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Geoff Marsh, coach of the Zimbabwe team, has rated Steve Waugh as the second-best Australian cricketer, next only to Don Bradman. "I think he has to be rated as one of the best, if not the best … obviously Bradman stands alone, but I reckon his record speaks for itself,” Marsh said of Waugh, who has scored four hundreds in his last eight Test innings to resurrect his international career.Marsh was all-praise for Waugh’s ability to combat pressure, both as a captain and as a batsman. “His captaincy record is outstanding and his performance with the bat speaks for itself. All Stephen’s (32) hundreds in Test cricket, they are all under pressure.”Stephen’s such a competitor, he loves the game of cricket and he’s sodetermined to keep going. He enjoys the captaincy, he enjoys winning and he enjoys the team.”According to Marsh, two of the best centuries he had seen in international cricket came off Waugh’s bat – his unbeaten 120 against South Africa in a crunch match of the 1999 World Cup, and his 102 against England at Sydney earlier this year.”That hundred he got in Sydney last year was just magnificent,” Marsh said. “It was the second best innings I have ever seen in world cricket. The other one was his hundred in the World Cup in 1999 in Headingley, when we had to beat South Africa to get into the semi-finals. Great knocks, inspirational, great for the game.”Waugh recently went past Clive Lloyd’s record of maximum Test wins as captain, and is only 654 runs away from toppling Allan Border as the highest run-scorer in Tests. With Test series against Zimbabwe, India and Sri Lanka lined up over the next 12 months, Waugh is well on his way to breaking another record.

India’s ill-fated three-day game against a President’s XI in Chatsworth was finally put out of its misery early on Wednesday morning after yet another inspection revealed was still as soggy, if not soggier, than it had been on Monday.Not a ball was bowled during the match, India’s last chance to acclimatise ahead of Saturday’s first Test match against South Africa in Bloemfontein. At the same time, not a drop of rain fell during the scheduled play hours as the Chatsworth drainage proved woefully inadequate.The official abandonment came almost as an afterthought. There was heavy rain over Durban during Tuesday night and not a soul in either the Indian or the home camp believed that play would start at any stage on Wednesday.By 8am on Wednesday morning several of the President’s XI had already checked out of their hotel on their way home, but the Indians will try to have a middle practice at Kingsmead before heading on to Bloemfontein where, they hope, practice facilities will be available.”Our preparation has been peculiar to say the least,” Indian coach John Wright said. “It’s not good, but there’s not a lot we can do about it and we’re just going to have to make the most of the time we have left.”

Newcastle United have learned the latest information regarding the future of transfer target Diego Carlos, who the Magpies are still keen to sign after a failed attempt in January.

What’s the story?

According to The Mirror, the 28-year-old extended his contract at Sevilla last year, with a £67m release clause inserted into the deal which wasn’t announced by the Spanish club publicly.

Speaking to Spanish outlet Mucho Deporte [via The Mirror], Sevilla chief Monchi revealed: “We’ve renewed [the contracts of] Diego Carlos and [Lucas] Ocampos 14 months ago. We didn’t announce it for strategic reasons.”

Newcastle now find themselves in an even trickier predicament in their attempt to lure the Brazilian defender to Tyneside, with a fee which would substantially beat their record transfer fee paid for Joelinton in 2019 almost certainly required.

Newcastle must swoop for Carlos

Despite the price tag, Newcastle will be seriously backed financially in the summer window by PIF, with the consortium having the deepest pockets in football. Therefore, the £67m release clause shouldn’t immediately prevent the Magpies from doing a deal.

The centre-back, who turns 29 on Tuesday, has been a kingpin for Sevilla this season, with the La Liga outfit still in the title race despite Real Madrid’s hefty eight-point lead at the summit.

Moreover, Los Nervionenses have the Spanish top-flight’s best defence, having conceded just 18 goals in 27 games. Carlos has been a major contributor to that feat, having played in 25 of those matches.

The Brazilian has already made 127 appearances for Sevilla after signing from Ligue 1 outfit Nantes in 2019. However, with Carlos having made 36 appearances in all competitions this term, the 28-year-old is on course for his best season at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium after making 46 and 45 appearances over the previous two seasons respectively.

There is absolutely no doubt that the £52k-per-week defender would be a huge upgrade on any of Newcastle’s current defensive options, which will certainly be needed in the summer.

Despite their excellent form of late, the Geordies still have the fourth-worst defence in the English top flight, having conceded 47 goals in 27 matches.

In fairness, the addition of Dan Burn from Brighton in January has made a difference, with the Blyth-born centre-back conceding just three goals in five league appearances for the Magpies.

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However, despite being nearly 30, the Newcastle colossus is in just his third season of regular Premier League football and doesn’t have the same pedigree as Diego Carlos, who has plenty of Champions League experience as well as regularly playing top-flight football at a high level.

Along with Burn, the likes of Fabian Schär, Ciaran Clark, Jamal Lascelles and Federico Fernandez aren’t of the standard that Newcastle want to reach under the new ownership, making the Brazilian a significant upgrade on Eddie Howe’s current defensive options.

In other news: Newcastle must swoop for £46k-p/w “phenomenon” who Howe will love

Andrew Birch, the pacer, did the damage with the ball as Warriors beat Dolphins by nine wickets to earn a bonus point win in Durban. That meant they opened up four-point lead over Lions and jump to the second spot in the Momentum One Day Cup standings.Birch returned career-best List A figures of 4 for 15 as Dolphins, who opted to bat, were shot out for 110 in 28.3 overs. Keshav Maharaj, the No. 9 batsman, top scored with an unbeaten 43. That only four batsmen managed to get into double figures was an indication of Dolphins’ struggle. While Birch wrecked the top and middle order, Ayabulela Gqamane, the pacer, dismantled the tail to finish with three scalps.Warriors turned a small chase into a cruise courtesy a 106-run opening stand in 22 overs between JJ Smuts and Colin Ackermann. A 10-wicket thrashing was avoided as Andile Phehlukwayo, the pacer, dismissed Smuts one short of his half-century, but Ackermann, who hit eight fours and a six in his 83-ball innings knocked off the winning runs with 157 balls to spare.

North West Cricket are holding a camp in Potchefstroom in December for professionals. Fifteen players have so far signed up for what the former Netherlands bowling coach Ian Pont, who is leading the camp, claims “is a viable alternative to the MRF camp in Chennai for fast bowlers, and the WCA in Mumbai for batsmen”.”South African conditions are closer to English ones,” Pont told Cricinfo, “and Potchefstroom additonally offers high-altitude training, with exceptional strength and conditioning facilities at North West University.”The camp has so far attracted seven English players, all from Northants – where David Capel, who will help out on the course, is head coach. He, Pont and the former Leicestershire player Gordon Parsons will look after the bowling, while Gary Kirsten, Monty Jacobs and Alex Cilliers will coach batting skills. Dr Jaco Peens is leading fielding and fitness.The week-long camp will take place at Sedgars Park from December 5 and costs $1000. There are still a few places up for grabs.

West Indies have more to look at in the aftermath of a heavy defeat than constant replays of an erroneous decision against Brian Lara. Here Brett Lee traps Ian Bradshaw © AFP

“Dem goin’ have tuh make greater use of de technology, y’hear?”He wasn’t seething with rage, but the customs officer at Grantley Adams International Airport (yes, Barbados, not Malaysia, but that’s another story) felt it was necessary to highlight the common train of thought running through the Caribbean cricketing fraternity in the aftermath of yet another contentious Brian Lara dismissal yesterday.It may be stretching it to suggest that Lara was definitely on course to keep West Indies in the hunt for a target of 241 against Australia in the DLF Cup final in Kuala Lumpur, especially as things were already looking pretty grim when he came in at 20 for 3 in the 10th over. Australia were back to full strength and were fully charged up to show they were still very much numero uno after failing to defend a total of 272 six days earlier.But then again, who knows? The West Indies captain had belted 87 off them in that victory last Monday, and his unbeaten 40 coming in at number nine against India two days later was a cameo that touched the levels of the sublime in the way he made such a mockery of all that had preceded him. Ramnaresh Sarwan was obviously in the mood to hang around, and, as we’ve seen many times before, Lara’s mastery at one end tends to inspire the lesser mortals partnering him from 22 yards away.All of that is, of course, speculation. But one thing is an indisputable fact. It takes a tremendous level of self-control to avoid making a very obvious display of disgust at yet another umpiring decision against the one man who has so often made the difference between victory and defeat for a West Indies side struggling desperately for over a decade.There is always a danger of making too much of one incident, for nothing is ever certain in the unpredictable world of sport. Who would have ever thought that Ian Bradshaw, a self-confessed part-time cricketer, would be ranked at number five in the latest list of the world’s best bowlers in the one-day international rankings? However it is surely not being too parochial to attempt to analyse just why Lara seems to be victim of so many dubious or flagrantly poor decisions. Are the umpires out to get him? No, never mind what anyone says.Are the opponents out to get him? Absolutely, and the more high profile the opposition, the more celebrated the bowler, the greater the pressure on the official to raise that index finger. And being human, umpires, despite the very best training and the toughest character, are more likely to waver under a constant bombardment from teams accustomed to dominating the competition.So it is, so it has been and so it always will be until every controversial decision is verified or reversed by technology. Even then, there will be a suspicion of conspiracy by the aggrieved party, however unjustified, especially as the manipulation and interpretation of the technology remains a human task.Check it out yourself. The pages of sporting history are replete with instances where critical decisions went in favour of the team or the individual with the more impressive pedigree. It doesn’t make it right, but it might make it a little more bearable to appreciate that Lara is not alone in paying the price for being the superstar in a struggling side.Nor should his unfortunate demise yesterday divert attention from other issues surrounding a 127-run cut-tail. Like why Wavell Hinds, in such woeful form throughout the tournament, was persisted with for every match? It defied all logic. Now everyone has seen just why there is still a debate over Runako Morton’s role in the team, even if he has fought hard to make the most of almost every opportunity that has come his way in the past 15 months.

By the time the last of five one-dayers against Pakistan is played in Karachi, the heavy loss at the Kinrara Cricket Academy Oval will seem a distant memory

While we sympathise with the national hero for being given out caught behind to a delivery he never touched, he should still be asked to explain why he persists with Dwayne Bravo as the “death” bowler, especially when it was killing the team’s chances of keeping totals down to manageable proportions. Add to that the allrounder’s impetuosity at the crease (yesterday’s demise was just the latest example of poor shot selection) and it should be clear that West Indies have more to look at in the aftermath of a heavy defeat than constant replays of an erroneous decision.Even if it all fell apart in the final, this is just the first leg of an Asian campaign that has another 13 weeks to run. By the time the last of five one-dayers against Pakistan is played in Karachi on December 16, the heavy loss at the Kinrara Cricket Academy Oval will seem a distant memory. Not that the lessons of each segment of the tour should be forgotten by the time the players settle into their business class seats for the next leg of the journey. But it serves no useful purpose to hanker over the captain’s latest contentious dismissal.In fact, if all goes according to form, there will be more dubious decisions against him before the squad returns home, giving the customs officer more ammunition to launch at the ICC. Amid the agonising of others, Lara will, quite sensibly, just shrug his shoulders and get on with the game.

India celebrate their victory in the Hong Kong Sixes © HKCA

India are the new champions of the Hong Kong Sixes, after seeing off West Indies with a comfortable six balls to spare in the final. England, the former title-holders, had earlier bowed out at the semi-final stage, losing to West Indies by six runs.India’s star was the former one-day international allrounder, Robin Singh, who led by example, scoring 34 off 15 balls before retiring, leaving Hrishikesh Kanitkar to hit the winning runs. West Indies had managed a total of 72 for 1 in five eight-ball overs, but it never looked like being enough.”We really wanted to restrict them and the bowlers did a magnificent job,” Singh told the Press Association, after claiming the 100,000 dollar prize. “We played to win the tournament and that’s what we did so we are delighted.”England had been the winners in both 2003 and 2004, but this time their challenge came to an end at the semi-final stage, when Robert Croft’s team were unable to overhaul a total of 72 for 3, in which Lendl Simmons top-scored with 25. Chris Read gave England hope by clobbering 27 runs from nine balls, but a collapse of three wickets for two runs scuppered their prospects.”Obviously we’re a bit disappointed,” said England’s Kabir Ali, after England had failed to reach the final for the first time in four years. “We could have done a better job. We did a decent job with the ball but with the batting, we sort of collapsed there in the middle after the good start we had.In the other semi-final, India beat Sri Lanka by four wickets.

Pakistan A 216 for 6 (Afridi 66, Misbah 64*) beat Kenya 215 (Modi 69, Ravindu 58) by 4 wickets
Scorecard

Misbah-ul-Haq played a crucial role in Pakistan’s chase with his unbeaten 64© Getty Images

After a blazing start to the tournament, when they won two matches in a row, Kenya slumped to their second successive defeat, going down by four wickets to Pakistan A in Nairobi. Batting first, Kenya managed only 215, but that seemed enough as Pakistan A slipped to 82 for 5. However, a 109-run stand between Misbah-ul-Haq (64 not out) and Riaz Afridi (66) rescued the innings and gave them their first win of the tournament.The Kenyan innings got off to a wobbly start when Kennedy Obuya was caught behind off Iftikhar Anjum for a duck (3 for 1), but Ravindu Shah and Hitesh Modi put Kenya in the ascendancy with a 127-run partnership. Modi survived one chance, when he was dropped on 14 by Junaid Zia at third man, but he refused to allow the let-off to affect him, going for his strokes and running hard between the wickets.At 131 for 1 in the 29th over, Kenya were in charge, but things turned sour soon after, as Ravindu was caught in the covers off Qaiser Abbas for 58, and Steve Tikolo was bowled by Mansoor Amjad for a duck. Modi was then bowled by Naved Latif for 69, and though Thomas Odoyo resisted, making an unbeaten 39, Kenya could only manage 215.That looked like a winning total, as Odoyo and Martin Suji reduced Pakistan A to 36 for 4 by the 11th over. Latif and Misbah steadied the innings somewhat, but when Latif was trapped in front by Lameck Onyango for 38, Kenya were in sight of a second consecutive win against Pakistan A.Then came the matchwinning partnership between Afridi and Misbah. The Kenyans did have one chance to break the stand, but Onyango dropped Afridi at long-off. Afridi was finally bowled by Ongondo for 66, but Misbah ensured that Pakistan A got to their target without further alarms.

Lindsay Crocker’s appointment as New Zealand team manager was no surprise today – that cat was let out of the bag when he resigned as Auckland’s chief executive – but what was of interest was his appointment as general manager of the team. This has signalled a change in direction for the management structure of the side, something that New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden described as the “start of a new and exciting era”.”The new structure provides greater role-clarity for the general manager, coach and captain,” said Snedden. “It makes better use of resources and gives the coach more certainty of his position within the unit.”Snedden added that the new structure had the support of all involved in the consultation process including the outgoing coach Denis Aberhart, the incoming coach John Bracewell, the selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee, and the captain Stephen Fleming.What the structure means is there will be a TelstraClear Black Caps Unit comprising team management, administration and support staff and the team. The coach will have ultimate decision-making authority for cricket issues and is responsible for the cricket performances of the team. There are improved accountabilities and reporting lines for team management, and there should be better integration between the team and the High Performance Centre (HPC).Crocker will be responsible for the overall performance of the Unit, including the coach. Snedden explained: “The coach will have the ultimate decision-making authority on cricket functions and issues within the Black Caps Unit. The captain will be responsible for onfield decisions and will retain a strong off-the-field leadership role.”And Snedden added that the HPC’s involvement will be greater for the side. “The HPC has the potential to be the Black Caps’ most important resource. It has the capacity to provide specialist services vital to the smooth functioning of the Black Caps, and also to undertake research which will ultimately provide the side with a leading edge at international level.”The thinking was that it was important that the management structure allows players to understand the cricketing environment being created for them, feel able to contribute freely to the creation of that environment through thoughts, ideas and needs, feel inspired and invigorated enough to contribute to that environment, and to feel part of the environment.Snedden claimed that New Zealand had gone from being a minnow in the world game to an established force – and the next step was to become a dominant force. “To achieve that, NZC as an organisation, with the assistance of the major associations, and the individuals concerned, both on and off the field, will have to extend themselves beyond what is the case at present,” he said. “The vision is achievable, but requires total commitment to a clearly defined, top-quality pathway.”

Self interest by clubs anxious to keep their own young players could hamper Hampshire’s plans to field a team made up of fledgling contracted players and academy students in the Southern Electric ECB Premier League next season.Second XI coach Tony Middleton is aware that he may need to convince some captains of the need to have the future development of young cricketers at the forefront of their minds, rather than the interests of their individual clubs.Relegated Hungerford, whose injured captain Toby Radford is the ECB South Coach, have already said they will oppose Hampshire’s plans.Others are currently sitting on the proverbial fence, understandably waiting for Middleton is produce more details – basically on his Premier League proposals could affect them.But it seems that some SPL clubs are losing sight of the key `development role’ Premier League clubs have to play nowadays.Middleton, who played for Trojans, Lymington and Bournemouth in the old Southern League, believes that fielding a young county team in the Premier League is an essential part of developing the most promising young players."Our aim is to have Hampshire competing with – and beating – the best, but to do this we must have a core of players coming through our own system and give them the best possible preparation," he points out.Middleton wants to enter a fledgling Hawks team in the SPL at "the highest possible level" and sees an opportunity of a Hampshire XI replacing Division 2 club Cove, who are returning to their old Thames Valley League when the season ends next weekend.Hampshire’s home SPL matches would be played on either the main Rose Bowl or adjoining Nursery ground at West End.He envisages fielding three contracted county professionals, under the age of 24 years, alongside Hampshire’s Academy students and a senior ex-professional in the county XI."The young cricketers in the county’s prospective SPL squad would be trained in a totally professional environment – and that can surely only be beneficial to their prospects of making the grade."If, at the end of the day, they don’t make it with the county, they will return to their clubs better players and better for the experience," he added.The successes of Hampshire YCs teams at both Under-15 and Under-17 level this season underlines the up and coming talent Middleton wants to groom in SPL surroundings."The Under-15s finished runners-up in the ESCA Championships, and the Under-17s got through to the ECB County Championship semi-finals this season."There are numerous promising players on the circuit – some not even with Premier League clubs – and many of these are ones we want to work with," Middleton stressed.Cove’s Chris Benham, Ventnor pair Ian Hilsum and Mark Mitchell, BAT Sports all-rounder Damian Shirazi and Ben Nolan (Portsmouth) are currently in the Hampshire Academy, alongside Finchampstead wicketkeeper Tom Burrows and paceman Luke Merry, who comes from Oxford.John Francis, who made his Norwich Union League debut at Durham last week, and Chris Tremlett are past Academy students, now on playing contracts with Hampshire."There is no doubt that league clubs have played a major part in helping Derek Kenway, Lawrie Prittipaul, John Francis and Chris Tremlett become First Class cricketers over the past two years."The County Club is keen to put in place a structure where clubs can be rewarded for their endeavours in producing quality players," Middleton added.Middleton has been busy spending time canvassing the opinions of Premier League clubs on his proposals and is digesting feedback, positive or otherwise.He is conscious that a certain degree of `self interest’ prevails amongst existing clubs, who could `lose’ potentially promising young cricketers to the county side.But the SPL may introduce a system whereby youngsters not selected for the county team can play for their own club sides.Interestingly, Hampshire’s plan mirrors a successful `Academy’ project undertaken by Durham in the Northern Leagues.Former Northants and England opener Geoff Cook has been the mastermind of a successful `marriage’ whereby Durham field a Cricket Academy side in the North East Premier League.Indeed, so successful was the Academy side last season that it finished runners-up behind Sunderland.This season, the Durham youngsters lying in fourth place.Northants, Warwickshire and Yorkshire have all fielded Academy sides in leagues in their specific areas, with varying degrees of success.Middleton’s proposals have got the support of the Premier League’s Management Committee, with chairman Alan Bundy reminding would-be doubters "the league has an important development role to play within the ECB framework.""But overall it’s a compliment to the Premier League and its clubs that Hampshire want to put a side in it next year."There are obviously some loose ends to be tidied up, but I believe that having a county side in the Premier League will be mutually beneficial," Bundy added.It is anticipated that the `fine print’ to Middleton’s proposals will be thrashed out when the Premier 1 captains meet in early October, after which all the SPL clubs will get an opportunity to vote the Hampshire Academy into the Premier League … or otherwise.Former New Zealand Test captain Ken Rutherford, who has spent the past two seasons coaching Ireland, has backed Hampshire’s plan to field an Academy team in the Southern Electric ECB Premier League in 2002."This is just what these Premier Leagues are all about – Development Centres for the First Class players of tomorrow."And clubs should remember they have massive responsibilities in this direction," he said.Rutherford, who has also captained Gauteng in the past ten years, added that South Africa’s provincial sides had been campaigning for years to get Academy sides into their weekend club competitions … without success !