Lara not worried about team contract delay
By Simon Evans
Guyana Chronicle
March 19, 2007
KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - World Cup hosts West Indies have yet to receive their contracts for the tournament but captain Brian Lara was hopeful the issue can be resolved.
"The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is going to handle that part of it. Our job is to get on with the World Cup and to perform well. Hopefully the other peripheral stuff is going to take care of itself; we just want to concentrate on the cricket," Lara told reporters after practice yesterday.
West Indies won their opening Group D game against Pakistan and can qualify for the Super Eights stage of the competition with victory over Zimbabwe today.
Local media reports said that the issue of winning bonuses has yet to be resolved but Lara dismissed suggestions that there was the risk of a strike.
"There is not going to be any strike, I think it is important the authorities do get the problem solved but I am sure the people of the Caribbean and the players want to see us do well and we cannot be concerned with such matters at this very crucial stage of the tournament," said the captain.
Asked what the sticking point was between the players and the authorities Lara suggested there was more than one problem.
"With the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players' Association it is never down to one point, it is a whole heap of different situations.
"But I don't want to comment much, we have cricket to play and that is our main focus," he said.
Five great World Cup upsets
KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Ireland's three-wicket win over Pakistan in the World Cup on Saturday was the biggest shock of the tournament so far and takes its place among the greatest surprises in the history of the competition.
Here are five upsets from previous editions:
1979: Sri Lanka beat India in Manchester. Still a non-Test playing nation, Sri Lanka, entered the competition via the ICC Trophy, and pulled off a major surprise in Group B with a 47-run victory at Old Trafford, Manchester, over an Indian side featuring Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.
1983: Zimbabwe beat Australia at Nottingham. In their first World Cup match, the tournament minnows produced a 13-run victory at Trent Bridge. Duncan Fletcher was the architect with bat and ball -- scoring 69 not out and taking four for 42.
1996: Kenya beat West Indies at Poona. West Indies had won the opening two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and Kenya were making their World Cup debut. But the form book was forgotten as the Africans set a total of 166 but then bowled out the Caribbean side for 93.
1996: Sri Lanka won the World Cup in Lahore. It was a big enough surprise for Sri Lanka to make it to the final but a huge one when they defeated Australia to win the competition. Aravinda de Silva scored 107 not out and took three wickets as Sri Lanka knocked off the Aussies' total of 241.
1999: Bangladesh beat Pakistan at Northampton.
There was nothing to play for in this final group game but Bangladesh picked up their first ever win against a Test-playing nation, scoring 223 before bowling out Pakistan for 161.