AUSTRALIA - Manager: Mustafa Khan

A short interview after the 1st three rounds with the new Aussie captain Shane Warne:-

Q: What has gone wrong with the team in these past few months?
Warne: Well I really have not a clue. After a poor start we never were able to come back. Our batting & bowling has failed miserably.

Q: How do you see your chances in the next match against South Africa with Taylor and S Waugh not playing?
Warne: It is a loss to the team and it is very unfortunate, but nothing can be done. The good thing is Steve does not have a serious injury, he should be playing the next match but Mark will be out for 2 weeks and will miss the next two matches.
As far as our chances go, I think we are quite capable of defeating South Africa. They are a great team. This match we really need to win to get back on track.

Q: How is it captaining the side?
Warne: I was really excited when I was named captain but with our past three performances I really haven't had the chance to enjoy captaincy.

Q: Comment on your own performance in the league so far.
Warne: Shane Warne has not been at his best.

Q: One last question, what is your side like for the next match?
Warne: I think we have a very talented side. Lehmann and Law are included. Our bowling attack is good but we are lacking the confidence. We would also like to field better in the next round.

Q: Thank you Shane for being with us and good to have you here.
Warne: It was good to be here, thanks.

ENGLAND - Manager: Dan Thomas

For the 2nd week running Darren Gough put in a superlative all-rounders performance as England maintained their 100% record with a victory against Pakistan.

Winning the toss Pakistan elected to bat. This decision proved to be a bad one as Gough with 3 wickets, Cork with 2 and a run out reduced Pakistan to 24-6 in just 70 minutes of play. This became 35-7 just before lunch. The score had not advanced any further when Thorpe dropped Wasim Akram when he had only scored 6. This could have proved costly as Wasim Akram batted brillantly around the tail to score 81* and rescue Pakistan to 161 all out.

England though built on this performance in reaching 370 all out. Hussain top scored with 71 with all the top order getting a start. There was no keeping Gough out of the game though as he came in at number 10 scoring 63*.

In their second innings Pakistan batted far better. Aamir Sohail 59, Saeed Anwar 50, Inzamam-ul-Haq 55 and Moin Khan 82 all contributed well to a score of 329 although without a 99 run 9th wicket partnership it could have been a lot worse. Gough took 5 wickets in the innings again and Tufnell 3.

This left England needing 121 for victory. Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram tore in to the England top order to reduce them to 35-5 before Hussain 36* and Hick 48* saw England home.

This week England play the lowly placed New Zealand and have named an unchanged side. Despite winning though England slipped slightly further behind the Warwick Todd XI who this week demolished South Africa by an innings. They have taken maximum bating points and equal bowling points to England with only Zimbabwe scoring more. Given the constraints of the tournament skill allocations this performance seems even more remarkable.

INDIA - Manager: Mat Kenneally

"Finally" were the words uttered by Manager Mathew Kenneally after his side played to their ability. India beat one of the tournament favourites Australia with a fine all round display. The most promising aspect of the match was that Sachin Tendulkar despite averaging 69 was not the key player.

Ganguly's heroic 90 defying the Australian pace bowlers was referred to as "a superb knock" by Richie Benaud. However, Mathew Kenneally was very subdued after the win, "Yes Australia is a great side but they are on the bottom and have axed a great captain in Tubby Taylor - this was a cellar dweller match up".

Srinath was very excited after the match after taking 8 wickets to lead India to victory, "This is the best performance of my career" said Srinath. Captain Azharuddin said he hoped he could overcome his slump and join Tendulkar, Ganguly, Kumble and Srinath as one of the in form players.

Several journalists asked Mathew about the possibility of riots this weekend in the wake of the arms race he responded with "I think cricket and politics are seperate we have the upmost respect for Pakistan's ability. A win here will put us back in the tournament."

In all India is as buoyant as they were when the season started. Hopefully their good form will continue.

NEW ZEALAND - Manager: Ben Buchanan

KIWIS HANG ON FOR DRAW

For the third match in a row, the New Zealanders let the opposition get on top early and had to come from behind to pose a challenge. This game was probably the worst the New Zealanders have played so far, yet it has given them their best result, a draw. Zimbabwe paid the price for batting slowly and in the end ran out of time when pressing for victory.

Zimbabwe batted first and mounted a big score of 372 with Rennie (115) and Wishart (108*) the stars with the bat. O'Connor (5/95) coninued his outstanding form with the ball, taking another 5 wicket bag. Vettori also claimed 3/109 from 43 overs.

New Zealand's innings started poorly, losing both openers with 13 on the board. Slow batting was then the key with wickets falling steadily throughout the day. Blair Pocock was in good touch scoing 63 from 280 balls while McMillan made 44. Mbangwa ended the Kiwis innings with a hat trick, claiming Harris, Doull and O'Connor with successive balls.

Zimbabwe had a lead of 150 runs going into the second innings. Goodwin made it 3 Zimbabwe century makers in the match with his 101, but slow batting meant that the declaration came a few overs into day Five giving them very little time to bowl the Kiwis out.

The New Zealand second innings started pretty badly again with the top order once again failing. McMillan's 40 was the best of the lot and at 6/113 it looked like the Zimbabweans could roll the tail. But Parore (32) and Harris (24) held them off to give New Zealand a well needed draw.

Injuries have again rocked the New Zealand camp with in form bat Nathan Astle and fast bowler Simon Doull ruled out of the match against England. Stephen Fleming will return for the vital clash. A win against England would get the confidence back in the Kiwi camp.

PAKISTAN - Manager: Nathan Porter

The Pakistani Management, too caught up in testing secret Nuclear Fusion devices has finally realised that the reason behind his team's weak performances at home were not due to radioactive fallout from similar devices let off by neighboring India but that you receive 10 bonus points for a newsletter!!!

Pakistan has shown some very weak batting form over the first 3 rounds of the competition, not one batsman in the side has hit a century and this is a worrying sign of things ahead. The bowling however has been excellent but have been hampered by not being able to set overly attacking fields, defending targets more akin to Kanga cricket than the real thing.

This week we will be hosting India and yes we are planning for some onfield controversies and general slagging of all things Indian. It would be against the code of the country if we were to treat the visitors with respect and will be letting them know who has the most kilotons!!!

SOUTH AFRICA - Manager: Steve Hill

WALKOVER FOR WARWICK TODD XI

The Warwick Todd X1 had a resounding victory over lacklustre South Africa. An innings and 116 runs defeat is an extremely worrying factor for South Africa.

The writing was on the cards from the word go, with Captain Hansie Cronje losing the toss and being asked to field on a good batting pitch. An early breakthrough looked good for the SA bowlers, but that was where the luck ran out. A spirited bowling performance nonetheless.

The South African batting effort was disastrous however and they failed to rectify matters in the second follow-on innings, eventually falling hopelessly short of the required total needed to make the opposition bat again.

SA, currently third from the bottom of the league, need to take some time out to analyse things very closely.

The next match is at home to bottom of the league Australia and South Africa will not be satisfied with anything but a win.

H.D.Ackerman earns himself a test spot at the expense of Jacques Kallis, while Allan Donald returns to the side from injury.

SRI LANKA - Manager: Keith McLeod

Again the Sri Lankans have been the surprise package in the Warwick Todd World Championship. Last week the Sri Lankans were too strong for the mighty West Indians, winning their test by an impressive 286 runs in what was a clinical, if not flashy performance. Sri Lanka thereby maintained their third place in the competition behind the Warwick Todd XI and England.

Sri Lanka begun the match with a first innings score of 288, made possible by an unbeaten 78 from wicket keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana, continuing in his vein of good form. The match was poised as the West Indians began their quest for a first innings lead. Their hopes were soon quashed as Chaminda Vaas wreaked havoc on the West Indian top order, taking the first 7 wickets in an impressive bowling display, reaping final figures of 7/51. The final three wickets were polished off by off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, including that of master batsman Brian Lara. Lara was the only West Indian batsman to show any backbone, scoring 37 out of the West Indian's paltry total of 120 runs.

With a first innings lead of 168, Sri Lanka was well on top going into the second innings. Although again the Sri Lankans didn't manage to score much in excess of 300, a total of 307 was always going to be too much for the West Indians, set a chase of 476 to win. The star of the Sri Lankan second innings was Aravinda de Silva, who scored a stroke-laden 118 runs. Some support was provided by veterans Gurusinha (45) and Ranatunga (41).

The wickets were shared more evenly in the West Indian second innings, with all four bowlers chiming in, in a well-rounded display. Again the West Indian big guns failed to fire in a modest scoring effort of 189 runs. Spinner Muralitharan took control with 4/44, although the star was obviously paceman Chaminda Vaas, an easy choice for man of the match with a total match haul of 10 wickets for 103 runs, and some useful late order batting.

This week the Sri Lankan team plays Zimbabwe, currently breathing down the Sri Lankan's collective necks in fourth place. With their position in the competition on the line, there will be no lack of motivation in the Sri Lankan camp this week. Although buoyed by the return of spinner Kumara Dharmasena, the late withdrawal of de Silva must be a worry to the Sri Lankans. The classy batsman has a case of whiplash after ploughing his Ferrari into a tree during the week. Said manager Keith McLeod "Aravinda only has himself to blame. I told him to buy a Lada. If he had followed my sage advice this never would have happened!". The withdrawal of de Silva is likely to result in Marvin Attapattu being brought into the team, with the other change likely to be the return of Dharmasena for Silva.

When asked to comment on the Zimbabweans, McLeod had only one thing to say. "I have only one thing to say", said McLeod, "Pedestrian, that's what they are. Simply pedestrian. Any team who has a chicken farmer taking the new ball has no credibility in my eyes". When asked of his rival manager Dave Hickey, McLeod refused to comment, obviously in fear of the powers wielded by the enigmatic Zimbabwe manager.

WEST INDIES - Manager: Joshua Johnson

VAAS DESTROYS WEST INDIAN LINE-UP

A promising first innings bowling display by the West Indians left the Sri Lankans at 6/162 before some rear guard action by Kaluwitharana (78*) allowed the team to stretch their total to 288. The destroyer for the West Indies was Curtly Ambrose, who came into the type of form expected of him, but not seen in this series up until now. His bowling ensured the regular fall of wickets, he eventually took 5/74.

With the Sri Lankan pitch already showing signs of deterioration, Vaas single-handedly destroyed the entire West Indian top order in quick time. During Vaas' first spell he managed to take 7/31 in only 8.4 overs. His eventual figures for the first innings after the West Indies were dismissed for 120 were 7/51. The batting display by the West Indians was atrocious, demonstrating a lack of consistency from match to match. Once again Lara was the high scorer (37) with the next highest Adams (15). This poor batting form left the Sri Lankans with a handy first innings lead of 168.

The Sri Lankans didn't waste any time in demonstrating that good batting could be achieved on this pitch. De Silva batted superbly to make 118 and the West Indian attack, once again spear headed by Ambrose found it quite difficult to dismiss the Sri Lankans. Ambrose once again took a 5 wicket haul to give him a 10 wicket match but the Sri Lankans eventually went on to make 307 in their second innings, giving the West Indies an impossible total of 476 required for victory.

Once again the batting line-up performed well below their potential with the high scorers Campbell (30), Chanderpaul (48) and Ambrose (38) providing the only resistance to the Sri Lankan attack. Muralitharan took 4/44 and Vaas took his match tally to 10 wickets when he took 3/52 in the second innings. The big concern for the West Indies this week was the dislocation of Bishop's shoulder as he dived to try to avoid being run out (he was eventually given out). This injury will leaved him sidelined for the next 3 matches.

The only changes to the side for the coming match will be the inclusion of Cuffy to cover the injured Bishop. This week will see the West Indies take on the mighty Warwick Todd XI. West Indies manager, Joshua Johnson, had this to say about the upcoming match "Well the outcome of this match rests solely on the shoulders of the batting top order, which, if present form is anything to go by, indicates that another innings victory for the WTXI is in order".

ZIMBABWE - Manager: Dave Hickey

ZIMBABWE FRUSTRATED BY NEW ZEALAND "GO-SLOW"

It was a furious Zimbabwe team which returned from Auckland, missing out on win points after completely out-playing New Zealand in every facet of the game. "It seems from the word go that they were only interested in not losing" fumed Zimbabwe manager Dave Hickey. He said that Zimbabwe had lodged an official complaint about the condition of the ground, claiming that the groundsman had not mowed the outfield in a deliberate attempt to restrict scoring.

Sent in, Zimbabwe lost Grant Flower and Murray Goodwin early but Gavin Rennie and Dave Houghton took Zimbabwe safely to lunch. After lunch Zimbabwe lost Houghton and Andy Flower and went to tea at 4/176, scoring at just under 3 an over for the day. As the partnership between Rennie and Craig Wishart continued, New Zealand resorted to negative field placings and defensive bowling to slow the Zimbabwe scoring. As a result, Rennie and Wishart put on a 146 run partnership under very little pressure of losing their wickets. New Zealand persisted with these tactics and Zimbabwe eventually reached 372 with Rennie (115), Wishart (108no) and Houghton (49) leading the way.

New Zealand then batted and eventually made 222, with the scoring rate never reaching 2 an over. Mpumelo Mbangwa took 5/83 and ended the New Zealand innings with a hat-trick. Heath Streak provided good support taking 4/69. The spinners Strang and Huckle only managed one wicket between them as the Kiwi batsmen refused to play any shots at all. Strang bowled 22 overs for just 37 runs whilst Huckle bowled 31 overs for only 21 runs, with an amazing 22 maidens.

It was now left to Zimbabwe to make a game of it. Zimbabwe eventually declared at 3/196 to set New Zealand 345 to win in just under a day. Given New Zealand's slow scoring rate during the match, the declaration probably could have been made earlier but the delay did allow Murray Goodwin to reach his century. In any case, New Zealand's first innings display showed that if they chose to dig in that they would be difficult to remove.

New Zealand batted as expected, taking no risks and giving Zimbabwe no chance, with their innings ending at 6/164.

Zimbabwe this week look forward to a visit from Sri Lanka, knowing that a victory will see them leapfrog the Sri Lankans into third place, (which may ease the frustration of not already being in third place!)

WARWICK TODD'S XI - Manager: Warwick Todd

TODD VICTORY HAS TONGUES WAGGING

Warwick Todd's XI made it three wins in a row and retained the prestigious Warwick Todd Trophy with another convincing victory, this time against South Africa. They have now won three from three and have only dropped three bowling points along the way. They have won two matches by an innings and the other by nine wickets as their batting has really fired.

However, the success of the team which was expected to make up the numbers, has set tongues wagging as rumours spread about drug-enhanced performances and breaches of the 750 point rule. When asked about these rumours, Captain and manager Warwick Todd would only speak off the record (ie his answer was unprintable) but he left no doubt that he was unconcerned by what other managers were saying. He attributed the team's success to a vigourous fitness regime headed by David Boon, Merv Hughes and Greg Ritchie. "Our ability to stay up all night and to fight through the pain barrier caused by sleep deprivation has been important work in improving our stamina. We also take great delight in practical jokes and picking on blokes like Mike Veletta and Carl Rackemann. Never underestimate the team harmony generated by ridiculing others" offered Todd.

The main ingredient in the success of "The Todd Squad" has been their batting. A curious strategy of trying to only bat once in a match, in an attempt to minimise the effects of old age, appears to be working.

Todd is facing an important selection problem this week with David Boon available again after missing last week's game through injury. In his absense, Greg Ritchie made a century to stake his claim for a permament spot. When asked about this dilemma, Todd said "the players know the rules - whoever buys me the most drinks this week is in."

The Todd XI head off to Barbados this week to defend their trophy against a hot and cold West Indies team. It is expected that Mike Whitney will play an important part this week by taking Brain Lara out nightclubbing. Greg Matthews has also placed a "walking on the beach" and "wearing jewellery" ban on himself. It is this type of experience that provides the Todd XI with their biggest edge.