West Indies beat New Zealand by 56 runs in T20

Gayle smashed seven fours and five sixes off 52 balls to anchor a record-breaking West Indian total of 209-2 off 20 overs ysterday.

WICB appoint new CEO

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) confirmed Ernest Hilaire as its new chief executive officer (CEO) yesterday.

The WICB said in a press release that Hilaire's appointment becomes effective October 1, confirming an early September CMC story.

Hilaire replaces Donald Peters, who departed the post in July, and he will immediately confront the contractual crisis between the WICB and the players' union that has crippled West Indies cricket.

"The WICB is facing an extremely difficult challenge as it seeks to establish a new framework for the development of cricket in the region and Dr Hilaire is expected to be pivotal in shaping and managing the transformation which is required," WICB President Julian Hunte stated in yesterday's press release.

Hilaire becomes the fifth CEO of the regional cricket board in the last nine years, after Gregory Shillingford, Roger Brathwaite, Bruce Aanensen, and Peters.

"The Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Dr. Hilaire as CEO and looks forward to a period of stability and organisational growth and development under his leadership," Hunte added.

Hilaire has had a very close relationship with West Indies cricket, particularly in the last few years, when he served as CEO of World Cup St Lucia.

He had played an important role in the development and presentation of St Lucia's bid to host matches in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup and was previously appointed tournament director of next year's Twenty20 World Cup to be staged in the Caribbean.

He was also a former Permanent Secretary of Youth and Sports in St. Lucia, under the Kenny Anthony Administration, during whose tenure the Beausejour Cricket Ground in Gros-Islet and the George Odlum Stadium in Vieux Fort were constructed.

Hilaire is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and possesses an MPhil. (Master of Philosophy) in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

The post was reported to have attracted more than 30 applicants from the Caribbean, the United States, and from as far way as New Zealand.

Caribbean heads plan for action in WI cricket

CARICOM Heads of Government have always taken the position that the management of West Indies cricket is the province of the West Indies Cricket Board and their affiliate organisations.

This notwithstanding, the Heads of Government have always been cognizant of their responsibility as representatives of the Caribbean people in the region and the diaspora for whom cricket is one of the major integrating factors.Â

This fact was primarily responsible for the establishment of the Prime Ministerial Sub- Committee on Cricket [13 years ago] at the onset of the dramatic decline in the performance of the West Indies teams.Â

The PMSC was established to lend support to a process of rebuilding, both in terms of the performance of the team and in strengthening the organisation of cricket in the region.

Heads of Government expanded the role of the PMSC in the context of the successful bid by the region to be hosts to the 2007 World Cup.Â

The Governments were intricately involved in supporting the WICB in the bidding process, and subsequently invested substantially in large scale infrastructure through enhanced or new stadia and facilities for cricket throughout the region - all this at great cost to its taxpayers.

Over the past 10 years in particular, the Heads of Government as well as all stakeholders in West Indies, have endured the fracturing of relations and distrust between WICB and the West Indies Players Association.Â

The current situation, if not resolved IMMEDIATELY, will no doubt destroy the fabric on which to base any hope of reviving the region's standing in international cricket, or building a solid future for West Indies cricket.

It is under these circumstances that the PMSC has decided to intervene in the process at this time and make recommendations on a feasible way forward, following the aborted mediation exercise chaired by Sir Shridath Ramphal and initiated by the Chairman of the Community, President Bharrat Jagdeo [of Guyana], with the agreement of WICB and WIPA.

The main concern of the Heads of Government is restoring the image and status of West Indies cricket regionally and internationally.

Consequently the PMSC has recommended [that] WICB and WIPA, with the assistance of the CARICOM Secretariat, to agree on a formula and minimum criteria that allow the WICB to select the best West Indies team as follows:

(a) Players to make themselves available for selection in accordance with normal WICB requirements, in particular, participation in the regional tournaments;

(b) WICB to agree to the television/image rights fees (sponsor's fees) traditionally paid to players pending the special arbitration on this issue to facilitate the signing of retainer contracts by October 1 this year;

(c) WICB and WIPA to agree on the implementation of: (1) the special arbitration process provided for in the Mediator's draft agreement, i.e. on 'Team rights' and 'the India tour'; and (2) best efforts by the CARICOM Secretariat in the first instance to facilitate the resolution of the other outstanding issues proposed by WICB and WIPA, or the pursuit of arbitration if necessary, such arbitration not to delay the return of West Indies cricket to normalcy;

(d) CARICOM to convene a Stakeholders meeting at the earliest practicable date to discuss the future of West Indies cricket, taking account of the WICB's Development Plan, as well as the Report of the Patterson Committee established by WICB;

(e) The WICB to inform the International Cricket Council of the action taken by Caribbean Governments with the object of returning West Indies cricket to its accustomed place in world cricket in consonance with the highest traditions of the sport as upheld by the ICC; and

(f) The Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket will monitor compliance with the above agreed measures based on periodic reports from the CARICOM Secretariat

North sees changes to one-day cricket

West Australian skipper and Ashes star Marcus North says changes to 50-over international cricket are almost inevitable - while suggesting free admission to domestic matches could be the way to attract fans back to the WACA.

As North prepares to start the season in charge of the Warriors, Australia is preparing to take on England in the third of seven ODIs being played in an extended Ashes summer.

But with Twenty20 cricket attracting more interest, and corporate dollars, the future of the original limited-over format is coming under increasing scrutiny.

North has now become the latest big name cricketer to question the long-term viability of the 50-over format.

"I think Test cricket will always be Test cricket. I am (a) purist, it is my favourite game and I feel if it looked after well enough by the ICC and the governing bodies that will still be quite strong," North said.

"And T20 is here to stay and an exciting format, and has brought a new audience to cricket because it can only be good to bring families and kids to get involved in the game

"But 50 over cricket - the jury is still out.

"Just watching it the other night, going from playing and watching Test match cricket at such a high level, and the excitement of T20 cricket, 50-over cricket does seem to drag on.

"There is lot of talk about it at the moment, in England the domestic scene the ECB have binned the 50-over competition for the following few years and brought in a 40-over competition.

"There are a number of changes and I think you will see that coming into the international level once the ICC has trialled a few different formants to see what works best.

"Anything we can do to enhance and improve this game, to make it more attractive to people."

Despite WA pulling off a marketing coup in attracting Chris Gayle for their T20 team, attracting decent crowds to Ford Ranger and particularly Sheffield Shield matches this season will again be a major challenge.

West Indies will play hard - Reifer

West Indies' embattled Cham-pions Trophy squad left here Saturday for South Africa to beef up their preparations for international cricket's mini World Cup.

Minus its leading players due to the raging impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the players' union, the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), the squad flew out of the Grantley Adams International Airport in the late afternoon.

They leave behind a firestorm, with the bitter contracts dispute that led to their selection for the September 22 to October 5 tournament, still dragging on despite attempts aimed at ending it.

The squad, which contains players with precious little international experience, has been given little chance of emerging from the tough group stage.

Make the region proud

Captain Floyd Reifer, however, told reporters the team would be aiming to make the region proud with its performances.

"All eyes will be on the West Indies but we are going to go out there and play for the six million people of the Caribbean," said the veteran Barbados batsman who has played just six Tests, two of them coming against Bangladesh in July."These people love cricket, they love West Indies cricket and we are going to go out there and play for those people. We don't have to prove a point to everybody in the world, we're just going to go out there and play hard for the people of the Caribbean."

West Indies, coming off a week-long training camp at Kensington Oval here, are scheduled to arrive in South Africa today and will undergo another training camp in Potchefstroom until September 16.

They will then play two warm-up matches, first against hosts South Africa on September 18 before clashing with Sri Lanka two days later.

Cricket-West Indies selectors stick with weakened squad

West Indies are sticking with their weakened squad for the one-day internationals against Bangladesh despite the leading players ending their boycott.

A deal was struck on Tuesday for the players, who are in a dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over contracts and payments, to make themselves available for selection while negotiations take place.

It was widely expected that leading players such as Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo would return for Sunday's first one-dayer against Bangladesh.

A weakened squad had lost both matches in a two-test series against Bangladesh and players drawn largely from that team were named on Sunday for first two one-dayers, before the leading players ended their strike.

The WICB on Wednesday posted a squad list on its official website (www.wicb.com) which featured none of the formerly striking players.

No explanation for the decision was given and the WICB was not immediately available for comment.

"They (are) not picking us for the first two games; so I guess that sums up the situation," wrote Gayle, the pre-boycott captain of the team, on his twitter feed.

"They are the boss playing hard ball," he added.

The squad continues to be captained by 36-year-old Barbadian Floyd Reifer with Darren Sammy as his deputy.

The WICB and the players union WIPA met on Tuesday with the head of the regional economic co-operation body CARICOM, Guyana president Bharrat Jagdeo, and reached an agreement to have their dispute mediated.

In a statement issued by Jagdeo's office, the two parties agreed to have former Commonwealth secretary general Shridath Ramphal handle the talks.

Cricket lost in paradise

On a few things in the disparate lands that form the Caribbean all are agreed. Their cricket team is rubbish, the game is in crisis and it cannot be allowed to continue. They have been agreeing on this for 15 years and the continuation has been virtually unchecked.

Examinations of the state of the game, which are regular and earnest, are not so much obituaries as descriptions of a dead man walking. It probably makes it more miserable that way, and if anybody thought it would really be a mercy killing there might be a case for sporting euthanasia.

Another point yielding universal accord at present is that the West Indies will lose the forthcoming Test series to England and thus extend to 14 the number of series they have gone without a win. Back in 2004 they managed to beat Bangladesh.

What makes this run more dreadful is the legendary sequence that came a little while before, the one between June 1980 and May 1995, when the West Indies went 29 series without losing, winning 20 of them. That was at least a cricketing generation ago, and 82 players have represented the West Indies in Test matches since with an increasing lack of success. The one-day arena which has occasionally sustained them is no longer doing so: of their last 24 matches from the start of 2007 only six have been won.

The last hurrah was almost exactly 10 years ago when a team obviously already on the skids somehow managed to repel Australia. In one of the epic series, featuring repeatedly miraculous batting exhibitions by Brian Lara, they managed to draw 2-2. Since then, virtually nothing, and if there has been the odd false dawn it has been easily recognisable for what it is.

Cricket, it seems, after a couple of weeks here, is still in crisis if it is not a shambles. The inertia which has dogged the sport for more than two decades shows no signs of being eradicated. Successive boards have been lambasted for not doing enough and have been followed by boards which have not done the same amount.

Ricky Skerritt was the team manager of the West Indies for four years between 2000 and 2004 and is now a senator and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Culture in the small Leewards Island nation of St Kitts & Nevis. He is as aggrieved and alarmed as everybody else that the decline shows no sign of stabilising and that leadership from the centre remains moribund.

“Everywhere, you have problems with club structure, association management and the whole infrastructure of cricket is going downhill,” he said. “It's a problem at local level but the problem at central level doesn't help that because the central West Indies board is constantly talking, talking, talking and not doing. In addition the selection policy has a total randomness about it. Psychologically for this region this is a very hurtful experience.”

Cricket could still be the glue that binds together an eclectic region. It is true that it is not being played at the same level as it was before. The anecdotal evidence is grim. Go anywhere in the sub-continent from the back streets of Multan to the maidans of Mumabi, or indeed in parts of rural England and impromptu games of cricket are to be seen. In the Caribbean, except where there are Asian communities, they are not.

There are abundant reasons: a losing team, ill conceived development programmes, the so-called American influence and as Sir Garfield Sobers pointed out in these pages a while back the changing culture which sees kids, like kids everywhere, using their time in different ways, such as watching telly and playing computer games. But there are no coaches because there are no coaching programmes. Junie Mitchum, for instance, who played for St Kitts & Nevis against England this week is about to become a level three coach purely because he took his badges in England while playing club cricket there.

Solutions have been offered at a rate to match the losses. The trouble is that none has been implemented. It is a mystery in so many ways because as Skerritt said: “It's a horses and courses situation. If you look back at the successive presidents of the West Indies Cricket Board they have all been good people, people who are care and are capable who have come in with the intention of getting things done and generally have been frustrated by a bureaucratic system.”

The latest presidential incumbent is Dr Julian Hunte, a highly decorated businessman and statesman from St Lucia, and so far there is no real sign that he has been any more effective than his predecessors. The same goes for Dr Donald Peters, the chief executive, who has already been suspended once. There is a row at present - it is one long row in one long blame game while the team somehow keeps turning up - about the fate of a report into Caribbean cricket which was compiled after an inquiry led by P J Patterson, the former long-serving Prime Minister of Jamaica.

It would be difficult to think of a heavier hitter than Patterson to conduct a forensic examination of the ills affecting the game and come up with some answers. In cricket report writing terms he is probably the Sir Vivian Richards of the business - to summon up one of the long gone legends.

Patterson's report, more than 100 pages long, was unwieldy in places but it was thorough, painstaking and brutally honest. It delved into the history and said what should be done in the future. Since it was commissioned by the WICB - or at least one of its former presidents - there might have been the possibility that something would have been done about it. A few days ago Patterson felt obliged to break his silence after months of inaction. At its most basic he wanted to know what the hell was happening, though he put it more eloquently in a letter to the board.

“After more than a year, the people of the West Indies are still in the dark as to the outcome of your deliberations and the consequent fate of our report,” he said. “As presently structured the WICB, as trustees, has no obligation to account for its decisions and actions to stakeholders. Unless extensive changes are made to the existing governance structure and soon, we fear the eventual demise of cricket, lovely cricket. We have no interest in embroiling West Indies cricket in more controversy but we can no longer remain silent.”

The inquiry was emphatic on issues ranging from the establishment of cricket academies first suggested 20 years ago to player education. It remarked on player indiscipline, the failure to modernise administration, the corrosive effect of other sports.

It also urged some blue skies thinking, which should not be out of the question given the surroundings here, suggesting how the game might become a major tourist attraction (witness the hordes of England fans who will descend on Antigua and Barbados next month) and that cricket links could be formed with China which already does business with governments in the region.

The WICB responded to Patterson's complaints quickly but did not directly address them. Nothing continues happen. The academies, for instance, vital to player progress, appear as far away as ever. The Board has repeatedly made a hash of things. Short of real cash because there is no regional television station big enough to pay the sort of fee that keeps the English game afloat, it still manages to upset would-be benefactors.

They have a draft plan of their own, supposed to run from 2008, but it remains a draft. Precious little has been done about enacting it. The lack of a cohesive strategy seems to be repelling the American billionaire Sir Allen Stanford whose establishment of a domestic Twenty20 tournament - later complemented by the infamous Super Series with the $20m winner take all match featuring England last year - seemed to offer financial salvation. Instead the WICB got into a mess, desiring Stanford's millions but wondering how to embrace him and upsetting their official sponsor Digicel into the bargain. Stanford is expected to jump any day.

They have had repeated clashes with players, who remain prone to gross indiscipline, but deal with them ineptly. No recent statement remains truer than that given by Chris Gayle not long after he assumed the West Indies' captaincy. “The WICB say they want the best out of the players but we also need the best out of the board.”

West Indies can still compete after a fashion and in Shiv Chanderpaul they have one of the wonders of the age. In the last two years of Test cricket, over 13 Test matches, he has averaged 104. It has been a tour de force of broad shouldered batsmanship, and it deserves its reward in the next few weeks.

And it should not be forgotten that in one important respect the region has improved. The 2007 World Cup, so disappointing in so many ways, at least saw the erection of new stadiums, albeit too inaccessible in some places. But it is truly something to build on.

Dhoni stays atop ODI batting chart, Yuvraj at six

Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni extended his stay at the top of the ICC ODI Rankings for the batsmen, which has his flamboyant teammate Yuvraj Singh at the number six position.

According to the latest chart issued on Monday, Dhoni has 779 points and is closely followed by Australian Mike Hussey, who is just three points adrift of the The Jharkhand marauder.

Yuvraj has 744 rating points for his sixth place and the next best Indian in the ranking chart is Sachin Tendulkar, who stands 12th with 708 points.

Among the Indian bowlers, paceman Zaheer Khan (660) and spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh (617) feature in top 20 at 11th and 20th positions respectively.

India (119) remains third in the ODI ranking for the teams, behind table-toppers Australia (131) and South Africa (119).

Meanwhile, New Zealand can now rise to the fourth place but could slip to as low as eighth as well, depending on the outcome of their five-match series against West Indies.

Daniel Vettori's side currently sits in fifth place on 113 ratings points and a 5-0 series win will put it ahead of Pakistan in fourth place on 118 points.

However, a reversal would mean Kiwis conceding 11 ratings points to the West Indies. This will put both the teams level on 102 ratings points but Chris Gayle's side will be placed higher than the Black Caps in seventh place when ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

India will retake second place with win over England

India will go second in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table if it beats England in the upcoming two-Test series that gets underway in Chennai on Thursday.

By winning the series 1-0 or 2-0, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team will overtake South Africa and recapture second, a position it had briefly enjoyed after its 2-0 home series victory over Australia recently.

South Africa will have an immediate opportunity to take back that place with a three-match series in Australia on the horizon. The first match of that series begins in Perth on 17 December.

England will also be eyeing a good opportunity while in India. A 2-0 series win will see it move up one place to fourth in the standings, ahead of Sri Lanka. That result would also bring it to within three ratings points of India in third position.

A drawn series or a 1-0 win for England would leave the teams in their current positions although in both instances, India would lose ground on South Africa while Kevin Pietersen’s team would close the gap on Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, close rivals the West Indies and New Zealand do battle over the next couple of weeks in a two-Test series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. The first Test takes place in Dunedin beginning on Thursday with the second one scheduled for Napier from 19 December.

At present, New Zealand is placed in eighth position, just a fraction of a ratings point behind the West Indies. A drawn series would leave that state of affairs unchanged but a 1-0 or 2-0 win for the Black Caps would see them leap-frog over Chris Gayle and his men.

Ramnaresh Sarwan shines in Windies warm-up

Ramnaresh Sarwan played himself into form with a century as West Indies drew their Test warm-up game against Auckland in New Zealand.

Sarwan struck two sixes and 23 fours before retiring on 158 as the tourists totalled 431-7 on the final day.

He shared a stand of 116 with opener Sewnarine Chattergoon, who secured his Test place by making 93.

But West Indies have concerns about their bowling after Auckland piled up 587-7 declared earlier in the game.

Fidel Edwards took 3-125 but fellow fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Lionel Baker only managed one wicket between them and are unlikely to displace either Daren Powell or Jerome Taylor for the first of two Tests, which starts in Dunedin on Thursday.

Taylor and Powell will go into the game without having seen any competitive action since the end of a one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in mid-November.

West Indies have, meanwhile, named wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin as vice-captain after Sarwan asked to give up the job of Chris Gayle's number two.

"We have a crucial series coming up and I aim to play a major role," Ramdin commented.

India moves to third in ICC ODI rankings

India's resounding success against England in the first two one-dayers has propelled them to the third spot, while run-machine Yuvraj Singh's consecutive centuries, has catapulted him to sixth in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued on Tuesday.

India routed England in first match by 158 runs and won the second match by 54 runs to move two places up the rung in the team rankings.

Yuvraj, who scored unbeaten 138 in the first match and 118 in the second, gained 11 places to attain his career-best ranking of sixth place among batsmen.

The two defeats cost English dearly as they slumped to the sixth spot. Having lost three ratings points, England now sits just behind New Zealand by a fraction of a point.

With five matches still remaining, India will hope to continue the rampaging form and grab the second position by the end of the ODI series.

Bolstered by their 3-0 series win against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan has moved up two places to fourth, while Australia is still the table toppers, some 12 ratings points clear of South Africa, who are just four points ahead of India.

In-form Gautam Gambhir also progressed four spots and now sits just behind Pakistan's Younus Khan in 22nd place among batsmen.

However, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to be the numero uno, with Australia's Michael Hussey and Graeme Smith of South Africa grabbing the second and third place respectively.

West Indies' Chris Gayle, who scored two typically entertaining hundreds in the three-match series against Pakistan, gained six places into fifth position while ICC Cricketer of the Year Shivnarine Chanderpaul is just ahead of him having jumped two places to fourth.

Among the bowlers, Sohail Tanvir has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career after scalping seven Pakistani wickets at an average of 15.14. Tanvir has moved 12 places to seventh place.

England's Andrew Flintoff lost five places to 13th position after taking just one wicket in the first two matches of the series at a cost of 116 runs.

However, Flintoff was finely place in the second spot in the all-rounders list which is headed by New Zealand's Jacob Oram. West Indies skipper Chris Gayle has also moved up three places to be back into the top five, thanks to his all-rounder feat against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

Last-gasp Pakistan edge thriller

A brilliant 24 off just nine balls from Kamran Akmal saw Pakistan snatch a four-wicket win over West Indies in their first one-day match in Abu Dhabi.

Needing 17 off the last over, Akmal smashed two successive sixes off fast bowler Jerome Taylor before hitting the winning runs with one ball to spare.

West Indies skipper Chris Gayle had earlier scored a fine 113 as the tourists reached 294-9 from 50 overs.

Khurram Manzoor (69) and Shoaib Malik (66) also made valuable contributions.

Pakistan had looked on course for victory with Malik looking assured at the crease inside the final 10 overs.

But when the captain was dismissed by debutant fast bowler Lionel Baker in the 48th over with 33 runs till to go, momentum swung back in favour of the West Indies.

But Akmal - ably assisted by all-rounder Fawad Alam (26 not out) - maintained his composure, smashing his third ball for six before his two match-winning maximums in the final over.

Akmal's late heroics overshadowed Gayle's superb century, the first ever to be scored at the Zayed Stadium in the Emirate.

The West Indian skipper opted to bat after winning the toss and began tentatively with opening partner Sewnarine Chattergoon.

But the left-hander soon found his rhythm, reaching his half-century off just 36 balls, bringing up the landmark with two successive sixes off Umar Gul in the 10th over.

The openers had put on 125 before Chattergoon fell to Pakistan captain Shoaib in the 18th over.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (55) continued the onslaught, adding 73 for the second wicket as Gayle brought up his 17th one-day century off just 90 balls.

He added a further 13 runs to his score when he was caught at mid-wicket by Shahid Afridi off Gul, an innings which included five sixes and 11 boundaries.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (36) and Xavier Marshall (26) added useful runs before Gul (3-66) and Sohail Tanvir (3-42) ran through the lower middle order.

Openers Salman Butt and debutant Khurram gave Pakistan a solid foundation, reaching 64 from 15 overs before Butt (24) was bowled by Baker for his first international wicket.

Former captain Younus Khan put on 78 in a second-wicket partnership with Khurram, before another useful stand with Shoaib.

Baker added a second wicket when he had Younus caught for 56, but Shoaib maintained the momentum before Akmal's late hitting secured a dramatic victory.

The second one-dayer begins on 14 November.

Shoaib Akhtar ruled out of Windies match

Shoaib Akhtar will miss Pakistan's first one-day match against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi after pulling a calf muscle in practice.

The fast bowler sustained the injury on Tuesday, but Pakistan's team management are hopeful he will be fit for the second one-dayer on Friday.

"The team management will review his fitness on Thursday," said Pakistan media manager Raza Rashid.

Fast bowler Abdur Rauf has been drafted in to replace the 33-year-old.

"Coach Intikhab Alam is clear that only a 100% Akhtar will play because we have an important series against India in two months time and we will not risk any further injury for Akhtar," said team manager Yawar Saeed.

Shoaib returned to the Pakistan squad in August for a Twenty20 tournament but has not played a one-day international in over a year.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle had highlighted the paceman's potent threat, describing him as a "key factor" in the three-match series

The West Indies have never played in Abu Dhabi, but begin the series on Wednesday with the country on a high after Gayle led an all-star team from the Caribbean to victory over England in the Stanford Twenty20 finale in Antigua.

Pakistan, however, have extensive experience in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, beating Sri Lanka 2-1 last year and sharing a two-match series against India in 2006.

It will also be the first match in charge for Pakistan's temporary coach Intikhab, following the sacking two weeks ago of Geoff Lawson.

"Besides Akhtar, they have (Umar) Gul, and backed by a strong batting line-up they are a very tough team, but if we compete well we can sneak a win in the first game for a good start," Gayle added.

"Beating England was nice and we worked really hard for that. Now it's a new series and every series is important for us, no matter who the opponent is, and winning this one will give us more confidence.

"We have some exciting newcomers like Lionel Baker, who played in Canada, then we have Shawn Findlay and Brendan Nash, so these guys have an opportunity to prove themselves against a good opponent."

The Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik hopes his team can impress, particularly with it being their only international series before playing three Tests and five one-dayers against India in January and February.

"This may just be one of the most important series we have played in recent times and we are eager to do well," Malik said.

"We have a few youngsters in the side and this may be their only chance to prove their ability in international cricket before we meet India."

While admitting that knowledge of the pitch may give his side a slight advantage, Malik, appointed skipper last year, is confident his bowlers will be in good form.

With his captaincy currently under review by the Pakistan Cricket Board - his tenure ends next month - Malik said he was "as relaxed as ever".

"There is no captaincy pressure on me. I have my own way and always look for improvement in all areas."

Pakistan will choose between batsman Khalid Latif and all-rounder Fawad Alam as a replacement for Mohammad Yousuf who recently joined the Indian Cricket League.

Improving India brought Aussies down: Chris Gayle

Describing India as the 'best new team in the world', West Indies skipper Chris Gayle feels it was their superior display that brought Australia down on their knees and made cricket more interesting.

"I don't believe its Australia's downfall. Definitely not. Any team playing in India is difficult to beat. However we need to give credit to India for having beaten them though I did not get to see the matches," said Gayle.

"I don't know what their cricket will lead to but there is a lot of experienced players there and lot of guys who play a lot of first-class cricket and so it is going to be a challenge for them," he remarked.

"So India beating Australia is a turning point for us and getting more wins over such an opponent will make cricket even better."

The West Indian skipper also had a word of praise for his Indian counterpart.

"India is a fast improving team. Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni they are doing very well and since I played in the IPL I saw some very exciting players who can fill in once the older guys go out," he was quoted as saying in 'Cricketnirvana.'