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ScorecardRoelef van der Merwe followed up a fifty with four wickets as the Titans clinched the MTN Domestic Championship with a 38-run win over the Warriors in the final in Centurion.The Titans were the leaders after the group stage of the tournament, which helped them edge out Cape Cobras after the semi-final – also in Centurion – between the two sides was washed out.Warriors put Titans in to bat, and the top-order batsmen built a solid foundation. The openers added 44 in nine overs, and van der Merwe put on a 79-run third-wicket stand along with Francois du Plessis. van der Merwe hit two sixes off Robin Peterson, but holed out to deep midwicket for 52, which came off 58 balls.Peterson struck again with the wicket of Martin van Jaarsveld, but an unbeaten 31-ball 59 from Farhaan Behardien boosted the Titans to 269 for 6, their highest total in the tournament. For the Warriors, Juan Theron, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, was the pick of the bowlers – with 2 for 36 off his nine overs.Both the Warriors openers scored 60s in reply; Hylton Ackerman hit 11 fours in his 62 in an opening stand of 80, which took only 13.3 overs. His partner, Justin Kreusch, made a patient 63 off 86 balls, but the Titans managed to chip away with wickets at the other end. Arno Jacobs, the top run-getter, fell to Albie Morkel for 1, and when Kreusch was dismissed by Titans captain Pierre Joubert, the Warriors were at 174 for 5, needing another 96 from 59 deliveries.Johan Botha’s quickfire 30 kept his side in the chase, but van der Merwe ended his innings, and removed Nos 10 and 11 as the Titans bowled the Warriors out for 231 in 42.4 overs, 39 runs short of their target. Joubert got rid of both the openers in his 3 for 52, while Man of the Match van der Merwe took 4 for 42 with his left-arm spin.”I think we chased well, but we lost the way at a crucial time,” Zander de Bruyn, the Warriors’ captain, said after the game. Joubert hailed his team for their consistency through the campaign. “Our preparations were not ideal as we were distracted by rain, but we don’t have any control on the weather,” he said. “Our self-belief carried us through. It is important for us to keep on believing in ourselves going forward. We need now to re-focus our attention on the Pro20 Series.”The teams will feature in the Standard Bank Pro20 Series, which begins on March 25.

Brian Lara watches a West Indies practice session from the pavilion at the Kensington Oval © Getty Images

South Africa’s demolition job on England killed off any hopes of WestIndies getting back-door entry into the semi-finals, and they now go into Thursday’s game against Bangladesh with only pride on the line. It willhave escaped no one’s attention that West Indies are currently level onpoints with Bangladesh and Ireland, an unacceptable state of affairs in aregion that dominated the game for nearly two decades.For Brian Lara, the tie against Bangladesh will mark his 298th in WestIndian colours and the penultimate step on a journey that started on aNovember day in Karachi more than 16 years ago. It will forever be asource of regret for Lara that for all his individual achievements, WestIndies accomplished little at the five World Cups that he was part of.Apart from the semi-final that Shane Warne stole from them at Mohali in1996, each campaign has been as abysmal as the other.”The two remaining games are of utmost importance to us,” he said on theeve of Thursday’s game. “It’s important that we do start the second round.We still haven’t actually. We want to finish on a high. These next twomatches are of no consequence in terms of the World Cup, but they are veryimportant for us, and the guys are fully aware of that.”The West Indian meltdown in the Super Eights, after they topped theirfirst-round group, has been one of the most disappointing aspects of thiscompetition, but Lara wasn’t interested in playing the blame game. “Thisis not the time for condemnation but constructive criticism,” he said. “Wejust did not play good cricket, we were beaten by better teams on the day.We have disappointed ourselves and our fans.”He accepted, however, that the prime reason for the debacle was thefailure of the marquee players to deliver when it mattered most. “A lot ofour seniors, including myself, have not performed like seniors in otherprominent teams have done,” he said. “The contributions from the seniorsand the experienced players in the reason why teams like Australia, SouthAfrica and Sri Lanka are in the semi-finals.”Several former players were scathing in their assessment of the team’sperformances against the tournament’s best sides, with Colin Croft inparticular pinpointing the lack of intensity at training sessions.According to Lara, such things were par for the course when things weregoing wrong. “There’s no lethargy in the team and the boys are veryupbeat,” he said. “The result yesterday cast us out of the competition.The guys tried their best and have been under a lot of scrutiny lately.Unfortunately, that goes with the fact that we are not playing well.”Bennett King and the support staff have been working really hard, but ourtrainer left last December, and we not had a trainer since. That is nofault of the players. The players are trying their best, but it isdifficult at this time without a professional trainer.”With the pressure off, West Indies will hope to express themselves as bestthey can in front of the disappointed home support. As for Bangladesh, they have already embarrassed India and South Africa, but Habibul Bashar,the captain, brushed off suggestions that West Indies would be an easiermark.”I don’t think so,” he said. “They’re still a good team. For us, itdoesn’t matter who we play. It’s how we play on that particular day. Webeat India and South Africa, but also lost other games quite easily.”That inconsistency ruined any chance of a semi-final place, and the 74-runloss to rank outsiders Ireland was hugely disappointing for a team lookingto kick on after the famous victory against South Africa. “There’s been abig contrast in our performances,” admitted Bashar. “Some days we’re oneof the best fielding sides. Other days, we’re ordinary. It’s veryimportant that we learn to be consistent in all three departments of thegame.”Bangladesh have only come close to beaten West Indies once in 12 attempts,at St Vincent three years ago, but such statistics didn’t really worryBashar. “Before we played South Africa [in Guyana], we had never beatenthem before,” he said. “Winning any game at the World Cup is veryimportant for Bangladesh. We don’t want to be No.8 in the Super Eights.”What is a worry is his form, or lack of it. “As captain, you always wantto do something, to set an example for other players,” he said. “It’simportant for me and my side that I score some runs.”In many ways he might do well to learn from his younger team-mates, who’veshown oodles of confidence – perhaps too much at times – and no fear whenconfronted by illustrious opponents. “Bangladesh are really competitive inthe Under-19s, and the boys think they can win,” said Bashar, when askedabout the impact of the youth brigade. “They have come to this level withthat frame of mind.”It makes for a fascinating contest, a dead rubber with a fair bit atstake. “We have been disappointing,” said Lara. “For Bangladesh, everygame against the Test-playing nations is of utmost importance and we areaware of that. We don’t want to be one of their victims. We want to comeout and play our best cricket. Everyone wants to finish on a high, and wewant to win back the support of the fans.”You sense that it will take more than one win to do that.

Terry Duffin, Zimbabwe’s new captain, falls in the fourth and final match © AFP

On paper, Zimbabwe’s five-match series against Kenya was about bragging rights as to which country could legitimately claim to be Africa’s second-best side. That it ended in stalemate after the deciding match was washed out was probably fair, as neither side gave any indication that they were good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as the South Africans.It was a series that passed by with few even realising, even in Zimbabwe where the attendances at the games were very poor. Only on the Sunday at Bulawayo did the crowd even come close to a thousand. Local media coverage was unimpressive – especially for the two games at Queen’s Club – and not even the local TV companies bothered to cover the matches. Overseas interest was non existent.The standard of the cricket was not good, but both had legitimate excuses. Zimbabwe fielded a side that was hugely inexperienced under a captain that had never played an ODI. Few had played any meaningful cricket for some time, and had been embroiled in a bitter dispute with the authorities. Kenya, whose players are recovering from a dispute of their own which undermined their progress for almost two years, had not played an ODI since September 2004.But Zimbabwe should, in theory, have wiped the floor with the Kenyans. While the Kenyans scrape by on a minimal budget, Zimbabwe’s income from sponsorship, TV rights and ICC handouts runs into millions. They also had home advantage. While the authorities will look to put a positive spin on the outcome, the result should be a real worry.They won the fourth game in Harare impressively, but their other win, in the opening match at Bulawayo, came against a Kenyan side who had been in the country 30 hours and whose one net session had been washed out. The Kenyans certainly felt they were caught in unfamiliar conditions and were tired. Zimbabwe’ s batting against a very ordinary attack was unimpressive in the second match, and embarrassing in the third, where they were skittled for 69.There were plusses. For Zimbabwe, Brendan Taylor looked good with the bat and opener Piet Rinke showed he could hit the ball, and if he can temper his attack-at-all-costs approach, he could be a useful asset. Ryan Higgins, one of three players from the Under-19 World Cup, impressed with his legspin even if his batting disappointed.Kenya would have been encouraged by the good form of Kennedy Otieno with bat and gloves, and Thomas Odoyo, named Player of the Series, showed form with both bat and ball. Peter Ongondo, who triggered Zimbabwe’s demise in the third match, finished with 11 wickets, more than any other bowler.What this did show was that these two sides are probably scrapping for 10th and 11th places in the world rankings. The series between Bangladesh and Kenya later this month should confirm that there is now a big and growing gulf between the Bangladeshis and the two African countries.Kenya will travel with more satisfaction. Five years ago, Zimbabwe would have wiped the floor with them, but now they are on level footing. The Kenyans could even argue that they have moved ahead of the Zimbabweans – the ICC rankings support that – when home advantage and a lack of preparation is taken into account. Like the Kenyans, it was vital for Zimbabwe to get matches under their belt. Kenya will probably solider on to the World Cup in a year’s time before clearing the decks and bringing in more youth.Zimbabwe have had a youth-first policy forced on them by internal disputes, but they have some youngsters with real promise, as the Under-19 side showed in Sri Lanka. The question remains whether Zimbabwe Cricket can keep them on board or whether they too will be allowed to drift – or be driven – away. With the cupboard almost bare, that simply cannot be allowed to happen.After they turned down an invitation to meet Kenya and Bangladesh in a tri-series, Zimbabwe’s next outing will be in the seven-match one-day series in the Caribbean. On the evidence of these games, they face some very difficult outings and probably one or two humiliations against a side desperate to get their own one-day form back on track.

Sahid Afridi created time where there was none© Getty Images

Virender Sehwag and Shahid Afridi; safely we can say that cricket has never known the likes of them before. It may not ever again. They turn matches in instants we know and that is not so rare. But cricket has known, and knows now, many who can do it, yet it is fitting that the chances of a decisive result were created by Afridi today and are likely to rest on Sehwag tomorrowYesterday, Sehwag through his very ballast tore into a daunting first innings total carrying the world’s heaviest batting line-up with him and created momentum within it. And today, Afridi single-handedly created time when there seemed none. When Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman defied Pakistan for 53 runs, it wasn’t so much the lead they ate into as the time. They took, potentially a crucial hour and a half from Pakistan in which to build a sizeable target. In just over an hour, he found that lost time and set up a match.But what holds more allure than changing a game is the way they do it. Almost certainly both would have played the way they did, whatever the situation. Context is not important because they create it. When Irfan Pathan peppered Afridi with bouncers and three men patrolling the long-on, deep-midwicket and square-leg boundaries, he didn’t shirk, he took him on, pulling twice for six and once for four. When Anil Kumble tried to curb the scoring by bowling a leg-stump line, Afridi didn’t pad, he tried to reverse pull him, failing once and succeeding the second time. Would he do the same if Pakistan were trying to save a match? He did in Kolkata.By expressing themselves, both regularly shun traditions in what can be a stifling sport. We look, particularly in batting, for correct techniques, of playing within certain areas with the bat at certain angles, with certain stances and grips. Sehwag and Afridi challenge this openly, they rebel against this conformity.Sehwag in a floppy hat yesterday seemed right, for it stirred a refreshing spirit, of flexibility not rigidity, of not being confined. Leaning like a lethargic lord, with one hand on bat and other on hip, he could have been playing at club or school level, or even in a maidan. The hat, as opposed to helmet, made for a cute and apt symbol for this. Not for him is the endeavour for perfection or precision in his technique, in his strokes. He does what is necessary, get bat on ball and score runs by doing so. High left elbow, straight bat, nimble footwork, they are rendered meaningless by his brazen defiance of the essence of batting. In any case, he is gifted with admirable traits, but he doesn’t strain for them, they come naturally. Simply, if the ball can be hit, it will be and if it can’t, it won’t. All else, how he does it, against whom he does it and in what situation he does it, this is frivolous.Afridi is more rustic, more rudimentary but within him rests a similar approach. The very first ball he faced today was pulled for four as if playing a tape-ball midnight Ramzan tournament in Karachi. There was no lining up of the ball, of attuning to the light or the pitch. No strokes were practiced diligently between deliveries, no poses were kept. Only the ball was struck, as hard as possible with minimal concession made to technique or footwork. Here instinct is masterand Afridi its slave.If Sehwag is the more destructive and successful, it is because he has a sharpened batting nous. He wouldn’t charge down the pitch as Afridi did today to lollipop tempters, but over an hour, both are equally ferocious, and often Afridi can be more so. Of course, we should treasure them because of the way they have changed this game, one that seemed consigned to a meandering, high-scoring draw from the very first day. But what we should cherish even more is the inimitable manner in which they have done it.

India’s fast bowlers are finally up and raring to go &copyGetty Images

After injuries hampered their tour to Australia, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra have announced themselves fully fit, and ready to tour Pakistan, in a report by PTI. Dennis Lillee is currently guiding both fast bowlers at the MRF Pace Foundation.”The advice of Lillee at the nets has made me feel better,” Khan said, “and I am raring to make the trip to Pakistan, if selected.”He has been of great help to our bowling and this was our routine trip to the foundation. I was not feeling fully comfortable last week. For over two years now, I have been taking Lillee’s advice before every tour.”Khan found himself out of the Australian tour after a hamstring injury during the first Test at Brisbane. Nehra, too, was affected by an ankle injury that hindered his bowling in Australia, but was confident about his fitness.”I made a comeback during the tour after being out of action for nearly eight months,” Nehra said. “I am fit now and always make use of Lillee’s visit to fine-tune myself.”Lillee worked with Khan and Nehra’s run-up after noticing the pressure they exerted on their legs.”I have advised Zaheer to take fewer steps in his run-up and avoid jumping too high before releasing the ball,” Lillee said. “Nehra needed some changes. He has been asked to be more side-on to avoid putting the load on his legs.”

In a dramatic turnaround Mashonaland came from behind to beat Manicaland by73 runs at Mutare Sports Club yesterday. Resuming the day on 290 for six(effectively 3 for six after being forced to follow on 287 runs behind),Mashonaland hit themselves out of trouble and set Manicaland a victorytarget of 219 off 46 overs.Craig Evans had the day of his life, taking his overnight score of 109 to210 (33 fours, one six) before demolishing Manicaland with six for 37 off 16overs. This was his top score in first-class cricket, eclipsing a previousbest 153 (also in the Logan Cup) against Matabeleland. A huge bear of man -nicknamed Obelix by one brave Manica – his runs came off 273 balls in 373minutes of machismo theatre. Much more than a mere slogger, he wouldhowever shudder if people should remember him as a worker or nudger of theball.Donald Campbell hit 54 (8 fours, one six), sharing a 189-run partnershipwith Evans for the seventh wicket before falling to a slow ball from GuyWhittall. Whittall was the pick of the Manicaland bowlers, finishing withfour for 80 off 23 overs, but needed better fielding and better support toembarrass Mashonaland a second time. He worried all the batsmen – deceptively mixing off and leg cutters, in-swingers and 140-km effort balls – but in the end was overwhelmed by fatigue and the weight of team expectancy. A measure of frustration erupted after being hit for two sixes by new batsman Gus Mackay as he lashed a return throw in his direction.Mackay’s 68 (6 fours, 4 sixes), which added 96 for the eighth wicket, wasthe straw that broke Manicaland. They never anticipating chasing more than50 for victory. Their tactics of refusing the new ball proved disastrous -wickets never came, runs mounted, fielding worsened, heads dropped,recriminations mounted and failure loomed. When they did take the new ballin the 115th over, Mashonaland collapsed within a few overs.With an even time 79-run opening partnership between Neil Ferreira (39) andTino Mawoyo (38), Manicaland looked on course. An unlucky late cut thatdragged onto the stumps by Ferreira precipitated a slide no one could halt.Mashonaland changed tactics by slowing the game down and bowling leg theory.Sims was sucked in after five balls, chipping an innocuous leg-stumper toshort midwicket.Panic set in as first Kingsley Went then the Soma brothers departed cheaply.Evans was wheeling in off three paces like a vulture, hitting the seam,bouncing it, cutting it, remorselessly searching. Mashonaland were nowrunning between overs fearing their earlier negativity would cost them.Once Whittall flashed the game was up, although the tail fought bravely towithin touching distance of safety.

West Indies has claimed four Australian wickets for just twenty-nine runs late on day three to leave the Third Test hanging in the balance at the Adelaide Oval.Courtney Walsh (2/73), Nixon McLean (2/69), and Mervyn Dillon (2/84) each snared wickets in the final session to leave Australia at 9/409 before rain stoppedplay. The home team leads by twelve runs – with Damien Martyn (46*) and Glenn McGrath (1*) at the crease.The mini-collapse began seven overs into the final session, when Ricky Ponting’s fine innings came to an end an agonising eight runs short of his eighth Test century.After almost four hours, ninety-two runs, ten cracking boundaries and one life, the tourists finally removed the Australian vice-captain with a beautiful leg-cutter fromWalsh. The veteran paceman had the ball nipping in towards the batsman and Ponting duly edged it behind to wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs. This was the third time inhis thirty-seven-Test career that the Tasmanian had been dismissed in the nineties.This brought Australia’s forty-first Test captain to the crease in front of an expectant audience eagerly awaiting the next chapter of this remarkable cricketer’s fairytale life. Having made eighty-one on debut and struck a match-winning 149* by the end of his fourth Test, Adam Gilchrist, as much as anyone, would have hopedfor another magical innings here today.His team was at the proverbial fork in the road – a good score from him could see it build a solid lead over the tourists and snuff them out of the game while a failurewould invite an even contest, dangerous in any situation, least of all against a desperate team suddenly revived by its greatest star.Unfortunately for Gilchrist and the Australians, the sparkling innings did not come today, McLean claiming the 29-year-old for just nine runs. Caught behindwhile trying to cut, Gilchrist was out for his fifth single-figure score in twelve Tests.Spinners Stuart MacGill (6) and Colin Miller (1) also failed to make any impact, with MacGill’s dismissal proving controversial. He was given out caught behind byUmpire Steve Davis; however, replays suggested the Dillon delivery may only have made contact with his helmet as he tried to evade the bouncer. Clearly unhappywith the decision, MacGill did not leave the ground immediately, and later clashed with Windies twelfth man Ramnaresh Sarwan on his way to the dressing room.At the other end and edging towards his sixth Test half-century, Martyn could only watch on as he ran out of partners. Having returned to the Test team for the firsttime after his bright performance in New Zealand earlier in the year, Martyn played a composed innings as wickets tumbled around him.The Western Australian shared in a valuable fifty-nine run partnership with Ponting earlier in the day, and brought up Australia’s four hundred with a lovely loftedboundary off McLean.In the second session, Mark Waugh’s delightful innings came to an end on sixty-three when he was trapped in front by Dillon. Playing in his 111th Test match,Waugh had struck six boundaries in his stay of more than three hours. He was only one of two Australian wickets to fall in the first two sessions, after nightwatchmanJason Gillespie (4) succumbed in the fifth over of the day.

While Leeds United have improved immeasurably since Andrea Radrizzani’s purchase of the club from Massimo Cellino back in 2016, there are nevertheless a number of scars that have been left on the Premier League side from the Italian’s disastrous two-year spell in control of the Whites.

And, while the vast majority of these are financial, there are also some very tangible transfer decisions made by the 65-year-old that are still haunting the club to this day, such as Cellino’s decision not to pay the £7m fee required to prise Michail Antonio away from Nottingham Forest back in 2015.

Cellino had a nightmare on Antonio

Indeed, since his move to West Ham United, the 31-year-old centre-forward has gone from strength to strength, becoming one of the most feared strikers in the Premier League due to his strength, speed and clinical nature in the final third.

All three of these traits have been prominent over his 28 top-flight appearances this season, with the £25m-rated hitman having bagged eight goals, registered seven assists and created seven big chances for his teammates, as well as taken an average of 2.4 shots and made 1.5 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £69k-per-week forward average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.04, ranking him as David Moyes’ fifth-best performer in the Premier League – playing a crucial role in the Hammers’ push to secure a top-four finish.

And, with Patrick Bamford having missed the best part of six months of the current campaign due to injury, something that has undoubtedly contributed towards Leeds finding themselves in the midst of a relegation scrap this season, it would very much appear as if the Whites could have used the services of the player who Rio Ferdinand dubbed “absolute fire” in leading their line.

However, it has not only been this season in which Antonio has been in excellent form for the Irons, with the Jamaica international having scored 58 goals and registered 36 assists over his 215 appearances for the East London outfit – a highly impressive feat considering the 31-year-old is a converted winger.

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As such, while hindsight is a wonderful thing, considering the fact that Cellino had the chance to land Antonio for just £7m back in 2015, it is clear for all to see that the Italian’s decision not to make a move for the centre-forward has cost Leeds greatly in the long-term.

AND in other news: Marsch can save Leeds millions with “massive” 18 y/o who could “be the next Van Dijk”

	Matthew Elliott reinvented himself as a damaging one-day player at South Australia after his less-attacking days as a Victorian opener earlier in his career, when he was often compared to Bill Lawry © Getty Images

Matthew Elliott, the opening batsman who was a regular member of Australia’s Test team during the late 1990s, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket in Australia. Elliott, 36, follows his South Australia team-mate Darren Lehmann in quitting the game and he said it was time the state’s younger players were given a chance to establish themselves.Wednesday’s one-day match against Tasmania at Adelaide Oval will be his final appearance unless the third-placed Redbacks secure a spot in the FR Cup decider. “After much thought and many discussions I’m convinced the timing is right,” Elliott said.”It has to be about the team and what is right for the team now, it’s not for an old boy like me to battle out the rest of the season. Retiring now will give the younger players in the Redbacks squad the same opportunity that I was afforded early in my career.”Elliott’s first-class form waned in recent years and he did not make a Pura Cup century in the three seasons since he moved to South Australia. However, he remained a formidable one-day player and is the leading run scorer in the FR Cup this season following an equally impressive 2006-07, in which he was named the tournament’s Player of the Year.That limited-overs form has made him a target of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and Elliott said he was considering an offer to take part in the Twenty20 tournament. He is weighing up how the opportunity would affect his university studies; he is doing a course in construction management in Adelaide. “I’m thinking about it,” Elliott said of the ICL offer. “It’s more about what’s best for me after my cricket career.”At his peak while opening for Victoria, Elliott was one of the most dangerous batsmen in Australia. He managed 21 Tests, although at the highest level he never quite lived up to his potential and had to settle for 1172 runs at 33.48. A naturally reserved character, Elliott reportedly had trouble fitting into the Australian dressing-room culture and he also had problems on the field.His second Test, against West Indies in Sydney in 1996-97, looked like becoming memorable as he worked his way to 78 and he was within sight of a maiden century when the game suddenly turned unforgettable for other reasons. A mid-pitch collision with his partner Mark Waugh left Elliott sprawled on the ground with torn knee cartilage and he did not play another Test for two months.Elliott’s first century came at Lord’s on the 1997 Ashes tour and he followed with 199, which would remain his highest Test score, at Headingley. Those innings, at the age of 25, established him as an excellent hooker and driver and earned him the honour of being named a Cricketer of the Year.However, that tour was his career pinnacle and he ended up on the sidelines following a string of low scores. An unsuccessful recall came for the tour of West Indies in March 1999 and his only appearance after that was a one-off chance against Sri Lanka in Darwin in 2004, when he was surprisingly called up at the age of 32 to replace Ricky Ponting at No. 3. He managed only one run from the two innings and his international career was over.Elliott remained a force at state level, and the summer before his 2004 comeback he had registered what was then an all-time record of 1381 Pura Cup runs at 81.23, with seven centuries. Most of his 17,251 first-class runs came at Victoria, or during his county stints at Glamorgan and Yorkshire, before he switched to South Australia in 2005-06 and reinvented himself as a damaging one-day opener.

Uniting fans from different countries in the West Indies is an important role for the players, according to Lance Gibbs © Getty Images

Cricket in the Caribbean continues to be hurt by infighting over money and a lack of pride within the West Indies team, according to Lance Gibbs. The current line-up did not take their responsibilities seriously enough, Gibbs said.”Where is the pride for representing the Caribbean?” Gibbs, who has travelled from his home in Miami to watch the World Cup, told . “They must know about pride as, apart from cricket, we are separate nations. Cricket is a cohesive force and these players have a responsibility to unite the Caribbean, which they are failing to do.”West Indies face an uphill battle to reach the semi-finals and need not only to win all three of their remaining matches but also rely on other results falling their way. Gibbs said a strong West Indies unit was important and the players needed to understand that cricket should come before money.”West Indies are always a proud team, so a strong West Indies team is what world cricket needs, just like when the West Indies under Clive Lloyd ruled the world and became an inspiration for other teams,” he said. “If you perform you will be well rewarded – money as well as in terms of progress – and when successful cricketers walk in the streets they are recognised which even presidents and prime ministers of countries sometimes aren’t.”Gibbs said nearly a decade later, the 1998 tour to South Africa, when the West Indies players revolted over a pay dispute, remained a prime example of the troubles within the sport. “There are lots of problems afflicting Caribbean cricket, the foremost being the players’ association bickering over money,” Gibbs said.”I’m not saying they should not be paid, it’s not a matter of jealousy – it could be done in much better ways. You don’t always wash your dirty linen in public.”The tour to South Africa was a disaster when players stayed back in England and the West Indies Cricket Board president had to fly out and solve the problems. I would have gone there for nothing to see what Nelson Mandela had done there and learn lessons.”Gibbs also criticised World Cup organisers for using new grounds, which were as foreign to the hosts as to the visiting sides. “One of the reasons the West Indies are not doing well is that we have lost the home advantage with the new grounds and new pitches,” he said. “Sri Lanka knew more than us about the pitch in Guyana. Antigua was new, Grenada will be new.”