Antigua and Trinidad, two countries that will be hosting World Cup matches next month, were jolted on Tuesday by an early-morning earthquake.A quake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the open-ended Richter scale hit St. John’s just prior to 06:00 local time (10:00 GMT), around the same time that Port-of-Spain was rattled by a quake with a magnitude of 4.3. Disaster officials said there were no reports of injuries or damage.Antigua is set to host Super Eight matches at the new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, and Trinidad is the venue for four warm-up matches at the Frank Worrell Oval, as well as Group-B matches involving India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bermuda.

Shaun Tait has shrugged off suggestions he is the weak link in Australia’s attack and remains keen to take the new ball against South Africa on Saturday. Tait said he had no interest in Daryll Cullinan’s comments that South Africa would target him for early runs.”I couldn’t care less what Daryll Cullinan or others have to say for me,” Tait told . “To be honest it doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t know him.”I suppose being the young bloke in the side coming up there’s no reason why they shouldn’t target me but I am looking forward to the match.” Tait had limited impact in Australia’s opening two World Cup matches, taking 2 for 45 against Scotland and 1 for 29 against Netherlands.He said he was disappointed by his pace so far in the Caribbean but was looking forward to challenging South Africa with the new ball. “Hopefully there will be some really quick spells coming up,” he said.”I’ve been a little bit disappointed but I suppose the different conditions, pretty hot and dry and a flat wicket, it’s probably not the ideal place to be bowling high 150s. I think it is more important [for me to bowl] when the new batsman comes in, in general, and if we get a couple of early quick wickets, [Glenn] McGrath comes on.”Tait said he wanted to remove Graeme Smith cheaply in the same way Brett Lee has in several ODIs. “[Batsmen are at their] weakest early on, especially if it’s reversing a bit it’s quite hard to pick up on these tracks so it’s quite a good time to bring me on,” he said. “I hope to do the same job Lee used to do.”Australia and South Africa each have two wins from two games. The winner of Saturday’s clash will take two points through to the Super Eights.

In the aftermath of Ireland’s World Cup farewell, Trent Johnston, their captain, dropped a broad hint that he would soon be announcing his retirement.”This might be my last game” he said. “Maybe Phil [Simmons, the new coach] wants to get rid of the dead wood and get the young boys in? I don’t know. I’ll sit down with my family and see where we are going. It’ll be pretty hard to go on after a World Cup and the seven weeks we’ve just had like this. But if I turn around I’d love to be a part of what Phil wants to achieve. It’s a fantastic cricket calendar coming up and exciting times.”Reflecting on his team’s experiences, Johnston said that the moment he jumped off the team bus after the group-stage victory over Pakistan was the one that would leave with him the longest. “That was the highlight for me,” he said. “The reception we got there, when we went to visit our families and friends. I probably walked about two metres in 50 minutes. People wanted to talk to you and sign things, and that’s never been seen before in Irish cricket. There were other moments, but spending that time with our families was great, because they have sacrificed a lot for us.”As Ireland prepare to embark on a new chapter in its cricket, Johnston was keen to stress the strength in depth in the country’s grassroots cricket, and paid tribute to the programmes that Birrell had set in place – programmes that had turned Ireland into European champions at every level from Under-13s to seniors. “We’ve got to hang onto those kids and not let them go off to county cricket,” he warned. “That’s something down the track we’ve got to look to do.”The majority of this squad will be around for the next World Cup. It’s been a massive experience for them and a learning curve. Hopefully we will qualify and make the Super Eights again, because that’s another goal and a realistic goal. The way we’ve performed here means we’re going to get a lot more games against the high-profile teams. That’s got to be good for Irish cricket. But we’ve got to keep those kids coming through.”

Pakistan have announced a 33-player training camp ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in November. The month-long camp will be held at Lahore Country Club from June 15.Eight teams will participate in the qualifiers, with two progressing to the World Cup, in Australia in 2009. Pakistan, who will have home advantage, will contend with Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea, Bermuda, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland and Netherlands.Omer Rashid will act as the coach while Mohammad Tariq Siddiqui has been selected as his deputy.Training camp Bismah Maroof, Taskeen Qadeer, Sana Javed, Nazish Chaudhry, Sabahat Rashid, Marina Iqbal, Almas Akram, Zeba Manzoor, Sabeen Abdul Samad, Saima Jamil, Minahil Zahoor, Amna Butt, Sana Mir, Urooj Mumtaz Khan, Nain Abidi, Batool Fatima, Arman Khan, Javeria Khan, Masooma Junaid, Kainat Saleem, Sajida Shah, Sumaiya Siddiqui, Asmavia Iqbal, Sania Khan, Zehmarad Afzal, Maryum Hassan Shah, Naila Nazir, Qanita Jalil, Nida Dar, Rabia Shah, Sadia Yousaf, Wajiha Sundas, Madiha Gillani.

Glenn McGrath, the recently-retired fast bowling legend, has been targeted by his old state side New South Wales to return as a specialist bowling coach. McGrath, who walked away from all forms of the game after helping Australia win the World Cup, is wanted by Matthew Mott, the new head coach, to mentor New South Wales’ younger pacemen.”We are trying to identify someone to coach the fast bowlers,” Mott told . “Last season Brad McNamara would help whenever we needed it and Glenn McGrath is someone who is definitely on our radar. We’ll cast a wide net to find the person. Whether it’ll be a full-time position or a consultant who comes in from time to time is still to be decided.”McGrath, who finished with 563 Test wickets and 381 in the one-day arena, has plenty of work options as a motivational speaker to consider in retirement. During the World Cup he said he would like a complete break from the game for six months.Nathan Bracken, the former national and state team-mate of McGrath, was sure he would be perfect for the role. “Glenn made a difficult job look very easy,” he said. “The fact he knows how to express himself and can explain things thoroughly means he’d be able to pass on some great tips.”New South Wales have a solid and experienced first-choice pace attack in Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Bracken, but Mott is aware of the need to develop the younger bowlers for when the internationals are away. Mott is determined players such as Scott Coyte, Mark Cameron and Aaron Bird fulfil their potential.

West Indies captain Daren Ganga admitted that his team’s poor batting in the first innings and woeful fielding through the game had influenced the outcome of the third Test at Old Trafford.Talking to journalists a day ahead of the final Test at Chester-le Street, Ganga indicated that the team’s fielding needed to drastically improve. He said, “With the introduction of our new fielding coach – Julien Fountain – we have been working very hard as a team to improve but improvement will not happen overnight. It is something that we will continue working at and hopefully you will see a drastic improvement in this Test match.”On Darren Sammy’s injury, Ganga said that an assessment would be made regarding his fitness for the Test. With the weather expected to disrupt the proceedings of the match, Ganga said such matters were out of their control. “We have the Headingley experience behind us so we are aware of what the English players can do in English conditions.”Ganga emphasised that the team needed to cut down on errors. “We are trying to limit the amount of mistakes that we are making over and over again. We’re not accustomed to playing in seven degrees and the swinging ball in the Caribbean. It is important that we feed off one another; a lot of talk has been going around our dressing-room with regards to adapting and dealing with situations like this.”On whether Daren Powell would figure in the team, Ganga said, “Before the last Test match it was really tough leaving Daren Powell out. He was one of our better bowlers over the past year. Strong consideration will be given to him and the other bowlers.”Stating that the injured Ravi Rampaul would not be considered, Ganga said, “We lacked a bit of penetration in terms of getting 20 wickets. We were able to do that at Old Trafford, we actually created a lot more than 20 chances but we weren’t able to hold on to all. It might be a four-day Test match [with weather likely to affect the game] but we don’t know and these are things we have to factor in.”

Dav Whatmore has expressed surprise and disappointment at reports that Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lanka captain, has advised the PCB against hiring him as their next coach.According to , Ranatunga had a chance encounter with Talat Ali, the Pakistan manager, in Scotland recently. When asked for his thoughts on Whatmore as an option, given that the two had worked together extensively and led Sri Lanka to their 1996 World Cup triumph, Ranatunga reportedly offered the advice that Whatmore should be avoided.”I don’t know what his motivations were but he is entitled to his own personal views and I have no desire to get dragged into a public argument with him,” Whatmore told Cricinfo.Whatmore was one of three Australians shortlisted by the Pakistan board for the coaching position, lying vacant since the death of Bob Woolmer in March. Geoff Lawson, the former Test fast bowler, and Richard Done, the ICC’s High performance manager, are the others.”The facts are that I have indicated my desire to coach Pakistan and, if appointed, I am confident of being able to do an extremely good job with a very talented group of players,” Whatmore said.Kumar Sangakkara, who made his debut while Whatmore was in charge, endorsed his credentials to be the Pakistan coach. “I have absolutely no doubt that Dav is exactly the kind of coach Pakistan needs right now,” Sangakkara told Cricinfo.”He has the expertise and the experience, including a World Cup win, the pinnacle of coaching success. I count myself as very fortunate to have broken into the national side with him as coach. It helped me to hone the right attitude towards hard work and getting out of my comfort zone that has stood me in good stead ever since,” he said.Ranatunga’s advice comes on the back of increasing chatter within Pakistan that Whatmore may not be the favourite he once was for the position. Some of the players, especially senior ones, are said to be more keen on Geoff Lawson, wary of Whatmore’s reputation as a no-nonsense taskmaster. According to the report, Talat Ali has also given Lawson his backing.The board, however, is refusing to say anything other than each candidate was impressive and that a final decision will be taken soon. Though Nasim Ashraf, the board chairman, has repeatedly said a decision would be made by July 1, it looks likely that one will be taken at the next meeting of the board’s ad-hoc committee, in the middle of the month.

He has not even signed up with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), but Nilesh Kulkarni is already feeling the strain. Mumbai’s selectors named their team to take on Karachi in a four-day match for the Nissar Trophy on Saturday and Kulkarni figured in the squad. With speculation rife that he was set to join the ICL Mumbai Cricket Association officials got in touch with Kulkarni to check what the exact situation was.When they learned that Kulkarni, who is currently playing league cricket in England, had indeed been offered a contract by ICL, and was dilly-dallying over whether to sign or not, and reportedly asked for a few days time before he made up his mind, Mumbai’s selectors made theirs up.They dropped Kulkarni for the Nissar Trophy match, replacing him with Mundeep Mungela, the medium-pacer.”We wanted to send a strong message to Nilesh,” a senior MCA official close to the selection committee, comprising Dilip Vengsarkar, Abey Kuruvilla, Milind Rege and Kiran Mokashi, told . “He wanted a few days’ time but we decided to take our own decision.”Mumbai’s reaction is hardly surprising considering the embarrassing position Sharad Pawar, president of the MCA and the BCCI could find himself in if members from his own team migrated in large numbers to the ICL.Mumbai will play Karachi Urban, winners of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in Pakistan, in a four-day match starting on September 8. This is the second edition of the Nissar Trophy, named after Mohammad Niswar, the fast bowler who represented India in six Tests in the 1930s before migrating to Pakistan. The first edition was won by Uttar Pradesh, then Ranji champions. Mumbai will miss the services of Wasim Jaffer who is recuperating from a knee injury and has been advised to take six weeks rest.Already players who have signed up for the ICL have been left out in the cold by their state associations, most notably Hyderabad, who were forced to send in replacements for seven cricketers who were part of the Hyderabad team taking part in the Buchi Babu Memorial tournament in Chennai.While it has only happened in one or two cases so far, it is expected that many of the cricketers who have signed up with the ICL will also either lose their jobs or be forced to give up their jobs as they will be ineligible to take part in any tournaments organised by the board or its affiliates.

Pakistan’s preparations for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship have been unusually well-planned. A gruelling summer of conditioning camps in three cities as well as a glut of practice Twenty20 matches indicated a seriousness of purpose unseen in other countries. But it all means little until they play their first actual match.”We can prepare strategies, try and find the right balances, work out plans and play any number of practice games,” Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach, told Cricinfo just before the team’s departure for Nairobi, where they play a series of warm-up matches against Bangladesh, Uganda and Kenya.”But that can only take you so far,” he said. “Until the first match happens, we won’t really know what to expect. We’ve got an excellent opportunity to play some matches in Kenya now and fine-tune our plans and get our combinations right.”The relative freshness of the format – there have only ever been 16 international matches – means teams start on a more equal footing than they might in a 50-over tournament. Pakistan have only played two internationals (won one, lost one) but were one of the first to organise a domestic Twenty20 tournament – with the fourth edition scheduled for this December – which has proved a wildly successful revenue-earner and has meant their players are familiar and comfortable with the format.”Most of the players in the side have played it and have good experience of it,” Lawson said. “Shoaib [Malik, captain] has an excellent grasp of the tactics in this format. He has been successful at leading domestically as well, so that will play a part.”Fortune, too, will play a role. “We have some explosive players but I think everyone understands that luck will play some part in this game too. Everyone wants to win and to do so, any side will need an element of luck.”It helps also if you have a pace attack “at least the equal of any other side in the world”. Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul are simultaneously fit and available for the first time since they came together and despite the popular perception that the format is skewed heavily in favour of batsmen, pace, Lawson feels, might make a difference.”See, good cricketers are good cricketers in any format, 20 overs, 50 or a Test. And pace bowlers are good to have in any format. We have three or four very good ones, they are looking healthy and their roles will be crucial in South Africa.”Lawson has been with the side for just over a week, familiarising with the players and overseeing the final training camp in Lahore, but Talat Ali, the manager says the signs are already positive. “He had good interaction with the players, the body language between all of them is very positive,” said Ali. “There is a definite change in the atmosphere and the way the team is and that is a good sign.”Lawson himself has been impressed by the squad’s capacity for hard work. “I’m very happy with their attitude and the way they have responded to the training regime. With David [Dwyer, fitness trainer], we’ve given them some real tough, heavy workouts and full-on sessions. But they want to do it and that is impressive.”There is still considerable work to be done, however, for a side Bob Woolmer initially thought the poorest he had seen in terms of fitness. “We’ve looked at lots of areas in terms of their fitness. They have definitely improved, but they still have a long way to go. But we’re on that slope [of progress], which is good.”How far up that slope Pakistan is, will begin to reveal itself now. They open the four-nation tournament with a match against Uganda on September 1, before taking on Bangladesh the day after. They wrap up preparations by playing the hosts Kenya on September 4, before flying out to Johannesburg for the real deal.

Allan Border believes Australia should overlook Phil Jaques and Chris Rogers for the first Test against Sri Lanka and promote Michael Hussey to open with Matthew Hayden. Border, a former national selector, said Hussey and Stuart MacGill should be given the first chance to replace Justin Langer and Shane Warne.”There’s an opportunity to open with Hussey, freeing up a middle-order spot for [Andrew] Symonds or [Michael] Clarke or [Brad] Hodge,” Border told the . “It gives a better balance to the side rather than having a new opener and one of those middle-order guys missing out.”Most of Hussey’s Tests have been at No. 4 or 5, but he loves opening and has spent most of his first-class career at the top of the order. However, Border said Jaques, who made 152, 82 and 136 for Australia A on the tour of Pakistan, and Rogers would come into the calculations. “Jaques and Rogers have got the numbers on the board,” he said, “and deserve to be talked about.”Border also warned Shane Watson and Hodge, who have expressed their interest in the opening role, not to expect success immediately if they bat at the top. “It’s one thing to say ‘I might try and open’ [but] it’s not as simple as that – there’s technique, temperament, a lot of different facets.”Coming off at 5pm after a hard day in the field, everyone puts their feet up and you see these blokes strapping up their pads for the ugly half hour – that’s a tough gig. Someone like Watson will have to almost serve an apprenticeship. They might go gangbusters straight away but it’s amazing against the new ball, you can get caught out pretty quick.”After the spin coach Terry Jenner dismissed Brad Hogg’s Test chances, Border agreed he preferred Stuart MacGill as Australia’s No. 1. “Hogg is an option but Stuey should be given the nod first up, he deserves it,” he said. “He’s a proven wicket taker, I think he likes the big stage.”If Border was still a selector he would seriously consider a fast bowling unit of Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait for the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Gabba from November 8. “The way I’d be thinking would be the pace barrage,” he said in the Courier-Mail. “I would be tempted to unleash Tait and Johnson with Lee and Clark. You wouldn’t fancy facing that lot.”