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Sachin takes the kudos; Kim Lamba wins hearts

It's raining in Colombo -- or more accurately, in Galle. Rained yesterday, is raining today, will probably rain tomorrow...

In fact, judging by the weather forecast, it seems a distinct possibility that the three games scheduled for the venue (June 25 between India and Sri Lanka, June 27 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, June 29 between India and New Zealand) could well be washed out or, at the very best, reduced to hit or miss, 25 overs a side affairs.

Nothing unusual about this, considering we are in the middle of the south west monsoons, it's raining pretty much all over the south and west of the Indian sub-continent -- but that is no reason for us to refrain from scheduling an international tournament. After all, if the sponsors don't care, why should the boards?

Luckily, all three sides now have some unlooked-for leisure -- and they'll need it, won't they? Because the way the ongoing Singer Akai Nidahas Trophy tournament is going, calculators capable of figuring out net run rates are going to be more useful just now than cricket kits.

Meanwhile, to no one's surprise, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has just been installed, by Coopers & Lybrand, as the best Test player in the world for the 1997-1998.

Ted Dexter, chairing the panel that picked Tendulkar for the honour, commented: "This year, Tendulkar has been the batsman no one wanted to bowl at," citing his assault on Shane Warne during the Indian tour as the indicator of the Indian batsman's genius.

Cricinfo Interactive, running a simultaneous poll on its own site, was reportedly swamped by votes in favour of the Indian masterbat -- 40% of 5,000 votes polled being the official figure, with the likes of Allan Donald (13%), Aravinda D'Silva (11%) and Shaun Pollock and Steve Waugh (9% each) following in that order.

Shaun Pollock, however, had the honour of being named Young Cricketer of the Year.

The Coopers & Lybrand ratings of the top ten batsmen and bowlers are attached herewith -- and the only notable item is that Donald, despite a 5-114 spell at Lord's in the second innings of the recent Test against England, has dropped from the first position he had grabbed in the last edition of the ratings, yielding top spot back to Curtley Ambrose.

Interestingly, Hansie Cronje has moved up to his highest ever spot in the world rankings following the recent win over England.

Coopers&Lybrand, top ten, batting and bowling rankings

Some people have hearts as big as all outdoors. And in that category count Kim, widow of Raman Lamba, right at the very top.

A DDCA official revealed that Kim has written to the cricket body, suggesting that a portion of all funds raised in the name of her late husband, be set aside for the provision of an electronic scoreboard at the Firozeshah Kotla grounds.

Heart-warming, that -- though not of Indian origin, Kim's heart is obviously with the land of her husband, and with the game he adorned.

But what a pity that it takes a widow, still grieving for a husband slain with his cricketing boots on, to think of providing infrastructural facilities at one of India's foremost grounds, when the BCCI and the DDCA, flush with funds from the recent spate of cricket extravaganzas, have shown neither the will, nor inclination, to do so!

For those who are wondering what former cricketers are up to, here is news of two of them.

Madan Lal, former manager/coach of the national side, has launched his own cricket academy in New Delhi. "I am going to to make it the number one academy in Delhi, because no one cares for number two," said Madan.

The academy is the first of its kind in the capital city, and is planned as a round the year establishment. While boarding facilities have not been provided as yet, Madan says he is looking for sponsorship and soon hopes to have boarding facilities available, making the academy accessible even to interested, and promising, young cricketers from other parts of the country.

While on academies, Delhi sees one more -- this one, helmed by Rajinder Amarnath, brother of former Test stars Mohinder and Surinder and youngest son of Lala Amarnath.

Rajinder's outfit is in tandem with Delhi Public Schools, and will cater to the training needs of schoolboy cricketers. Initially, deserving students of the DPS will get preference, though Amarnath says he hopes to throw the academy open to promising Delhi youngsters outside the ambit of the public schools.

Kapil Dev, meanwhile, is lighting up the cricket scene, literally so.

An official of the Gujarat Cricket Association informed Rediff that the former all-rounder bagged a Rs 30.35 million contract, in the name of M/S. Dev Moscow Lighting Private Ltd., to install floodlights at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Prakash Padukone, a while ago, set badminton circles in a tizzy when he led a revolt against the official body.

Indications are that sooner rather than later, a similar revolt will rock Indian cricket circles. In fact, rebellions have already begun, like little forest fires, in various regional associations.

The first of course was the Haryana Cricket Association, wherein cricketers and officials rebelled against secretary Ranbir Singh Mahindra. No less than Haryana's most famous son, Kapil Dev Nikanj, led the revolt against what was described as Mahindra's autocratic style of functioning.

Mahindra, incidentally, is a former secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

The cricketers have, as part of their protest, decided to boycott all activities organised by the HCA, and have decided to push the BCCI and, if need be, the Haryana government, to look into the workings of the association.

Mahindra, frantically backpedalling, has indicated that he is prepared to step down in favour of Kapil Dev. The former India star, according to sources, is on the verge of officially accepting the offer.

Meanwhile 8 members of the 12-member executive committee of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, including ICC panel umpire V K Ramaswamy, have resigned.

The move is part of a protest against HCA president Mohan Kanda, who is based in New Delhi. The grouse is that Kanda runs the association by imperial fiat, while the executive committee never meets -- Kanda apparently deciding that it was not worth his while to come down from Delhi merely to hold such meetings, when it was far easier to issue orders instead.

The eight officials, who have quit, indicate that this is merely the beginning, and that further action is forthcoming.

India has been selected to host the Under-17 World Cup between October-November this year.

To be hosted by the School Games Federation of India, the Cup will feature India, Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe. Three more nations are expected to attend, and will be selected from the ICC's associate nations.

The matches will be played at Agra, Chandigarh, Cuttack, Delhi, Faridabad, Gwalior, Jaipur, Lucknow and Patna, while the semifinals will be held at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta, with Mumbai hosting the finals.