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I left England for Perth on New Year’s Day to join the Neil `Noddy’ Holder Professional Cricketers Training Programme and to play the second half of the season for local Grade I club, Hammersley. Also in attendance is Nicky Peng of Durham and, recently, Pete Trego, ex-Somerset and now with Kent.I have daily, for an hour, one-to-one batting coaching sessions with Noddy Holder, who is the main batting coach for Western Australia and the personal coach of Justin Langer. I have bowling coaching from Matt Nicholson, the Western Australia and ex-Australian Test fast bowler, who is looking into every aspect of my bowling action with a view to helping me to bowl quicker without losing the ability to move the ball. I am also having fielding training with Stewart Kerpennen, who also plays for Western Australia and is the `local Jonty Rhodes’. Therefore, I am working with people who are at the very top of the game.Often, nets start at 7.30 am because, by lunchtime, it is too hot for there to be any meaningful training. Last week, the temperature peaked at 42 degrees, which is ridiculous! I am also doing daily fitness workout with Matt Nicholson, who is a qualified sports trainer with, like myself, a degree in Sports Science. This consists of 3km runs along the beach, sprinting up sand dunes, 2 km swims and gym work. Also, sometimes we go to the local Scarborough Cricket Club where Mat will layout a `circuit’ or to do repetitive 400m runs. One day when he was feeling particularly mean, he took us to a local landmark known as `The Stairs’ which are 120 concrete steps going up a hillside. We had to sprint up the stairs and be timed. Ever since Noddy has had his academy, the record has been 18 seconds and, although it may be hard to believe, I actually returned 17 seconds on my first attempt. With us on that day was an Australian challenged me to a re-run. Again, I clocked 17 seconds while she returned 17.1 seconds and so some of this training must be working!Recently, I also did some schoolboy coaching at a local public school with Messrs Justin Langer, Doug Walters, Barry Richards, Rodney Hogg and Bob Massey! In such company, whoever was in my group drew the short straw! The coaching was over three days and it was a wonderful experience to be with such cricket legends. In fact, I had met Justin Langer about a week earlier at Scarborough Cricket Club when he told me that he was "looking forward" to doing the coaching with me. At the time, he had consumed a couple of beers, been fielding in around 38 degrees and so I had no way of knowing whether or not he was serious.When I first came out here, I had a stiff back courtesy of falling over while on a training run across Painswick Beacon just before departure. This meant that my early bowling was off no more than 10 yards by order. Happily, this has now cleared up and last Saturday I wound it up for the first time, much to the delight of my team-mates as there was a good carry on the pitch and the wicket keeper was taking most of the balls head-high. It now remains to be seen how it goes in the remaining weeks while I am out here.Grade I cricket is a good standard and played in a fiercely competitive way. However, there is no `sledging’ as everyone can play at that standard and so everyone has respect for the ability of the other players. There are a considerable number of `Grades’ to cricket out here so that, more or less, everyone can find a level to play at. This is in marked contrast to most Club cricket in England where virtually every side will contain one or more players who are not at the standard of the rest. The grounds are very large but often used for Aussie Rules in the winter and so the outfields are uneven. Some of the wickets have left a great deal to be desired and so batting has not been easy. The Australians do not complain and they simply get on with it. A sight screen is also a rarity and in our first game, there was no pavilion either! In fact, that game remains in the memory for a number of reasons. First, both sides bring three stumps and a ball. I wish someone had told our skipper, as we turned up with two stumps and no ball!Secondly, because there was no pavilion, we had to change under the trees where I left my kit bag containing the sandwiches I was also asked to bring to contribute towards the tea. At tea time, I discovered that my kit bag was FULL of ants who had invaded all my kit and had my sandwiches away. Thirdly, my first three balls in Australia. The opposition had a well-known local batsman who was already averaging above 60 for the season so far. My first ball hit him full amidships and we all stood around for five minutes while he recovered! My second ball saw him glove it to the keeper, where a large appeal was rejected by the umpire only for the batsman to claim, "Jeez, I gloved that" and he proceeded to walk. I did not know there was such a thing as a walking Australian opener. My third ball saw their next best batsman play all round a straight one and depart lbw. Their two best batsmen were in the pavilion, or at least they would have been had there been one.Unfortunately, my team were bottom of the league on arrival and we have stayed there. A promotion to Grade I from Grade II has coincided with the departure of about half the team and so they are in the process of rebuilding. Have batted in three matches and so far have scored 22, 24 and 10 & 40. The third game was played on a `shocker’ of a pitch that had not been rolled due to mechanical breakdown and the ball was moving everywhere. We scored 80 and 124 and the opposition scored 83 and 126-9. My 40 in the second innings took 3.5 hours and I took 18 overs to get off the mark! Part of my recent batting coaching with Noddy has focussed on concentration at the wicket and selling one’s wickets dearly. I thought I would put the theory to practice and I can assure you that that particular innings bored everybody rigid. However, in the context of the game, it nearly won the match because my team proceeded to drop four catches (two in the last over before the winning run was scored) and so we should have won.The only other thing of note was, the other week, I was asked for $20 on entering my club on the grounds that a 100 Club Draw was no good with 99 balls. I paid the money happily, thinking I was contributing towards Club funds, only to find that my last-minute purchase scooped the top prize of $600. I love taking money from Australians.

Rob Bailey and Graeme Welch rescued Derbyshire from the prospect of defeat inside three days but Worcestershire remain on course for victory.When bad light halted play shortly before 5.30, Derbyshire were 185-5, still 113 runs behind and unless the weather intervenes on the final day, another defeat for the home side looks inevitable.A startling collapse in the morning, when eight wickets fell in 64 minutes, left Derbyshire to follow on for the fifth time this season and they collapsed again in the second innings.Alamgir Sheriyar took 4-12 in 24 balls as Derbyshire slumped from 62-0 to 77-4 and when Dominic Cork went cheaply for the second time in the day, Worcestershire were scenting an early finish.But Bailey, who was one of Andrew Bichel’s victims in a spell of 4-2 in 13 balls before lunch, dug in and with Welch, at least restored some respectability to the innings.Only humiliation looked in store for Derbyshire when Sheriyar found some swing to undermine the batting after Steve Stubbings and Luke Sutton had put on 62 for the first wicket.Sutton was caught behind driving at a wide ball and Stephen Titchard gloved a catch to Steve Rhodes down the legside before Mathew Dowman was bowled by an swinging yorker for a duck.Stubbings completed his second half-century of the match before Sheriyar darted one back to bowl him off a pad and although Cork blazed 16 from one Matthew Rawnsley over, he was caught behind for 21 when Bichel returned.Bailey and Welch resisted for another 21 overs but it will take some batting heroics on the last day or a lot of rain to deny Worcestershire.

Experience prevailed over youth as the star studded ONGC team pipped PCAColts XI by two wickets in the 7th JP Atray Memorial cricket tournament atthe PCA Stadium in Chandigarh today.The PCA Colts piled up a huge total of 318 for the loss of four wickets inthe allotted 50 overs. However ONGC managed to overhaul this challengingtotal for the loss of eight wickets with one over to spare.The Colts team opened through Gaganinder Garry and Ankur Kakkar. Theopening pair started off slowly, scoring 45 runs in the first 10 overs.Garry was first to go as he has caught brilliantly at gully, trying to cuta short delivery.Yuvraj Singh and Kakkar were in good nick. Yuvraj, fresh from his inclusionin the Indian team for the Nairobi tournament, placed the ball neatly inthe gaps. His knock of 60 included 10 elegant boundaries. Trying to boostthe scoring rate further, he was stumped off the bowling of VirinderShewag. By then he had put his team in a strong position as they were 142runs after 26 overs for the loss of only two wickets.Kakkar carried on merrily at the other end and completed his 50 off 72balls. The brightest part of the innings came when Pankaj Dharmani andSanjay Kumar came together at the crease with the score at 190 at the endof 35 overs. The two added 96 runs off just 77 balls. Dharmani was in fullflow as he smashed an unbeaten 96 off just 76 deliveries. He hit 12powerful boundaries and a huge six. Sanjay Kumar gave him good support insmashing 50 runs off 45 balls.ONGC XI got off to a flying start as openers Gagan Khoda and Sandeep Sharmahammered 80 runs off just 56 balls. Sandeep was in fine form, slamming 50runs off just 29 balls which included nine hits to the fence. Khoda alsoscored at a run a ball for his knock of 34. After the fall of these twowickets, ONGC lost three more wickets cheaply and they were down in thedumps at 117 for five. Mithun Minhas and Shewag however took the team outof the woods. Both scored half centuries to take the team to the doorstepof victory. Towards the end Md. Saif took charge with an unblemished 52runs off 62 balls to clinch the issue in favour of his team. Yuvraj Singhand Vineet Kumar tried their level best to change the course of the matchin their favour, but despite capturing three wickets each for 47 and 66runs respectively, they could not. Shewag was declared man of the match.

The India selectors, while picking the one-day squad for the forthcoming tri-series, could face a dilemma between choosing from the present and planning for the future. Conditions in Australia might tempt them to pack their side with experience, but they will also know that it’s the best time to throw a few rookies in the deep end.Rahul Dravid has rediscovered some form in the Tests and would no doubt be an asset in the middle order, but whether the selectors want to look back at this point, having dropped him for the home series against Pakistan, remains to be seen. There’s a case for considering VVS Laxman too, considering the fine form he’s shown in the Tests, but that seems only a remote possibility at the moment.The selectors will also have to take a call on Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, the pair of injured fast bowlers who couldn’t make it for the Tests. Neither has resumed domestic cricket so far, but reported at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to Dav Whatmore on January 18. Any decision on their selection will not be made without taking into consideration their NCA report. At any rate, reinforcements will be welcome, as the attack has already been depleted with the absence of Zaheer Khan, ruled out because of a heel injury.Most who took part in India’s one-day series against Pakistan will be expected to retain their spots. Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma would be expected to make the cut – despite not doing much in the domestic circuit [Uthappa has scored 188 at 26.85, Rohit 191 at 27.28]. The selection of Gautam Gambhir, who has cracked three centuries in the Ranji Trophy [two of them match-winning ones in the semi-final and final] could well depend on the condition of his shoulder. Suresh Raina, S Badrinath and Cheteshwar Pujara could also be considered, especially given their good domestic run.Praveen Kumar, the debutant in India’s last ODI, boosted his chances with a fantastic bowling effort in the Ranji Trophy final, when he took eight wickets in an innings. Irfan Pathan should be the other allrounder while Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik will be the first-choice spinners. Piyush Chawla had made a good case of himself as an allrounder in the earlier half of the season, but has been ordinary in the semi-final and the final, especially with the bat.

It couldn’t have been easy for India’s cricketers to pick themselves up this morning after going down in their opening match against Bangladesh. Simply winning their next two games may not be good enough – India will also have to keep a close watch on the run-rate situation. It’s going to be one mighty climb uphill and coach Greg Chappell urged his side to approach the task fearlessly.”Being scared is not going to help us,” Chappell said after India’s two-hour practice session at Trinidad. “We must concentrate on playing good cricket, not worry about the outcomes.”He admitted that India had been outmanoeuvred by Bangladesh in their World Cup opener, going down by five wickets. “It was a disappointing defeat, I wouldn’t be much harsher than that,” he said. “Bangladesh played very well, they bowled and fielded brilliantly and batted with courage and flair. They were too good for us on the day. It wasn’t the kind of start we wanted, but it happened. Now, we face a challenge ahead of us. That was what the World Cup was always going to be. We knew that there might come a situation where we would encounter a lot of matches that were going to be must-wins. From our point of view, it has started too early.”Chappell did not rule out changes to either the batting order or to personnel. Indications are that Sachin Tendulkar, who has batted in the middle order since the start of this year, will join Sourav Ganguly at the top of the order, with Virender Sehwag dropping down. Anil Kumble, who wasn’t part of the opening game against Bangladesh, is also likely to be drafted in the place of fast bowler Ajit Agarkar.”There are some issues from yesterday that need to be discussed,” said Chappell. “We need to get back on track and start putting ourselves in the same frame of mind as in the last two series, which was being relaxed and confident. Yesterday unsettled it a bit. But we have been in such situations before and bounced back. This side has tremendous resilience, as we have seen in the past. If anything, the boys were perhaps too keen to do well. They knew that if they didn’t play to their potential, Bangladesh might hurt them. We can’t panic about what might go wrong, because if you panic and start worrying about the negatives, you won’t play good cricket.”

Chappell felt that Rahul Dravid’s decision at the toss was the right one, adding that the batsmen had not put up a good enough total. “It was the right decision at the time. Youcan’t blame the pitch for our defeat. Yes, it was better to bat in the afternoon than inthe morning, but it was not the deciding factor in the game. We thought it was important for us to get a good score to put pressure on them. We didn’t get a big score. Even so, I though we should have defended 191. But the openers came out with the desire to playaggressively and shock our bowlers. They did that.”Up against India will be Bermuda, trying to make some sort of impact in their maiden World Cup appearance. They were completely outclassed by Sri Lanka in the first match but Gus Logie, the former West Indies middle-order batsman who’s coaching them now, was in an upbeat mood. “It’s part of the learning exercise,” he said. “We’ve have set ourselves little goals. If we can bat out 50 overs against these teams, then that’s a plus for us.”Bermuda captain Irvine Romaine expected India to come out firing but added that Bermuda would take inspiration from Bangladesh and Ireland. “They can be very dangerous in their current position, but we are looking to take something out of the game. We have had a good three days training and we are working continuously on our fielding, which I think can make a difference to us. Some of the smaller nations are showing what they can do and we would love to join in the upsets.”TeamsIndia (likely) 1 Sourav Ganguly, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid (capt), 6 Virender Sehwag, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Munaf PatelBermuda (likely) 1 Clay Smith, 2 Oliver Pitcher, 3 Saleem Mukuddem, 4 David Hemp, 5 Irvine Romaine (capt), 6 Janeiro Tucker, 7 Dean Minors, 8 Lionel Cann, 9 Delyone Borden, 10 Kevin Hurdle, 11 Dwayne Leverock

Close England 393 and 297 for 3 (Cook 104*, Collingwood 36*) lead India 323 (Kaif 91, Hoggard 6-57) by 367 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A brilliant maiden Test century from England’s new boy-wonder, Alastair Cook, and a typically pugnacious – and decidedly fortunate – 87 from Kevin Pietersen set England up for a shot at an extraordinary Test victory, after a fourth day at Nagpur that exceeded the wildest expectations of even the most diehard member of the travelling Barmy Army.By the close England led by the small matter of 367 runs, with Cook leading the way and receiving a tumultuous ovation for his 104 not out on debut, an innings that had spanned the best part of six hours and included 243 balls of supreme application. It is extraordinary to think that he is just 21 years old, for this was a performance that Marcus Trescothick, the 69-Test veteran whom he has replaced for this match, could scarcely have bettered.Allied to his first-innings 60, Cook’s performance was the best by an England debutant since his opening partner, Andrew Strauss, made 112 and 83 against New Zealand at Lord’s in 2004. He too had been called up in desperate circumstances, when Michael Vaughan’s dodgy knee gave way in the nets, but even Strauss would admit that his own magnificent debut has to pale in comparison. Given the venue, the opposition and the strength-sapping heat, not to mention Cook’s own tender years, this was in a class of its own. England cricketers, we are led to believe, should not be mature enough at 21 for such jaw-dropping feats of endurance.But this is no ordinary youngster. Cook had been marked out for great things since his days at Bedford School where he spent his summers breaking batting records for fun, and you could well imagine that his self-confident and economical stance has hardly changed since the day he first picked up a bat.For much of his innings, Cook was content to bide his time and play every delivery on merit. Thanks to Matthew Hoggard’s six-wicket haul, which was wrapped up within seven balls of the resumption of India’s innings this morning, England had earned themselves a priceless 70-run lead. Cook and Andrew Strauss set about doubling this and more in a 95-run opening stand, seeing off the new ball with aplomb and repelling the best efforts of Anil Kumble who, on a desperate day in the field for India, remained a shining beacon of virtue and persistence throughout.

Even when Irfan Pathan struck twice in two balls after lunch to remove Strauss for 46 and Ian Bell for 1, Cook’s resolve was unshakeable. He ploughed onwards and upwards with a resolve that Geoffrey Boycott could not have bettered, and somehow remained oblivious to the byplays accompanying Pietersen’s outrageous performance at the other end. The pair added 124 for the third wicket, but Pietersen enjoyed a charmed life amid some typically rabid hitting, the most extraordinary moment of which came when he had made just 36.With 15 minutes remaining before tea, Pietersen appeared to toe-end a half-volley straight back to the bowler, Kumble. The Indian players had absolutely no doubt they had their man, but Pietersen stood his ground and a lengthy delay ensued as the third umpire, I Shivram, studied the incident from all angles.In the opinion of most observers, the ball clearly bounced first on the turf, then looped up off the bat and into Kumble’s hands, but to the astonishment of the entire stadium, Sivaram decided otherwise. Even Pietersen was surprised in hindsight. “I have looked at it from a few angles,” he admitted to Sky Sports afterwards, “and I think I am very fortunate to get 87 today.”He compounded his good fortune when Sreesanth in the covers dropped a skier, again off the luckless Kumble, and not even his eventual dismissal could compensate for Kumble’s ill-fortune. Pietersen had smeared the previous over for 16 adrenalin-fuelled runs, and though two balls later he top-edged a sweep to Dravid at leg slip, Paul Collingwood somehow survived a stone-dead lbw appeal first ball, as a Kumble topspinner fizzed into his back pad. When Lady Luck turns against you, she really lets you know about it.But then again, the Indians did little to earn much luck either. As the innings progressed, Cook began to sense the need to lift his tempo to match his team’s needs, but Harbhajan Singh dropped the simplest of return catches when he had made 70, and then looked on aghast as Dravid at slip spilled a one-handed chance on 92. By now it was a race against the close for Cook, and he began playing as many shots as the circumstances would allow. A sweet cover-drive off Kumble took him to 96, but with Collingwood on hand to scamper the singles, he reached 99 with two overs of the day remaining.In the event, he needed just one more ball. Harbhajan offered some width outside off stump, and Cook was onto it like a flash, carving through point for four before haring down the pitch with his arms aloft in triumph. He had become just the 16th player to score a century on debut for England, and at 21 years and 69 days, he had ousted Peter May as the youngest of them all. If his efforts today go on to set up an extraordinary Test victory against the odds, you can be sure it will be recalled as one of the greatest as well.

IndiaSreesanth lbw b Hoggard 1 (323 for 10)
Wicket-to-wicket delivery, struck in lineEnglandAndrew Strauss c Dhoni b Pathan 46 (95 for 1)
Nipped off the pitch, grazed edge, low catch for keeperIan Bell c Dhoni b Pathan 1 (97 for 2)
Cut across bows, thin edge to keeperKevin Pietersen c Dravid b Kumble 87 (221 for 3)
Sweeping out of the rough, top-edge to slip

Inzamam-ul-Haq has had his second run-in with the ICC match referee, Chris Broad, in the space of a fortnight, after receiving a reprimand for his reaction to being given out in the second one-day international against India at Visakhapatnam.After the third Test in Bangalore last month, Inzamam was suspended for one Test and fined 30% of his match fee for showing dissent against umpiring decisions. This time, he has escaped with just a slap on the wrists, after reacting angrily to his run-out in a match that Pakistan went on to lose by 58 runs.Inzamam pleaded guilty to an "abuse of cricket equipment" when throwing his bat towards the pavilion after being dismissed. He was found to have breached Level 1.2 of the ICC Code which relates to "abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings".The hearing took place when players and officials arrived in Jamshedpur for the third match in the series."As captain, Inzamam must learn to set the example for his team to follow," said Broad. "The player has apologised for his actions and I hope that we will not see this repeated." All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee.

Matthew Hayden believes his world record score won’t be enough to stop Ricky Ponting winning the Allan Border Medal next week. Hayden, the 2002 winner of Australia’s highest cricketing honour, said, Ponting had done enough in both forms of the game to walk away with the award.”I think Ricky’s the foregone conclusion,” said Hayden, who blasted a world record 380 in the first Test against Zimbabwe last year. “He’s been the standout player through the summer, throughout the winter and throughout the last summer as well – in both forms of the game.”Ponting, who was last year’s Test player of the year, scored 1503 runs at an average of 100.20 in 2003. He also struck three double-centuries to become the first player since Don Bradman to score three double tons in a single year.Ponting was also Australia’s leading run-scorer in one-dayers with 1154 runs including his World Cup-winning innings of 140 not out, making him a strong contender for the one-day player of the year – an award he picked up in 2002.While there are individual awards for the Test and one-day player of the year, the overall award – the Allan Border Medal – is decided by votes earned in both forms of the game. No player has won both the Test and one-day award in the same year.Past winners of the Allan Border Medal have been Glenn McGrath (2000), Steve Waugh (2001), Hayden (2002) and Adam Gilchrist (2003).

Clyde Butts and Ezra Moseley, members of the West Indies Cricket Board’s junior selection panel, will join senior selector Joey Carew in scouting for talent during the Carib Beer 2003 Cricket Series.Butts, a former Guyana captain and West Indies off-spin bowler, now chairman of the junior panel, and Moseley, a former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler, will assist Carew in the absence of Sir Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge.Sir Vivian will be attending the Cricket World Cup 2003 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya in his capacity as chairman of the senior selection committee, while Greenidge has made himself available to help Bangladesh prepare for the same competition.The Carib Beer 2003 Cricket Series opens on Friday with matches in Kingstown, The Valley and Pointe-A-Pierre.

The horrible scenes of pitch invasions at various venues during the NatWest Series not only destroyed the charm of the game but also brought shame on the conduct of Asian origin immigrants in England and even tarnished the performance of the team they were supporting. It is generally felt that such behaviour by a small group of miscreants can turn into mob violence if not properly dealt with. This may have been one reason for the British police and the ground authorities showing undue generosity towards the intruders.

The ugly scenes at Headingley, in a Pakistan – England contest, which Pakistan was comfortably winning, had to be abandoned when Pakistan was only 4 runs short with 6 wickets in hand due to intrusion by an over-excited mob of Pakistan supporters. An otherwise glorious victory for a Waqar Younis led Pakistan team turned into a ‘courtesy win’ because Alec Stewart had to ‘concede the match’ and earn, possibly an unwanted distinction, of the first captain in international cricket history to concede a match.Setting aside that Pakistan was to win easily anyway, the media and Alec Stewart’s statement “it had to be done purely on the grounds of players and umpires safety” took a lot away from the win and more so from Waqar’s 7 wicket performance. It was a brave but a sad decision for English cricket but all due to the stupid ground invasion by the local Pakistan supporters. Worse, in an effort to control the situation a steward was injured and taken to hospital.

The media made little noise about the fact that these ‘fans’ were local citizens and subject to British law, albeit their ancestors may have come from Pakistan. A sad example of rowdyism – Asian style!Trent Bridge, Nottingham, where Waqar Younis sent the Aussies reeling off with a magical haul of 6 wickets and carved a 36 run morale boosting victory for Pakistan, was the next theatre of miscreant activity. Their thrust on the ground and the use of firecrackers suspended play with the Australians walking off the field for safety.A repeat of ‘enthusiasm violence’ occurred again after the conclusion of the final at Lords when the Australians were celebrating their golden victory. Everyone should have accepted, with grace, the fact that Australia convincingly won the trophy but the miscreants did not. Someone hurled a beer can that hit Michael Bevan in the face, spoiling the joy of a victory that Australia had earned through a superb display. To utter disappointment of the spectators the remains of a grand ceremony had to be shifted inside. Again an example of a few ‘people’ spoiling the fun of cricket for the masses.The incidences of rowdyism witnessed during the NatWest Series are likely to have serious repercussions on the conduct of international matches, specially in countries having a sizeable population of Asian immigrants. The situation has already put the cricket authorities on the alert. Rightly so, considering the players’ safety as supreme, the ECB is thinking of shifting the award ceremonies indoors and showing it to the spectators on the giant TV screen.

The game cannot flourish unless it is played in a safe, cordial and conducive atmosphere. The safety of players and umpires necessitates foolproof security measures. The above move may not be good for the real fans but a compulsion to safeguard against untoward incidents. Some other measures can also be considered. In Australia people are fined heavily for going on the field of play. Why can’t the same be done in England?England is a well-disciplined society because the people are subjected to strict rule of law. Although the British police do not carry weapons but I have often seen them carrying batons. If the stewards carry the same on the ground rather than being empty handed, it will certainly have a deterrent effect on the miscreants and law-breakers. There is also a move to legislate a change in British laws to allow for greater powers in crowd control to the authorities.Let us not stretch basic human rights too far just to allow the mischief mongers spoil the entertainment of thousands of spectators who not only spend money but also leave their work aside to come watch a cricket match. The troublemakers need to be dealt with an iron hand rather than the courtesy being presently shown to them.In the sub-continent we are well used to seeing fans behind steel fencing with a huge presence of police. Even these measures do not entirely succeed as we have witnessed fires breaking out, hurling of stones and other missiles. Fencing may not be quite the kind of scene one would want to see adopted in England but certainly something to ponder, lest more serious incidents occur.These incidents have already sounded danger bells in South Africa. The Organizing Committee of the World Cup 2003 has therefore decided to adopt a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ towards pitch invasion. Among measures under consideration are: the use of dogs as a visual deterrent, erection of temporary moats and the use of swimming pool netting to entangle the invaders.I am glad they are not as generous as the British.