said the series against Australia would be “hard work” for New Zealand on pitches providing too much assistance for the bowlers.Martin Snedden, the New Zealand Cricket chief executive, admitted that the Hamilton pitch was “not ideal”, but did not confirm if the venue’s international status was in jeopardy. “I don’t think the players were in danger,” Snedden said. “Until you talk to the people involved in the game … you can have thoughts, but I’d like to test them a bit on their thinking.”

South Africa 480 for 7 dec (Prince 139*, Boje 82) beat Zimbabwe 265 and 149 (Zondeki 6-39) by an innings and 62 runs
Scorecard
3rd dayBulletin – Zondeki takes six to rout Zimbabwe
Verdict – Development is the only solution
News – Zondeki named in Caribbean squad
News – South Africa trim central contracts
Big Picture – Boje misses his hundred
2nd dayBulletin – Prince century checks Zimbabwe’s progress
Big Picture – Herschelle Gibbs on the drive
1st dayBulletin – South African apathy keeps Test alive
Verdict – Putting them out of their misery
News – Injury problems for SA
Preview packagePreview – Taibu hopes for better showing