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Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, wants the concept of neutral umpires to be done away with and says the best umpires should officiate in high-profile matches, such as the India-Australia series. Waugh’s comments came after several umpiring errors on the first day of the second Test between India and Australia in Sydney.Waugh wrote in Australia’s : “The world’s No. 1 umpire for the past four years is Simon Taufel from Sydney and he should be out in the middle making the crucial decisions under pressure for this is what the best aspire to.” He said there might have been a need for neutral umpires in the past, because of a lack of professionalism coupled with poor television cameras.However, with more transparency and with poor performances from umpires likely to see them on the sidelines, Waugh believed there was no reason to insist on neutral umpires any more. Waugh was the most high-profile of the critics of Wednesday’s umpiring. “To have at least four obvious errors in one day is not bad luck,” Waugh said, “just inadequate concentration.”Mark Benson failed to spot an edge down leg side from Ricky Ponting on 17 and then did not see another deflection off the bat when he gave Ponting out lbw for 55. A nick from Andrew Symonds also escaped Steve Bucknor’s attention, while the third umpire Bruce Oxenford turned down a stumping appeal despite replays suggesting that Symonds’ foot was in the air when the bails came off.

ScorecardA splendid spell of bowling by Avinash Yadav and an unbeaten 66 from Raviraj Patil helped the Champs to their first win after three matches of the current Indian Cricket League tournament.The Rockets’ openers, whose powerful stand knocked the wind out of Chandigarh Lions in the first game of the tournament, gave their team a steady start after Damien Martyn decided to bat against the Champs. Sachin Dholpure was trapped by Michael Kasprowicz for 29 after he and Wavell Hinds had put on 61 off 9.1 overs, and although they were slightly off the pace, the platform given was ideal for a run-fest in the remaining overs.However, Avinash Yadav wrecked any such hopes with his 4-0-14-4. He first removed Hinds in the 12th over. Saman Jayantha effected a run-out of Sridharan Sriram in the 14th; in the same over he caught Martyn off Yadav’s bowling. The left-arm spinner went on to make it four for the match by dismissing Reetinder Sodhi and Rakesh Patel in the 18th.The Rockets struggled to 131 for 9, and though it was an improvement on their 107 for 6 against the Delhi Giants, the score was not likely to be enough.Subhojit Paul fell early during the Champs’ chase, and Jayantha wasn’t too impressive in his 22-ball 13, but Raviraj Patil went at a brisk pace to keep the Champs on course.His 66 off 46 balls contained six fours and three sixes. Patil’s fiery 52 against the Kolkata Tigers in their previous match had all but sealed victory, but this time he stayed till the end as the Champs reached their target with two balls to spare.

Scorecard

Daniel Vettori gave a virtuoso exhibition of the left-arm spinner’s art – and rifled throws at the stumps with the accuracy of a knife-thrower – as New Zealand romped to a 107-run victory over West Indies in the final of the NatWest Series at Lord’s. Vettori finished with remarkable figures of 5 for 30, and ran out Devon Smith – top-scorer for West Indies with 44 – and Ian Bradshaw with direct hits as New Zealand ensured that their first-ever one-day international appearance at Lord’s would be one that they would never forget. Despite a late collapse, they tallied 266, and they then bowled and fielded with such discipline and verve that West Indies were never in the hunt.It was Vettori’s throwing arm that started West Indies’ slow slide to oblivion. A direct hit from short third man sent Devon Smith on his way, and ended a 44-run partnership with Brian Lara that had given West Indies fleeting hope (98 for 3). That had come after both Chris Gayle (4) – caught low to his right by Scott Styris at second slip off Jacob Oram – and Ramnaresh Sarwan, run-out for 19 after being sent back by Smith, had fallen cheaply.Minutes later, though, Vettori dealt the killer blow. Lara had made 30 when he was trapped plumb in front as he shuffled across to a ball that angled in to the stumps (105 for 4). And then Dwayne Bravo, whose unhappy sojourn in the middle had produced just 4 runs in 14 balls, flicked a delivery straight to Styris at midwicket. Styris fumbled once, but held on to intensify the gloom in the West Indian dressing room.Thereafter, it was a procession. Ricardo Powell missed more than he hit in an innings of 18, and it ended with an ugly leading edge to backward point where Hamish Marshall took an outstanding catch. And Dwayne Smith made just 2, trapped leg before by one that hustled on to him.Vettori than briefly stepped out of the limelight, allowing Chris Harris to pick up his 200th wicket in ODIs, the first New Zealander to do so. Ridley Jacobs was the name into the record books, slogging one straight to Chris Cairns at deep midwicket (150 for 8).Enter Vettori, and another stunning direct hit that sent the dawdling Ian Bradshaw back to the pavilion. Moments later, it was all over, as Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who batted in turtle mode when hare was required, belted one down to Craig McMillan at long-on.New Zealand’s innings had been built around a classy 67 from Stephen Fleming, and a first-wicket partnership of 120 with Nathan Astle (57). But they lost their way in the home stretch, losing their last seven wickets for just 49 runs. Sarwan was the unlikely bowling star, scalping 3 for 31 – including the wicket of Cairns – and Tino Best, who had taken fearful punishment in his opening spell, then came back to mop up the last vestiges of resistance.New Zealand’s cause was hamstrung by two rain delays, the first after 18.1 overs and then again in the 41st over. When they went off the second time, they were handily placed at 220 for 4, with 57 deliveries still to be bowled. But from there, they couldn’t find the boundary rope even once, as Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Best slowed the flow of runs to the tiniest of trickles.Cairns’s dismissal for just 6 was key. On his last appearance at Lord’s, he had lashed a breathtaking 82 in a Test match. Here, he stepped out to whack a Sarwan delivery slanting down leg, and turned back to see the ball ricochet onto the stumps off Jacob’s forearm (232 for 5).

McMillan, whose rapid 71-run partnership with Marshall (44) had rebuilt the innings after the first rain-induced wobble, cruised to 52, but in his effort to up the ante, he lofted the returning Best straight to deep cover, where Chanderpaul avoided a collision with Bradshaw to take an excellent catch (249 for 6).Harris made only 1 before presenting Sarwan with a sharp return catch low to his left (252 for 7), and Vettori gave him another notch on the belt by holing out to Dwayne Smith at deep midwicket for 6 (265 for 8). Best ensured that there would be no late flourish by having Oram (15) caught behind, and then running out Gareth Hopkins with a smart pick-up and throw.It hadn’t started anywhere near as well for West Indies. Both Best and Bradshaw struggled to find a containing line, and Fleming got going with some sublime flicks off the pads and beautifully timed drives and cuts through the off side. Astle was more circumspect, but a couple of beefy cover-drives when the bowlers erred in length meant that there was no respite for Lara from either end, after he had gambled and put New Zealand in.West Indies didn’t help themselves with some poor fielding – Gayle dropped a sitter from Fleming off Best’s bowling in the third over, and Powell then failed to hang on to a fierce slash from Astle with the score on 79.Fleming batted beautifully until the first delay, and then appeared to lose his focus, scooping a catch to Gayle at point off Dwayne Smith’s bowling. Bravo then got in on the act, getting Astle to cut one uppishly to Gayle at backward point (142 for 2). Styris didn’t bother to hang around long enough to gauge the pace of the wicket, and an ugly hoick at Bravo flew off the leading edge to Powell at point (146 for 3).Marshall and McMillan restored order with some well-placed singles and powerful strokes, but then the rain came to wash away New Zealand’s hopes of a huge total. As it turned out, 266 was more than enough, especially once Vettori proved to be the man with the golden arm.

A push to give umpires access to Hawk-Eye to help their decision-making has won support from an unlikely source, with Geoff Boycott insisting the ICC make the move as soon as possible. Boycott believes at the very least the game’s governing body must allow umpires to see basic information such as whether the ball pitched in line with the stumps.The ICC is set to discuss Hawk-Eye at its Cricket Committee meeting in Dubai next week and a trial in Winchester on Wednesday was intended to give the members hard proof of whether the system works. However, rain meant the testing had to be postponed, possibly in favour of another trial at Lord’s following the England-New Zealand Test in a fortnight.But Boycott hopes it will not be long before umpires are allowed to use the technology. “We seem too reticent to try things, we’re taking too long,” he told Cricinfo. “As a player, all you ever want is as many accurate decisions as possible. If I make a mistake and I’m out, well so be it, that’s my fault, but you don’t want to be given out when you feel you’re not out.”Boycott is a member of the MCC World Cricket Committee and there is strong support within the group for greater use of Hawk-Eye. If the ICC agrees, it must decide whether to give umpires unrestricted access to all of Hawk-Eye’s data, including the predicted flight of the ball, or limit it to more clear-cut information such as where the ball pitched and where it struck the batsman.Although Boycott believes in the accuracy of Hawk-Eye’s predictions he thinks a gradual introduction of the technology would help appease the doubters. “These line decisions – I think we can get them into the game straight away,” he said. “The lbws [predicted ball path] – there’s too much doubt at the moment to convince the ICC.”He hopes the on-field umpires can remain in charge by simply asking the third official for specific Hawk-Eye information, much like the video-referee system in rugby. Boycott believes the proliferation of new tools being shown to viewers means umpires are being hung out to dry.”Umpires make mistakes – they’re human, we all make mistakes – but today with television as it is and so good, they show the replay and it shows up any errors. I don’t like seeing umpires embarrassed or made to look foolish but you can’t tell television not to show it because television now pays all the money to keep the game alive.”There should be a way of doing it, like other sports, where the umpire on field is still in charge and makes the final decision. We need to get rid of blatant mistakes but also accept line-ball decisions. Unless it’s clearly not out we should go with the decision of the umpire on field.”If Hawk-Eye is adopted by the ICC, the spotlight will almost certainly move to other devices like the snickometer and the infra-red Hot Spot camera. While Boycott is uncertain whether those tools should be used by umpires, he believes it would be foolish to deny the officials any hard facts available to viewers.”I’m more concerned at the moment about things that are quite easy to tell – pitching outside leg stump, that should be quite straightforward,” Boycott said. “Television is getting so good you’ve got super slow-mo, it shows inside-edges when people are given out lbw. You’ve got to find ways to open your mind and some people have closed minds to change.”

The International Cricket Council has admitted it made an error, after a private letter of chastisement to Wasim Bari from Malcolm Speed, their chief executive, was allowed to enter the public domain.Bari, Pakistan’s chief selector, had been scathing in his criticism of David Shepherd’s umpiring, following two poor decisions in the final of the tri-series against Australia at Amstelveen in August. "Shepherd’s decisions were like target killing and cost Pakistan the final,” Bari was reported as saying, after the controversial dismissals of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana had contributed to a 17-run defeat. “His decisions were not only doubtful but disgraceful," he added, saying that it was time for Shepherd to retire.As a consequence, Bari was severely reprimanded by the ICC, with Speed branding his remarks as “inflammatory” and “out of order”.”Wasim, please rest assured that any future public criticism of ICC officials by you while you are chairman of selectors for the PCB will be dealt with very firmly under the ICC code of conduct,” Speed wrote in his letter. “You have been in and around the game long enough to know that you were well and truly out of order in making these comments.”Unfortunately, Speed’s response found its way to the press owing to a lack of clear instructions about its publication. “I should have been more explicit in my instructions within my department so that this unfortunate situation would have been avoided,” said Brendan McClements, the ICC’s corporate-affairs general manager. “I understand that this has now placed [Wasim Bari] in a difficult position, a situation that all of us would prefer not to have occurred.”The current ICC regulations do permit selectors to make such comments, although players and team officials are forbidden from doing so. Since Bari made his remarks, however, Speed has taken steps to tighten this loophole.

Two uncapped young players, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn, have been included in South Africa’s 13-man squad for the first Test against England that starts at Port Elizabeth next Friday (December 17).de Villiers, 20, is a right-hand opening batsman for Titans, while Steyn, 21, who also plays for Titans, is a right-arm fast bowler. Though de Villiers can keep wicket, if he is picked as an opening batsmen, as is likely, Thami Tsolekile will retain the gloves.The squad was announced by Haroon Lorgat, South Africa’s new convenor of selectors. “de Villiers and Steyn are two of the most exciting young players in the country at the moment,” he said. “AB has been in rich form in the SuperSport Series both this season and last and has followed that up with good form in the Standard Bank Cup. He will be a strong candidate to open the batting with Graeme Smith.”Steyn has that rare commodity, real pace, and although he is relatively inexperienced, he has shown tremendous potential this season and his form has been outstanding.”Herschelle Gibbs and Andre Nel are both recovering from injury and so were not considered for the squad, while Nicky Boje, who has recently had minor surgery to remove a growth from his neck, will have to pass a fitness test before the game. The only change from the side that lost at Kolkata last week is Justin Ontong, who has been left out.”We have stuck, by and large, to those players who toured India, and displayed grit and courage in very tough circumstances,” Lorgat added. “We need battle-hardened mentally tough players for this series, and I believe we have them.”South Africa squad for first Test
Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers, Andrew Hall, Jacques Rudolph, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Boeta Dippenaar, Zander de Bruyn, Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Thami Tsolekile (wk), Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini.

Ross Dykes has been retained as acting manager of the New Zealand cricket team, ahead of their tour of Bangladesh next month.Dykes took over on a temporary basis during the ICC Champions Trophy in England, when Lindsay Crocker, the team’s general manager, was forced to fly home early for health reasons.Crocker is still recuperating, and his fitness and availability for the tour to Australia in November will be determined next month.New Zealand play two Tests and three one-day internationals on their trip to Bangladesh.

Glenn McGrath has not given up hope of earning a late call-up to Australia’s Test squad for their three-match series in Sri Lanka, and believes he is bowling better than he has done for years.McGrath, 34, who has been sidelined for seven months after undergoing ankle surgery, made a successful comeback for New South Wales 2nd XI last week, picking up match figures of 10 for 86 in 50.2 overs against Victoria, and is intent on proving his fitness in what could be NSW’s final Pura Cup match of the season, against Queensland on Thursday."I’m bowling better than even before the last Ashes series,” said McGrath, whose last Test was against Bangladesh in Cairns last July. “The game I played in Melbourne last week was the best I’ve felt for years. I’m just trying to keep myself as fit and strong as possible.”NSW’s match against Queensland will be Steve and Mark Waugh’s last home game, as both men have announced their retirement at the end of the season. McGrath, who missed the emotional scenes when Steve bowed out of Test cricket at Sydney in January, said he was "so happy" to be back in time for this occasion.It is not necessarily the Waugh’s final Pura Cup match, however. They can still reach the final against Victoria in Melbourne, but they must take maximum points from the match, and hope, at the same time, that Tasmania are trounced by Victoria in Hobart.

Bob Simpson, the coach who took Australia to the top of the world, believes the selectors’ attitude must change to ensure a successful future. He said a couple of players’ “careers might be in the balance” as they discovered the “down slope can be as quick as the up”.”They have been very loyal to this team over a long time and it has been the right way to go,” Simpson said in the . “Now they have to be very objective about what they need.” Matthew Hayden and Jason Gillespie have been the chief concerns during the Ashes series, while Michael Kasprowicz, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist have also struggled.Simpson, who was in charge when Australia beat West Indies in 1995, said the side has had a swing bowling problem for the past three years and the fielding has also slipped. “It’s not just reverse-swing, but swing in general,” he told the paper. “I think it’s a problem of world batsmen at the moment. There are not many of them at all out there who are good at playing it. That problem has been there for a while and it’s really been shown up in Australia by England.”With the fifth Test starting on Thursday, Simpson said Australia’s batsmen had to start finding some consistency. “A lot of them, and I suppose Matthew Hayden is one of the main culprits here, have been getting starts and not going on with it,” he said. “Australia need to get enough runs to give their bowlers something to defend.”

The England board has announced that 13 players have been awarded central contracts for the next 12 months. Of those who had existing contracts, only Geraint Jones has been omitted, although Chris Read, who replaced him in the national side, has not been made an offer either.Monty Panesar and Alastair Cook – who have established themselves in the last nine months – are included for the first time. The contracts are estimated to be worth somewhere in the region of £250,000-£400,000.Three of those named – Michael Vaughan, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones – have hardly raised a bat or bowled a ball in anger in the last year. David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, explained the board’s thinking: “The selectors were also keen to demonstrate our support and faith in those players who are currently recovering from long-term injuries but remain an important part of our plans as we prepare for an intensive programme of international cricket in both forms of the game over the next 12 months.”Referring to Read and Geraint Jones, Graveney was keen to point out that “the selectors can, of course, award Summer Contracts to individual players from next April if we feel that performances on overseas tours merit this and I am sure that both Chris Read and Geraint Jones will be competing hard to demonstrate their value to the team this winter.”The contracts also benefit the counties as they receive around £2,000 per Test and £1,000 per ODI when their contracted players appear for England, and these figures are set to increase significantly. It is seen as their reward for youth policies that produce the players in the first place, and it explains why counties such as Leicestershire are keen to hold on to youngsters like Stuart Broad even though he is likely to be increasingly away on international duty.England central contracts 2006-07 Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Kevin Pietersen, Monty Panesar, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan.