February 2004

U19 World Cup: It's not a breeze for everyone

Submitted by rickeyre on February 19, 2004 - 4:00pm

If you thought the first week of the Under-19 World Cup was going to be boring, think again. There's a very good chance that by Friday night, both the winner and runner-up of the 2002 competition might be finished for 2004.

Sixteen games in the first four days of competition, fourteen predictable results. Some of them quite comprehensive. Then on Wednesday, Nepal upset South Africa's applecart, beating the 2002 finalists by one wicket with two balls to spare after earlier in the day having them on the ropes at 62 for 7.

And a warm welcome to the Netherlands Antilles

Submitted by rickeyre on February 10, 2004 - 4:00pm

Cricket's global community expanded just a little further on Friday February 6 when the Netherlands Antilles hosted its first first-class cricket match. The Leeward Islands played host to the Windwards in their Carib Beer Series match at the Carib Lumber Ground, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. The Netherlands Antilles is now the 35th country to host first-class cricket.

Zimbabwe's tough road ahead

Submitted by rickeyre on February 6, 2004 - 4:00pm

Zimbabwe departs from the VB Series with their worst record in three outings in the Australian triangular. At least they managed one win in both 1994-95 and 2000-01. This time, a washout at the MCG was the best they could muster.

The sad thing is that Zimbabwe's cricket team is not improving. The upper order batting collapsed on a regular basis and the bowlers suffered some extraordinary punishment at times, most notably at the hands of Adam Gilchrist in Hobart. Only Heath Streak, Stuart Carlisle, Grant Fowler and Sean Ervine can really hold their heads up as players of genuine international calibre.