The lower-ranked Associates haven’t received the warmest of welcomes ahead of the World Cup, but that isn’t stopping Afghanistan and Norway planning for the 2011 World Cup.”I can see a very bright future for cricket in Afghanistan and maybe in the next ten years we will be able to have at least five good grounds,” Shahzada Masoud, president of the Afghanistan Cricket Federation (ACF), said. “The ultimate goal would be to play against Test-playing nations and maybe even qualify for the 2011 World Cup.”Both teams are in the lowly Division Five of the World Cricket League and would need to be promoted to Division One before even thinking about qualifying for the World Cup. Cricket is undoubtedly on the rise in Afghanistan, but sheer enthusiasm alone is an insufficient base on which to improve the sport’s standard in the country.They did, however, have a successful maiden tour of England last summer. Their opponents? The Officer Cadets of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, who were twice beaten.”When we visited the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst there were Afghan cadets in the academy who said that people were actually laughing about the fact that we were coming to play cricket against them,” Masoud said. “And then Afghanistan won. After beating the MCC in India earlier in the year this was good. The better the team, the better we play.”The country has little history with cricket. The Taliban banned the sport but now, with the regime now fallen – and their close proximity to Pakistan – the game is showing signs of flourishing.

“Even years ago while cricket was being played in Pakistan there was obviously no TV coverage and so most people got information and commentary only through the radio,” Masoud added. “I think it caught on during the 1987 World Cup in Pakistan where there was coverage. People who fled the Russian rule in Afghanistan went to Pakistan and either lived in camps across the border or assimilated into places like Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore.”Many Afghans share a common heritage with people like Shahid Afridi who is a big hero to the Afghans, Younis Khan – even Imran Khan, who is believed to be an Afghan from his mother’s family.”Thousands of miles away in Oslo, Norway’s national team are sheltering from the freezing weather in a sports hall for their weekly practice. “So far, we have lost only six matches out of 40. As chief selector, I have done my job,” Khalid Mahmood, 47, proudly told AFP.The road will be long and arduous.

Percy Sonn will continue as president of the International Cricket Council, extending his term at the helm to three years till June 2009. The announcement came at the end of a two-day board meeting of the ICC at Cape Town.The normal term of a president is two years, with the possibility of a one-year extension, and Sonn followed the precedent set by Jagmohan Dalmiya, Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Gray.Interestingly, the nomination committee did not make a recommendation to the board on the identity of Sonn’s successor. The committee was deadlocked on the merits of the two candidates, David Morgan of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and Sharad Pawar of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The matter now goes back to the governance committee.”I am delighted to accept the Board’s invitation to remain as President for a third year. I have had a busy but immensely enjoyable first year in the role that has seen many pluses for our great game,” said Sonn.He was keen to point out the advances made by the ICC in the recent past. “Chief among those have been the adoption of our new strategic plan and the WADA [anti-doping] Code, a successful Champions Trophy in India and our new broadcasting agreement with ESPN STAR Sports which will play a major role in promoting cricket and safeguarding its future by offering all of our members financial certainty.”Now, on the verge of a historic first-ever World Cup in the Caribbean and with the inaugural Twenty20 World Championships to come in September, I look forward to continuing as president for another two years as we seek to ensure our strong sport continues to grow stronger.”The ICC board also made a significant change in the laws of the game: the match referee, and not the on-field umpires, will now be the judge of when a match will be terminated, should such a circumstance arise. This follows the fiasco at The Oval involving England and Pakistan, where the first instance of a match being forfeited was recorded.”The board’s decision reflects the fact that the match referee is the chief executive of the match, the person who has overall responsibility for the way the game is played and officiated,” explained Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC. “This decision does not, however, detract from the on-field role of the umpires and they would, of course, remain an integral part of the process of awarding a match in those circumstances.”

The Logan Cup, Zimbabwe’s first-class competition, is due to get underway on Thursday (April 12) but such in the chaos inside the country that not only has Zimbabwe Cricket been unable to publish any fixtures, it has yet to actually confirm who is taking part.The 2005-06 tournament was scrapped by the board – although no official announcement was made for months – amid widespread rumours that standards in the Faithwear Cup, the one-day competition which preceded the scheduled start of the Logan Cup, were so poor that the first-class games would be open to ridicule.For some time ZC claimed that it had not been cancelled, merely that the board has decided to change the dates of the first-class season. Few believed that, and the 2005-06 event was quietly allowed to die.The 2006-07 competition was supposed to herald a new start, with the abolition of the old provinces and the creation of new ones to take their place. But less than 48 hours before the opening matches were due to begin, it was apparent that nobody knew what was going on. Repeated requests for fixtures produced nothing, and ZC’s own website had no information either.On Tuesday, Chris Chiketa, ZC’s cricket operations manager, issued a statement in which he spoke of foreign players being brought in, in what would be a welcome bid to improve standards. “Kenya has shown a keen interest to be part of the proceedings,” he said, “and we hope they will make it for the second week of the tournament as they are still re-grouping after taking part in the World Cup in the West Indies.”Cricinfo spoke to Cricket Kenya and a source said that the invitation to send the Kenyan national side had come last week. He added that it would not be possible to send the full side as several players had club commitments in England, but it was still possible that an A team could travel to participate. Negotiations are said to be ongoing, but it seems bizarre that a competition can start without a full list of participants being known. On Tuesday, the ZC website referred to Pakistani cricketers being lined-up to play, but by Wednesday that reference had been removed.As a further indication of the shambles blighting Zimbabwe cricket, scorecards from the Faithwear Cup, which took place a fortnight ago, have yet to be provided to the media.

Things have changed a lot since India last visited Bangladesh. Rahul Dravid, after a tough practice session today, said as much. “Bangladesh have improved a lot since last time. Their team has changed a lot. You can see they are playing some really good cricket. We are aware of that and expect a stiffer challenge than the last time.”India had become the first team to lose an ODI to Bangladesh in Bangladesh then. They have beaten Australia, Sri Lanka, India again, and South Africa in one-dayers and come within three wickets of beating Australia in a Test match too.The Indian team themselves wear a different look. They are without a coach; they have a cricketing manager instead. For the first time they are touring with a bowling coach and a fielding coach. There is no Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, or Harbhajan Singh in the team. Instead, looking to make debuts are Manoj Tiwary and Piyush Chawla. Dravid praised both of them on the way they have performed in domestic cricket and said they had earned the opportunity. “It’s not only this series, selectors are investing in these players for the long-term future. They are exciting talents and good players,” Dravid said.

Following the shoulder injury to Manoj Tiwary, another possible injury was evaded when a Sreesanth beamer hit Ramesh Powar’s left glove at the nets. Powar went off for a moment, but came back to bat and field without any obvious discomfort.After having taken yesterday off, India trained hard today in the afternoon heat of Mirpur. The first look of the ground conditions – what with temperatures hovering around 35 degree Celsius through the day and a high humidity – has suggested this is going to be a tough tour physically. “It’s going to be challenging, especially for the bowlers,” Dravid said, “But the conditions are same for both the teams. Kolkata camp has been good for us in that regard.”The nets, otherwise, followed India’s normal routine of late – two batsmen go out on two simultaneous wickets; pace bowlers bowl on one and spinners on the other. The spinners’ net is observed by Ravi Shastri, the pacers’ by Venkatesh Prasad. The batsmen interchange when they are done with one type of bowlers. Two players, at the same time, practice catches with Robin Singh and Greg King.With a day to go before the first one-dayer, India haven’t zeroed in on any particular combination. “Any 11 out of the 15 can play,” Dravid said, “We are going to play according to the conditions; we are pretty clear we are going to be putting the best team possible. If it means some have to sit out, they will sit out.”

Inzamam-ul-Haq has not been included in a provisional squad set to undergo a rigorous two-week conditioning camp in Abbottabad. The 20-member squad, announced by the national selectors, will start the camp from June 10. There are two more similar camps in Quetta and Karachi thereafter.There has been growing speculation in Pakistan about the future of Inzamam in the Test squad. While he is expected to get a central contract, his exclusion from the preparatory camp suggests that he may not figure in the immediate future plans of Pakistan. The presence of Misbah-ul-Haq, Asim Kamal and Faisal Iqbal in the camp suggests that other middle-order options are being explored by the Pakistani setup.Inzamam retired from the one-day game in the aftermath of a disastrous World Cup but said that he was keen on continuing in the longer version of the game. However, a severe indictment from an inquiry commission on the World Cup seemed to indicate that the road ahead would be tough.Younis Khan and Danish Kaneria have also not been included in the camp as they are playing county cricket for Yorkshire and Essex respectively. The duo have been given permission by the Pakistan board to play in the county circuit till September. Shoaib Akhtar, who had been dropped from the Afro-Asia Cup squad due to injury concerns, has been called up to the camp.”We need Akhtar in the hectic schedule ahead and hopefully he will play a crucial part on the tour of Scotland,” said Salahuddin Ahmed, the chief selector to AFP, adding, “Akhtar has been bowling eight overs on the trot without any trouble and we hope he will get into top gear in the tune-up camp”.Among those included in the camp are Fawad Alam and left-arm medim-fast bowler Najaf Shah. The 21-year old Fawad Alam who plays for Karachi in domestic cricket has a career average of 47.60 in domestic List A cricket. While Alam hasn’t played a Test match, he has played his only ODI in the recently concluded Abu Dhabi series. Shah who also played his sole ODI in the same series, has also been called up after an impressive domestic seasonCamp attendees
Shoaib Malik (Captain), Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Yasir Hameed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Naved Latif, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzak, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Najaf Shah

As widely expected, the executive of the Kenyan Cricket Association has dismissed its suspension on Friday and has refused to recognise the interim committee put in place by Ochillo Ayacko, the minister of sports.Sharad Ghai, the KCA chairman, told reporters that he had not been informed of anything and as far as he was concerned his executive was still functioning. He added that, under the KCA constitution, no one had the right to dissolve the association.It is, however, that very constitution which has caused much of the infighting which led to the minster’s decision. Opponents have argued for some time that the constitution is illegal and is riddled with inconsistencies, and is constructed with the aim of maintaining the control of the board.Ghai claimed that the KCA was one of the most transparent associations and insisted that the government had seen audited accounts from 2003 and that 2004’s would be ready soon. He added that the term “mismanagement” – which was used by the minister to describe the actions of the KCA – was ambiguous because he did not understand under what basis the word was being used.Opponents suspect that Ghai may well look to the court’s to overturn Ayacko’s action. In 2002 the Kenyan government tried to take a similar course of action in suspending the KCA, but on that occasion the court ruled that it was overstepping its remit. However, it would be surprising if, in view of that precedent, the minister had not established his legal position before acting.Ghai’s attempts to head off the government’s action have not been helped by his own poor health. He has been in increasingly indisposed of late and sources claim that he requires several hours of oxygen daily. He was forced to cancel a meeting with leading administrators last Thursday as he was unable to leave hospital where he has been since the end of December.One individual caught in the crossfire is Sammy Obingo, the KCA’s general manager. Hired by the board in May, his commitment to the KCA executive was considered strong. But in December he unsuccessfully contested the post of chairman of the Kenyan Football Federation, raising questions as to his long-term commitment to the KCA, and in recent days appeared to be distancing himself from the board. Named as one of the interim committee, he now has to juggle between the new and the old. “I don’t want to get involved in the politics,” he told The Nation. “We all know cricket has had problems and the minister’s move is in response to those problems.”Julius Kipketer, one of the three KCA officials who resigned at the end of December, added fuel to the flames when he told The Nation that he was “not comfortable with what was happening at KCA and so opted to leave.” But Ghai dismissed that explanation, insisting that Kipketer left because of the increasing demands of his business.

Click here for final tablesThe final group-stage matches in the Friends Provident resulted in Durham, already confirmed as semi-finalists after winning on Sunday, finishing top of the North Conference to be at home to Essex while Hampshire secured home advantage against Warwickshire by winning the South Conference.

South Conference

A sixth-wicket stand of 122 between Rikki Clarke and Chris Schofield rescued Surrey from embarrassment against Hampshire at The Rose Bowl after they crashed to 32 for 6, Stuart Clark doing the damage in an opening burst of 5 for 16. Surrey eventually posted 181, a total Hampshire passed with three wickets in hand despite a late wobble which saw them lose four within sight of victory. The win confirmed Hampshire as conference winners and ended Surrey’s slim chance of making the semi-finals.That result meant that Gloucestershire missed out on run-rate despite beating Kent by 40 runs at Tunbridge Wells. A fourth-wicket stand of 105 between Hamish Marshall and Alex Gidman steered Gloucestershire to 275 for 6, and Kent were in touch until two quick wickets from Ian Fisher put the brakes on the innings and thereafter they were always second best.Essex booked their place in the last four with a convincing seven-wicket win over Somerset at Chelmsford. Martin Saggers removed Marcus Trescothick and Peter Trego early on, but it was the introduction of Danish Kaneria which put Somerset on the back foot, taking 5 for 32. Only Justin Langer, with 82, showed any semblance of taking the attack as Somerset were bowled out for a disappointing 193. Essex’s chase got off to a rollicking start with Mark Pettini and Varun Chopra putting on 74 for the opening stand. And though Pettini fell to Ian Blackwell for a barnstorming 87 – from 79 balls and including 12 fours – Ravi Bopara’s slick 51 ensured Essex were home and dry in the 35th over.An excellent 110 from Nick Compton wasn’t enough for Middlesex who imploded against Sussex, losing by nine runs at Lord’s. Chasing 272, Compton and Owais Shah – who was in bristling form in his 97-ball 88 – put on 163 for the third wicket to put Middlesex well on course for victory. But when Shah holed out to James Kirtley, Middlesex crumbled to lose 5 for 52. Sussex’s 271 for 9 was set up by a magical 111 from Murray Goodwin – as inventive as he was orthodox – and a dogged 82 from Richard Montgomerie.Ireland’s disappointing campaign ended with a washout against Glamorgan at Belfast, leaving them without a win.

North Conference

Warwickshire beat Durham by 39 runs at Edgbaston to enter the semi-finals. The match was as good as meaningless for Durham who had already qualified for the last four, but today they struggled as Warwickshire piled up 314 for 5. Jonathan Trott (105*) and Tim Ambrose (132 off 82) put on 174 quick runs for the fifth wicket. Durham got off to a reasonable start, but on 77 for 3 the rain fell heavily and, with Durham behind the Duckworth-Lewis rate, the match was abandoned in Warwickshire’s favour.Nottinghamshire beat Lancashire by 37 runs in another rain affected match at Trent Bridge but it wasn’t enough for the hosts to qualify for the semi-finals. Lancashire’s 219 for 9 was led by Steve Croft’s 63 and a bristling 30 from Tom Smith – but the hosts began strongly in their chase, with David Hussey smacking 51 from 48 balls. When the rain fell, Nottinghamshire were comfortably ahead under the Duckworth-Lewis regulations, but owing to Warwickshire’s win over Durham, Notts missed out.There was nothing at stake in the match between Leicestershire and Derbyshire at Leicester, and the home side cruised to a nine-wicket win thanks to an unbeaten stand of 229 between John Mauders and John Sadler, both of whom hit their maiden one-day hundreds. Derbyshire had a sixth-wicket stand of 133 between Ant Botha and James Pipe to thank for giving helping them to 236 for 7 after Jim Allenby’s career-best 5 for 46 had reduced them to 88 for 5.Scotland were spared a drubbing at New Road when rain intervened as they tottered on 20 for 3 in reply to Worcestershire’s365 for 7. Vikram Solanki led the charge with 132 from 94 deliveries and Phil Jaques and Ben Smith chipped in with fifties. Scotland lost three wickets inside the first three overs.Yorkshire were awarded an unlikely victory over Northamptonshire at Headingley after the visitors notched 314 for 5. Usman Afzaal and Stephen Peters both hit fine hundreds, putting on 214 for the opening wicket. But after losing their openers, Yorkshire sneaked ahead on Duckworth-Lewis with Gerard Brophy unbeaten on 45 and Anthony McGrath making 62.

Ken Gordon leaves his two-year presidency of West Indies cricket with the Board on stable financial ground; with a developmental academy ready to go; a financially successful World Cup behind it; and an improved contract with chief sponsors Digicel now worth US$2.6 million per year.But Gordon also leaves having presided over an organisation lacking public credibility. This was his frank admission yesterday at the Hilton Trinidad where he faced the media for a final time as West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president.”Obviously, anything that’s good or bad is a reflection of my leadership. As far as the credibility problem is concerned, I don’t think that has made the kind of progress I would have liked,” he said. “Short answer is the West Indies Cricket Board in my view continues to have a credibility problem. But I hope that in the process of change which is ahead of us, that there will be a structural change to the Board to have it reflect a different quality of membership.”According to Gordon – making reference to instances of leaks to the press – the root of the Board’s credibility difficulties had to do with a lack of confidentiality, which he said had led to a “media circus”.”A big part of the problem is until you can run an organisation where the quality of people who are there will respect confidentiality, and you can solve problems internally, I suppose you will always have a credibility problem… This has haunted the West Indies.”One of the commitments we made was transparency. We’re trying to tell you what all the issues are. But that doesn’t mean you have to know when everybody fights amongst themselves to resolve issues. And I’m afraid, in the process, many things have also been manufactured.”Gordon also conceded that the relationship between his administration and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) had also been a failure.”We have not succeeded in bridging that gap on a sustainable basis and I had hoped after the first few months, first year, that we would have done so,” he said.”I’m not here to point fingers,” Gordon continued. “I’m only here to say that it is absolutely critical for West Indies cricket that that issue be addressed and finally solved… It really boils down to how you deal with personalities.”Gordon noted, too, that “a new man”, Julian Hunte, “has a chance to come in and [WIPA president] Mr [Dinanath] Ramnarine may prefer to deal with him. So that will take it forward”.Referring also to the stormy exchanges between Ramnarine and new WICB CEO Bruce Aanensen, reflected in recent media releases, Gordon said: “Mr Aanensen has had a vigourous start. And perhaps there are similarities between Mr Ramnarine and Mr Aanensen.”But, with Aanensen seated at the head table listening, he expressed confidence that “once they have gotten over the initial flaring, things will settle down. Because one thing I’m certain of is, they both have West Indies cricket at heart”.Gordon, the former media magnate and government minister in the NAR administration, leaves this latest office, keen, he says, to “learn to be” the grandfather he has not quite been.And having previously been asked to reconsider his offered resignation during the World Cup in April, Gordon suggested his job in West Indies cricket is now done. “When you are involved in making serious change, there is fallout that must inevitably occur. Popularity is not one.”Obviously, people get upset with me. I understand that. I’m not here for a career. I like to think with what we have set out to do largely is putting a foundation there. But I also recognise that, in the process, there has been so much fallout, even among a pocket of my own members, that perhaps it’s better to get somebody else to take it to a different level. I have been there with it up to a certain point, now let somebody else take it forward.”And asked to reflect on his leadership style during his somewhat controversial tenure, Gordon said, had he to face the bowling all over again, there would be an adjustment in strategy.”Obviously I would have attempted to perhaps temper some of my approaches a little more. But you see, when you have what looks like a house of cards around you, it’s very difficult to be always as considered as you should be.”He said “in the light of what I have experienced”, he would use “more personal consultation perhaps rather than just consultation at the board level; making the time to do that. Maybe some people may have understood a little more clearly”.

Scorecard

Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, took his maiden List A five-for as India A managed a 44-run win over Sri Lanka A in the fifth match of the triangular tournament in Nairobi. A holiday crowd, mainly comprising the Indian and Sri Lankan diaspora, turned out to support the teams.Sri Lanka, who were chasing 199 for victory, lost their way early in the chase. Dilruwan Perera was the first to go, edging Irfan Pathan to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. Malinda Warnapura, the Sri Lanka captain and Mahela Udawatte were trapped in front by Pankaj Singh and Praveen Kumar respectively.Gayan Wijekoon and Kaushal Silva stabilised Sri Lanka’s chase with a 53-run stand for the fourth wicket. Wijekoon got a reprieve in the 18th over, when a loud appeal for caught behind was turned down after which Irfan Pathan was seen remonstrating with umpire Subhash Modi, an incident that could bring match referee Jasmer Singh into the picture.Wijekoon, who was the more aggressive of the two, was particularly strong hitting down the ground. But the run-rate fell when Ojha began bowling in tandem with seamer Yo Mahesh. Ojha claimed his first wicket when Silva was hit on the foot, missing a flighted ball to be adjudged leg-before for 26 and then had Thilina Kandamby caught brilliantly by Patel off the very next ball.Kaushal Lokuarachchi mistimed a sweep shot in Ojha’s fourth over and was caught by substitute Rajesh Pawar at mid-on. Wijekoon, who looked comfortable at the crease, was run out by Irfan Pathan after scoring 46 off 57 balls.Nuwan Kulasekara and Chamara Kapugedera then added 29 in quick time for the eighth wicket as the match seemed to be heading for a close finish. Kapugedera struck Yusuf Pathan past mid-on for four, before hitting a six over long-on in the 40th over.Irfan Pathan broke the partnership when he had Kapugedera fending a short ball to Patel. Ojha then finished off the tail, Kulasekara and Akalanka Ganegama falling in similar fashion: caught by Pawar at deep midwicket attempting to clear the boundary.Earlier, India were dismissed for 198, the stand-out performer being left-arm medium-pacer Sujeewa de Silva, who finished with figures of 4 for 33.Warnapura asked India to bat after winning the toss, and his decision was justified when Kulasekara removed the dangerous Kumar in the seventh over, trapping him in front for 18 . Kumar began his innings aggressively, striking three consecutive fours off Ganegama in the third over. Patel joined Kumar in the pavilion, nicking an away swinger from de Silva to wicketkeeper Silva.Mohammad Kaif was joined by Cheteshwar Pujara, but they were not allowed to score freely by the accurate Sri Lanka pace attack. de Silva was unlucky when Silva dropped a difficult chance off Pujara. But Pujara was sent back in the next over when Ganegama got an inswinger to take the top of off stump.Subramaniam Badrinath was dismissed for 8 by Lokuarachchi, the legspinner, when an outside edge was snapped up by Warnapura at first slip. Lokuarachchi could have had his second wicket if Warnapura had caught an edge from Arjun Yadav.Kaif kept the runs coming, albeit at a trickle. However, he was caught by Udawatte at point when he played an uppish cut off Kulasekara after scoring 38 off 82 balls with three fours. Yusuf Pathan joined Yadav and the duo sparked a lower-order revival with a 75-run stand for the sixth wicket. Yusuf Pathan sent a Kulasekara delivery into the adjoining hockey stadium to begin the fireworks.Yusuf Pathan was dropped by Kandamby on the long-off boundary off the unlucky Lokuarachchi, but that did not stop his aggressive intent. The ball soon had to be replaced when he slogged Wijekoon into the car park.Yadav then joined the assault by clearing long-off and then long-on in a Lokuarachchi over. Yusuf Pathan cleared the deep midwicket boundary off Wijekoon, but was dismissed in the next over by de Silva for 40 after Kapugedera took a brilliant catch in the deep, jumping up to catch a ball destined for a six.India failed to build on the partnership between Yusuf Pathan and Yadav, with the last five wickets falling for the addition of 14 runs.The winner of match on Monday between Sri Lanka A and Kenya will face India A in Wednesday’s final.

Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, said he would be looking to bring imagination into his captaincy as he directs the hosts’ bid to win the Twenty20 World Championship starting next week.”When one-day cricket started it was very different to how it was played now, it has developed a lot. And now we are at the start of Twenty20 cricket and everything will be different as well,” Smith said.”Tactics are obviously going to be very important. Captains are going to have to bring some imagination into the game,” Smith said. “Players who are unorthodox and can think on their feet will be crucial, and captains are going to need to trust their players and allow them to just go out and play.”We are very excited about the tournament because we’ve had quite a long break since the World Cup. And I’m excited about the side we’ve got because it’s a mix of youth and experience and we’ve got some guys who’ve done very well in domestic Twenty20. Hosting the inaugural tournament is an awesome opportunity for us and I think we’ll be seeing the next generation of international stars coming to the fore.”Coach Mickey Arthur said the South Africans would spend the week before the tournament starts on September 11 working hard in training.”Graeme and I have a pretty good idea of what we want for the tournament and hopefully we will confirm that during this week,” Arthur said. “We have a pretty intensive programme lined up to assess exactly where we are.”We haven’t won a major ICC event since unity and this is a huge opportunity for us to get the country behind us and to win a substantial event. It is attainable if we play to our full potential.”