Ireland could get World Cup 2015 reprieve after ICC president calls for executive board to reconsider changes

At the end of the recent World Cup, the ICC announced the next tournament in New Zealand and Australia would feature just ten teams, made up entirely of the world governing body’s full member nations. The associate teams such as Ireland and Holland were told they would not be able to take part in the World Cup until 2019 at the earliest when a qualification system would be put in place.

The decision was heavily criticised and the ICC has reacted by announcing it will look again at the structure of the next competition with the option of expanding the tournament to 12 teams, which would include two associates, a strong possibility.

“It is encouraging that the president has reopened this issue but there is still a way to go,” said Warren Deurtom, chief executive of Cricket Ireland.

“This is a positive step but we're cautious about it because it is the same 10 people having the same debate about the same issues. We (the 95 associate and affiliate members) have asked to assist in that process and requested for our elected representatives to meet the ICC president and/or the vice-president to put our case, so that they can see the strength of our resolve on this matter.

"There is a long way to go and it is down to how much momentum can be kept up, either through the media or through the public, who have been strong and unanimous in their views."

The decision will be discussed at the ICC’s annual general meeting in Hong Kong at the end of June but the associate nations were given hope when Sharad Pawar, the president of the ICC, said, “I have given this matter further serious thought and will request the board to consider this topic once more. I can understand the views of the Associates and Affiliates and ICC will seek to deal with this issue in the best way possible.”

Ireland spearheaded a campaign for the ICC to overturn the decision after producing the shock result of the last World Cup when they beat England in Bangalore by recording the highest ever run chase in the tournament’s history.

Cricket Ireland has grown significantly over the past four years since the team made its first big impression by beating Pakistan at the 2007 World Cup.

There have been significant moves in recent months to cut the 50 over World Cup from its recent level of 14 teams. That move was expected by the associate nations but what caused anger and resentment was the decision not to include a qualification process for the 2015 competition, which would have at least given them a glimmer of a chance of reaching the tournament proper.

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Cricket Ireland consider legal action after ICC World Cup snub

The move to trim the 2015 World Cup to ten teams - made up entirely of the full member nations of the ICC - is a severe blow for Ireland who have grown as a cricket nation over the past five years.

Their humbling of England in Bangalore and the fact they have been ranked at number ten in the ICC world rankings for most of the last four years - ahead of full member nation Zimbabwe - has increased the sense of outrage in Ireland.

“Clearly this demonstrates that there are no sporting principles being discussed at the board table, it's purely about money and the protection of privilege. We think it's a disgraceful decision," said Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland chief executive.

“Some action is definitely required. What way, shape or form that will take, it's difficult to say but action will come. We are simply going to have to examine all the possibilities.”

Ireland victory over Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup was a springboard for the country’s cricketing authorities to become more professional and attract sponsorship deals.

This summer they are due to play Pakistan in two one-day matches and England in Dublin on Aug 25 but without the carrot of a World Cup they fear sponsors and support from the Irish government will drain away at a time when the country is in the middle of a dire financial crisis.

“There was a discussion with one of the government agencies before the World Cup when a 10-team event was possible and he said why should we support when your own sport don't and it's a strong point,” said Deutrom.

Last year Ireland tentatively began the process of applying for Test status which would grant them full voting rights within the ICC. That ambition looks to have been killed by this move.

Ireland are not the only casualties from the fall out of the World Cup with Kumar Sangakarra resigning as Sri Lanka’s one-day captain.

Sangakarra has offered to stay on as captain of the Test team for the tour to England in May and June and will continue to play all three formats of the game for Sri Lanka.

His decision came 48 hours after his team were beaten by India in the World Cup final, their second successive defeat in the final. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews are likely successors.

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Cricket World Cup 2011: Kumar Sangakkara resigns as Sri Lanka captain after India defeat

Sangakkara said he told the national selectors that he would quit as one-day and Twenty20 captain with immediate effect, but offered to continue as Test captain on an interim basis if required.

"After careful consideration I have concluded that it is in the best long-term interests of the team that I step down now as national captain so that a new leader can be properly groomed for the 2015 World Cup," Sangakkara, 33, wrote to Sri Lanka Cricket.

"This was a decision I made prior to the World Cup. I will be 37 by the next World Cup and I cannot therefore be sure of my place in the team.

"It is better that Sri Lanka is led now by a player who will be at the peak of their career during that tournament."

Sangakkara, a fluent left-hand batsman and wicket-keeper, said he had no plans yet to retire as a player.

"I met with the selectors on Monday and I explained my reasons for my decision and I assured them of my fullest support in helping our new captain settle into the leadership," he wrote.

"In this regard, I have offered to continue as the Test captain for the forthcoming series with England, and possibly Australia, if the selectors believe this would help the new captain and aid the transition.

"I have no plans of retirement from international cricket at this stage and, subject to form and fitness, I would like to be considered for selection in all three formats of the game for the foreseeable future."

Sangakkara has scored 8,244 runs in 94 Tests at an average of 57.25 with 24 centuries. He also has 9,164 runs in 291 one-dayers with 11 hundreds.

Sangakkara said he had enjoyed his two-year stint as captain since taking over from Mahela Jayawardene in March, 2009.

"It has been a true honour and a great privilege to serve my country as captain during the past two years," he said.

"Although bitterly disappointed that we could not win the final, I am very proud of the performances of the team.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank my team-mates and the coaching staff for their hard work and support."

There was no immediate comment from Sri Lanka Cricket or the national selectors on Sangakkara's decision

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ICC to decide on 2015 World Cup format on Monday

A decision on the number of teams that will take part in the next World Cup is set to be determined by the International Cricket Council following a meeting of its executive board in Mumbai on Monday.

The ICC has previously stated it would cut the number of competing teams from 14 to 10 for the 2015 tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

The format of the World Cup has been criticised for being too long, with India's success in the final on Saturday arriving six weeks after they opened the tournament against Bangladesh.

A reduction in the number of competing teams is likely to see the number of associate members reduced after teams such as Canada and Kenya suffered some heavy defeats.

"The length of 50 overs will find certain teams out but I think there are 10 teams that can seriously compete in that format," the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat told Sky Sports News. "That's a debate we are still finalising; in fact the board meeting over the next two days will consider that and will determine which teams will play in the 2015 World Cup."

The ICC currently has 10 full member nations with Zimbabwe the only one of those not a Test-playing country.

There may, however, be scope for at least one of the associate nations to play in the tournament with the ICC still yet to reveal how qualification would take place.

While the associate nations struggled at the recent tournament Ireland proved their ability to compete with the full members, highlighted by their victory over England. The Irish also reached the Super Eight stage four years ago when they beat Pakistan.

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Cricket World Cup 2011: India's press reacts to victory

"Men who make history defy all the odds," the Hindustan Times said, labelling the win "a resounding announcement of India's official coronation as the world's best team" which will herald a cricketing "golden age" for India.

"Windia!" was the banner headline in the Indian Express, while the Mail Today ran "Cup of Joy" over a picture of champagne bursting over the players' heads as they held up the trophy.

Like many newspapers, the Mail singled out the role of skipper Dhoni, who hit the winning runs in style with an imperious six into the packed stands.

"Hail Mahendra Singh Dhoni," the newspaper said. "On a night when the heat inside the Wankhede Stadium could have left you breathless, the inspirational leader showed what it is to lead from the front."

There was special praise too for the "instrumental" efforts of India's coach, former South African Test player Gary Kirsten, who has been credited with reviving the team's fortunes after a turbulent era under Australian coach Greg Chappell.

Tributes for the little master

Most newspapers ran special articles to honour star batsman Sachin Tendulkar who, at 37, was almost certainly appearing in his last World Cup tournament.

Tendulkar, playing in front of his home crowd, failed with the bat, scoring just 18 runs, but still ended up shedding tears of joy once victory was assured.

"For very long, cricket has been synonymous with Tendulkar all over India," said the Indian Express.

"But home is where the heart lies, and no other ground in India, or the world, could have provided a more emotional platform for the batting maestro."

Friends in high places

Praise and congratulations poured in from all quarters, including Indian President Pratibha Patil.

"All of you truly deserve the thanks of a billion plus Indians today," she said in a message to the team, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh thanked the players for having "made India proud."

Congress president Sonia Gandhi greeted the jubilant crowds in Delhi, saying the victory "will be etched in gold for generations to come."

Meanwhile, in Colombo

The tone was very different in Sri Lanka, where the state-run media blasted everything from the preparation of the national team to the squad selection.

The Sunday Observer particularly questioned the wisdom of playing a half-fit Muttiah Muralitharan, the ace spinner and world record wicket-taker, who was retiring after Saturday's game.

"Was it advisable playing a half-fit Muralitharan?" the paper said. "Winning the mega final is much more important than giving a farewell tribute to even a great cricketer of Muralitharan's magnitude."

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India's World Cup cricket victory: the measure of a nation

It is 3pm in a small British bar in the tourist state of Goa about 550km south of Bombay – where the country's cricketers are harrying Sri Lanka's batsmen in the early overs of the World Cup final.

It is 28 years since India last won this most cherished of titles in a nation so crazy about the game. There are fewer than nine hours to go until it does so again. But we don't know that yet.

Mohinder Amarnath, the man of the match in the 1983 World Cup, is certain, however, that the moment has arrived to repeat his team's success. Every Indian can realise their dreams through the 11 men on the field today, he says.

He need not have worried. Corrin, the eponymous owner of the Goan bar, is reaching for a brush, and dipping it into the pot of orange acrylic paint on the table in front of her. She holds the arm of the little Indian girl in front of her, draws the first rectangle of the national flag, hands the brush to Sonny, the barman, and watches him draw the white and green stripes. The girl, the daughter of the beautician who runs the shop upstairs, beams, delighted, and skips away to show off her affirmation of support for the home team.

In the street outside, a truck thunders by, horn blaring, Indian flags fluttering in from the cab. The picture is repeated across the country; millions are glued to their televisions or radios, donning their replica shirts, daubing themselves in the national colours. India is partying; each successful delivery from its bowlers greeted by a round of beating drums. The country that has made cricket its national game is certain that this year, finally, it will capture the ultimate prize, the World Cup.

India is certain that this is no more than it is due. It has already celebrated what many in the country regard as the real final, victory over its most reviled opponent, the notoriously unpredictable – unless you happen to be a friendly bookmaker – Pakistan team, which on Wednesday managed to throw away a magnificent bowling performance to lose ignominiously.

And India was desperate for this victory; the humiliation of the Commonwealth Games corruption scandal was still fresh; the country's recent diplomatic successes – not least towards a permanent seat on the UN Security Council – has been overshadowed by fresh concerns about its aspiration to be regarded as a first world nation.

This is a nation demanding international approval: buoyed by the news that projections now show it will overtake China as the world's most populous nation by 2030, there is a sense that its time has come.

As Saturday dawned, prayers were said, puja [offerings to the gods] were made, anything to give the Indian team an edge. Across the country, people painted themselves in the blue of the national team strip or in the orange, white and green of the flag, and prepared to party.

Bars and hotels hiked prices and charged admission to the more rarefied environments. In many places, TV screens were set up and even when the big screen was not an option, the nation gathered anywhere that a television was on, peering over each other's shoulders to catch a glimpse of the match.

In Corrins', even Sonny was applauding as Sri Lanka upped the ante in their final overs, smashing the ball hither and thither. Then a nation of – according to the new census figures – 1.2 billion fell silent as top batsman Sehwag fell to the second ball of the Indian innings.

Yet important as the game was, some felt that there was a sense of anticlimax after the Pakistan game. "The excitement among people is lacking," Manoj Kumar, a hotel manager, told the Times of India.

Not so among the Sri Lankans, who had sidled into the final without the fireworks of the Indian progress. Captain Kumar Sangakkara pulled no punches when he explained what it meant to a country even more desperate for international approval after the end of three decades of bloody civil war: "It means everything. We have come through a very tough period. A lot of people have laid down lives for our country. In this new future, hopefully we can take home the World Cup, and that will be even more occasion for celebration."

Gautam Gambhir, the Indian batsman who stabilised the nation's innings after the loss of influential opener Sehwag, was no less compelling when he told a news channel that India had to win to honour the dead of the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai: "For me it will be dedicated to the people who lost their lives in the 26/11 massacre."

For India, the desire to be taken seriously by other nations in sport is perhaps more important than diplomatic point-scoring. Like its neighbour China, it has been unable to translate a mass of bodies into international sporting success. In terms of international trade, it has come on in leaps and bounds, yet still it is unable to project that power into other fields.

Such desperation for success was reflected in the way many in the country fell back on superstition in their desire to ensure success. One fan, Ritangshu Bhattacharya, from Delhi, assured journalists that he would be attempting to tip the odds in India's favour by defying nature: "I won't pee in the entire match… I feel whenever I go to the loo, a wicket falls or India drops a catch."

Even his stoicism was outdone by one politician from the state of Madhya Pradesh, who stood from 10am to 10pm during the India-Pakistan match.

In Corrins', there is no doubt about who should have won: "You have to support the team, don't you?," she said. "We live here, we have to support the local team, however it goes."

It is 10.45pm, and MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, is hammering the ball to the boundary again. Six to win, two overs. There are fireworks going off everywhere, drowning out the commentary. India knows it has won. It is the Pakistan game all over again: victory from defeat, India defiant.

Six runs, and he smacks it over the boundary. The fireworks explode. In the cities, there is madness; in the villages, too, people are hugging and screaming. The firecrackers are exploding, the night a blur of colour. India wins.

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England captain Andrew Strauss to take extended break after Ashes and World Cup campaigns

Strauss spent just three days at home over a five-month period on England duty. In that time, he featured in all but two of the team's 28 matches in all formats, including five Ashes Tests.

Kevin Pietersen, meanwhile, is resting after hernia surgery, while Paul Collingwood will receive treatment for his knee in the coming weeks. Michael Yardy with depression will be available for all fixtures "subject to consolation between player, Sussex CCC and England medical staff".

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India v Pakistan: Cricket World Cup 2011 match report

The Great Game between these feuding neighbours failed to materialise after India won a faltering match to take their place on Saturday against Sri Lanka in the World Cup final, their first for 23 years. They were deserved winners, mostly because a team who squander five chances, as Pakistan did when India batted first, do not deserve to win anything let alone the semi-final of cricket’s biggest tournament.

“We’ve had our struggles in this tournament, but we said it was important to peak at the right time,” said MS Dhoni, India’s captain after his team had won by 29 runs. “Everyone in this side has been tested and I think we’re ready for the final.”

Pakistan have lost all five of their World Cup meetings with India and those misses were instrumental in losing this one, after they allowed India to post 260, a target that was always going to be a tough chase under pressure.

Batting under lights has its challenges too, especially when squadrons of flying insects began to swarm over the ground. In a game that sought to guard itself against most man-made perils this was one the thousands of police and soldiers could do little about and Pakistan went quietly amid a blizzard of beating wings.

The charitable view of their performance is that it was nerves on the day, though when you hand Sachin Tendulkar, one of the best one-day batsmen five innings to make his 85 (he was dropped four times), there is a masochistic streak that deserves the opprobrium of its supporters, who in time-honoured fashion will no doubt torch a few effigies over the next day or so. If they do, and there is certainly a precedent from the 1996 World Cup when Wasim Akram had his house stoned as well, Wahab Riaz and Pakistan’s two off-spinners, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez, ought to be exempt after sharing eight of the nine wickets to fall between them. Afterwards, Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, congratulated his opponents. “I’d like to congratulate the Indian team and the Indian nation, they played better than us and deserved their win,” Afridi said. “But I’d like to thank the Pakistan people as well. We tried our level best and I hope thy enjoyed it.”

Although one of the less intimidating crowds in India, given Mohali’s 28,000 capacity and a preponderance of VVIPs, or what Roy Keane used to call the prawn sandwich brigade, apprehension was apparent, even in a veteran like Tendulkar. What else could have explained his scrappy innings after Virender Sehwag had given India a blistering start with a lightning knock that gave the crowd an early reason to show its voice?

This is probably Tendulkar’s last chance to win the World Cup so perhaps that, as well as having his hundredth international hundred hanging over him, added to the pressure of an already tense occasion. Yet, whatever it is that disrupts the little master’s flow, it afflicted him yesterday and he should have been out on 27, 45, 71 and 80.

Before those let-offs, he had also survived an lbw and a stumping, both of them adjudicated by TV replay, by a hair’s breadth. The lbw, off Saeed Ajmal was given out by umpire Ian Gould and looked just until Tendulkar asked for a review and the replays showed it to be just missing leg-stump. But great players will take any generosity given them and make you pay and the cost of Pakistan’s squandering was painfully apparent when the next highest score on India’s card was Sehwag’s 38.

Sehwag’s assault, which consigned Umar Gul to the status of net bowler after he struck him for five fours in an over, showed the need to attack new ball, which came onto the bat. He looked unable to be contained until Riaz got one to squat a bit off the pitch to have him lbw, the first of five wickets in an impressive performance.

India were 99 for one after 15 overs, but when Pakistan chased under lights, they were 29 runs short of that after the same period, which meant they had to increase the rate just as spin and reverse-swing began to make timing and placement more difficult. As the rate rose, none came to grips with it, though Umar Akmal at least raged against it briefly with a brisk 29 that included two sixes.

Misbah-ul-Haq, who was last man out for 56, played the long game after some of the earlier batsman had tossed their wickets away, but he ran out of viable partners to be a serious threat. Hafeez, who had bowled so well earlier, perished playing the kind of scoop shot usually seen in frothy T20 matches but not on an occasion of this gravitas. Asad Shafiq, too, undid his good work, a modicum of pressure being all that was needed for him to attempt a risky cut shot against Yuvraj Singh and lose his off-stump.

The success of Pakistan’s two spinners brought India’s decision to drop one of theirs for the pace of Ashish Nehra into question, but Nehra, castigated after India’s defeat to South Africa in the group stage, was superb with his skiddy left-arm swingers. Munaf Patel, also bowled well, leaving Yuvraj, bowled by a full toss for a golden duck when he batted, as the only weak link with the ball. But his left-arm spin held up well enough for him to take two for 57 from his 10 overs.

The lack of spark to the match did not prevent it being a TV phenomenon and reports from around the world spoke of drastic cab shortages in Toronto, Oslo and Hackney. Advertising rates during the match were said to be running at $25,000 per 10 seconds of air time, though with an audience reckoned to be one fifth of the world’s population, it was no doubt money well spent.

It appeared to pass without major incident too, with nothing more explosive than Amritsari chicken. The prime ministers of both countries, India’s Manmohan Singh and Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan, attended and shook hands with both sides after the national anthems. Plenty of Bollywood stars also came, cricketers being about the only thing above them in the pecking order.

There will be even more at the final on Saturday in Mumbai, where two teams that bat deep and have variety to their bowling attacks, will contest a fascinating final.

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India v Sri Lanka: don't judge Mahendra Singh Dhoni on World Cup final outcome, says Kapil Dev

Trophy holder: Kapil Dev (middle) is the only Indian captain to win the Cricket World Cup Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Dhoni, having steered India past Pakistan in the semi-finals, is expected to complete the job with victory in Mumbai on Saturday to give the home side a second title to add to Kapil's 1983 breakthrough.

"I will never doubt Dhoni's credentials as a captain irrespective of the result of World Cup final," said Kapil.

"Lots of people believe that it's the ultimate result which will count but I believe otherwise.

"Look at Ricky Ponting. He has won two World Cups and after one bad World up he is out. That's not the way to judge a captain. So I would like that Dhoni not be judged by a win or loss. Instead, let's all wish him the very best."

Arjuna Ranatunga, who captained Sri Lanka to their only World Cup title in 1996, feels that both teams are evenly-matched.

"It will be a 50-50 game. I am slightly worried about our middle-order. The batsmen from No 5 to No 7 (Angelo Mathews, Thilan Samaraweera and Chamara Silva) haven't performed up to the mark. Also Mahela's (Jayawardene) form is a bit of worry for us," Ranatunga said.

"Those who believe that there won't be pressure are wrong. I myself have played a final and I know how it feels out there in the middle."

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2011 Cricket World Cup: Ricky Ponting hoping for a 'rebirth' to match Sachin Tendulkar's

 

Demands for Ponting's resignation were louder before his gritty hundred in the quarterfinal loss to Tendulkar's Indian squad, which still ensured Australia's worst World Cup run in two decades but salvaged his own career.

Now the 36-year-old Ponting says he's hopeful of a late-career revival.

"I guess with even making some runs in this last game that I've played and getting that really good feeling back about my batting again, hopefully it might be a bit of a kickstart for a Tendulkar-sort rebirth, if you like," Ponting said.

After admitting his nine year reign as Australian captain could end if the Australian selectors felt it was time to go, Ponting said he had decided the time of his own retirement.

"I'll know the right time that it's time for me to not be playing any more and I haven't found that time just yet," Ponting said.

Ponting strongly hinted on his arrival at Sydney Airport on Sunday that his is considering his future. He appeared to acknowledge that a planned review by Cricket Australia of the Australian team's recent loss of form might take the decision from him and recommend his removal as captain.

"Even though we're out early, it's nice to be home and I'll have the opportunity over the next couple of days to reflect on where things are headed for me and certainly what direction I feel things are heading for the betterment of Australian cricket," Ponting said.

"Every decision I've ever made was always with Cricket Australia's thoughts at the front of my mind. It's always been about putting the team before me.

"The direction of my thoughts will be along those lines the next couple of days."

Ponting has won three World Cups, and was captain in the last two winning campaigns when Australia didn't drop a game. Back-to-back losses to Pakistan and India within six days ended a run of 34-unbeaten World Cup matches for the Aussies.

Ponting has been one of Australia's most successful captains, but recently his record has been slipping — three Ashes series defeats in four series has proved costly to his popularity in Australia. Now Australia will drop off its perch in ODI cricket, too.

Ponting's statistics as a batsman remain impressive — he has 13,288 runs in 359 ODIs dating back to 1995, although his 104 against India at Ahmedabad last week was his first century in 13 months. He also has 12,363 runs in test cricket, with 39 hundreds.

In terms of centuries and runs scored in international cricket he's second only to Indian great Tendulkar, who is aiming for his 100th international century when India play Pakistan in the semifinals on Wednesday.

Tendulkar, who will turn 38 next month, has more than 18,000 runs in ODIs and 14,692 in tests in a career that dates back to 1989.

But what Ponting said about a Tendulkar-like rebirth might indicate a shift in his position as captain. Tendulkar had a wretched run as India captain from 1996-2000, winning only 23 of 73 ODIs in that span and four of 25 test matches. Since relinquishing those duties, Tendulkar's form and confidence have flourished.

That could be playing on Ponting's mind, particularly after acknowledged the increasingly virulent debate in Australia about his future.

"The last couple of weeks there's been a few differing opinions out in the papers and out in the news about me and my future as leading the team," he said. "It's been nice the last week especially to hear some endorsement from Cricket Australia and the selectors about that position.

"But that's where the next few days are crucial to me as well. I have to really decide what I think is right for me and the team going forward.

"I still think I've got a lot to offer the team as a player and a leader."

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Cricket World Cup 2011: India v Pakistan in Mohali can suit Shahid Afridi's side

The explanation comes in two words: Bindra Sahib. The power behind the throne of world cricket and Indian cricket is Inderjit Singh Bindra, who created the Mohali stadium as his personal fiefdom after his family – Sikh – had been forced to flee Lahore at Partition.

But while Bindra Sahib will deftly sort out the enormous quantity of VIPs who will descend on his stadium on the outskirts of Chandigarh, not to mention that subcontinental speciality the VVIPs, the ground will not be so suited to the Indian team – because it is the most northerly in this World Cup, and the least Asian.

Mohali is the only pitch in Asia which regularly has some pace and bounce, although Chennai does occasionally. If Australia had won their quarter-final at the predictable slow turner in Ahmedabad, Mohali would have suited their pace attack. Not India though, as they have three good spinners, but not three good seamers.

Zaheer Khan is head and shoulders above India’s other pace bowlers. Munaf Patel has all the physical equipment to be a second Glenn McGrath but is psychologically fragile, as Brad Haddin was the latest to prove when he went after Patel in the quarter-final. Ashish Nehra is erratic – and cannot bat, like Patel – while Sreesanth skids on to the bat.

Fortunately for the hosts, Pakistan have exactly the same mixture: three good spinners but not three good seamers. Umar Gul stands out, like Zaheer; otherwise all they have for pace – in the absence of the banned Mohammed

Aamer and Mohammed Asif – is Shoaib Akhtar, who has finally announced his retirement and whose last over went for 28; Wahab Riaz, a pacey but wayward left-armer; and a novice left-armer Junaid Khan who hasn’t played an international.

Assuming this weakness in one team cancels out the weakness in the other, India’s superior batting should prevail. They have some great batsmen, Pakistan good batsmen. But the number of Indian supporters in the ground will be limited, and – being close in every sense to Lahore - it is the nearest Pakistan will come to a home match in a long while.

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Cricket World Cup 2011: Paul Collingwood 'felt a bit guilty' over Michael Yardy's depression

Collingwood and his team-mates will return home tomorrow [Monday] after their World Cup exit to Sri Lanka, five months after they departed for Australia.

A punishing run of fixtures saw England's players lose form and fitness as the winter went on, while Michael Yardy returned home from the World Cup after struggling to battle depression.

Collingword, who did not feature for England after their defeat to Bangladesh on March 11, said: "people see the luxury lifestyle, playing sport for a living, but they don't see the dark hours stewing and thinking of family, being under constant scrutiny.

"Ten years ago, our captain, Nasser Hussain, said we were playing too much. It frustrates me that we seem to be doing even more. It's time to address these issues."

Yardy is the second England player to be forced out of competition after struggling with depression. Marcus Trescothick retired from international cricket in 2008 owing to the illness.

Collingwood told the Mail on Sunday: "The sad news of Mike Yardy's depression came as a complete shock. I didn't have an inkling, nor did I when the same thing happened to Marcus Trescothick, which shows how hard they must have tried to hide their problems.

"As someone who is close to this team, to not realise what he was going through, I feel a bit guilty that I didn't pick it up."

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Cricket World Cup 2011: Andrew Strauss must relinquish England one-day captaincy after Sri Lanka calamity

England can at last return home with no complaints. They lost to Ireland and Bangladesh after all. They were extremely fortunate not to have been reacquainting themselves with their much-missed home comforts some time ago.
The drawing board will doubtless be revisited yet again. England have lost captains after the last three World Cups (Alec Stewart in 1999, Nasser Hussain in 2003 and Michael Vaughan in 2007) and it would make sense now if Andrew Strauss were to step down as one-day skipper. It is a natural staging post.
To call for Strauss’s resignation should in no way be seen as a slight upon the job he has done. Considering the mess he inherited after the Kevin Pietersen/Peter Moores imbroglio in early 2009, Strauss has performed admirably. He has worked hard in stretching his own batting to its outer limits of positivity in attempting to lead a braver approach that began at the Champions Trophy in South Africa later that year. As justification he played the innings of his one-day life (158) in the tie with India in this tournament.
So it was disappointing, as well as a little unfitting, that his innings of just five from 19 balls on Saturday was so slow and stuttering, stifled by the clever Sri Lankan ploy of using the off-spin of Tillakaratne Dilshan to open, Strauss’s mind filled by thoughts of falling in the deep in the first over of the match to South Africa’s left-arm spinner Robin Peterson earlier in the tournament. The skipper had been straitjacketed, and it was a restraint from which England’s innings never wriggled.
There were rumours a fortnight ago that Strauss was considering stepping down. Quite naturally they were strongly rebuffed, but it is my understanding that they were not without credence. It is time to move on.
Strauss must, and of course will, continue as Test captain. And he will find the extra rest periods invaluable, just as he did when missing a tour of Bangladesh last March. Alastair Cook deputised then, in both ODIs and Tests, and he should take over now as ODI opener and captain, starting with the match against Sri Lanka at the Oval on June 28. Although the T20 at Bristol three days before could be interesting. Surely Paul Collingwood cannot continue as T20 captain, and Cook would seem a little miscast there. Kevin Pietersen anyone? But England would then have three captains.
England might have been mercilessly thumped on Saturday, but their winter had unravelled long ago, around the time when they should have been basking in Ashes glory and instead were traipsing around Australia playing two T20 internationals and seven one-day internationals. Simply for money. Simply to fill the coffers of Cricket Australia, and then those of the England and Wales Cricket Board in return.
It was around this time that team director Andy Flower decided that his players were running on empty and so needed some respite from the intense, but always carefully planned, training routines that have been the bedrock of some astounding success under his watch. As one significant result England’s fielding fell apart. And never really recovered.
Subsequently Flower has admitted this was a mistake. But it was not his mistake. It was the mistake of the administrators. International cricket should never be like county cricket where the speed on the treadmill has to be constantly altered (never on full blast) to allow for the chaotic schedule. International cricket must be full on, with eyeballs out. Anything less is short-changing the public.
But English cricket has long considered one-day cricket a second-class citizen, the poor relation to Test cricket. Mostly ODI series are, like this winter, tagged onto the fag end of long tours.
There was much joy recently when it was announced that the County Championship is to remain at 16 matches. But tragically missing from that press release was any mention of 50-over cricket. How on earth can we expect to win a 50-over World Cup when we do not play that length of game domestically? When last asked about this, ECB chairman Giles Clarke replied that South Africa, then No 1 in the world, do not play 50 overs domestically. But neither do they win anything. It is time for change.
With six rounds of the CB40 to be played by the end of May this year on pitches that are likely to seam, it is little surprise that England still cannot find an aggressive one-day opener to partner either Strauss or Cook.
The domestic standard is not as high as some think. Last year Matt Prior looked very useful when opening for Sussex (especially in Twenty20). But this winter he has let the England management down.
They made a courageous call to include him ahead of Steven Davies as opener/wicketkeeper, especially as ludicrous International Cricket Council regulations stipulated World Cup squads be confirmed after one match of England’s seven-match ODI series in Australia, but by the end of that series it was already obvious that it was a blunder.
Injuries to Pietersen and Stuart Broad have not helped, nor Samit Patel’s sloth (he has lost weight but Adil Rashid was preferred as replacement for Michael Yardy last week because Rashid has been playing this winter and Patel has not), but England came to rely too much on Jonathan Trott’s batting and, in an increasingly insipid attack, Graeme Swann’s bowling.
Trott still had his critics on Saturday after making 86 from 115 balls, but he is not the problem. He is the tournament’s leading run scorer! His role is clear; to bat through the innings. Others around him have faltered, transfixed by spin and with little idea how to assess a pitch and set a target.
Yet another World Cup calamity. There will be more unless attitudes alter.
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