BENONI, 18 February 2003 — Bangladesh coach Mohsin Kamal admitted yesterday that his team had no hope of beating the West Indies and that avoiding a humiliating defeat was their top priority. “If we put in 110 percent, we will give a good account of ourselves in the game,” said Kamal. “But for Bangladesh it is not all about winning. It’s a matter of how you minimize the margin of defeat.

“If you look at the World Cup it’s not only the Bangladesh team that has lost two matches. We are here to play cricket and we want to do well. I think the boys have the ability to score 225 plus and I am still waiting for that,” he added looking ahead of today’s Group B game at Willowmoore Park.

Captain Khaled Mashud said his team has had good individual performances in recent times and they now just need to play as a team to start winning. “Since we started to play at the highest level we have had some impressive individual performances,” said the skipper. “Alok Kapali has scored three half centuries against the West Indies and Mohammad Ashraful scored a century against Sri Lanka, but we have to perform as a team. We might have had two or three bad years but we will get better,” Mashud warned.

Bangladesh have lost both their opening games here — by 60 runs to Canada and ten wickets to Sri Lanka — to extend their embarrassing streak to 27 defeats in 28 games with one washed out. Against the West Indies they will be without medium-pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who injured his ankle when he stepped on a ball at practice yesterday and will be replaced by Talha Jubair. The West Indies will miss Pedro Collins, who has been advised rest due to a back injury and is likely to be replaced by either 20-year-old Jermaine Lawson or Barbadian Corey Collymore.

For the West Indies, the key to the game is winning in style and boosting the team’s run-rate and they are easily the favorites to beat the Asian side having got the better of them in Bangladesh last year.

“We are going out there to play as hard as we can, as well as we can and to take maximum points from the game,” said coach Roger Harper. “We are also aware that we need to improve our net run rate and that’s one of the main things we will be trying to do.” But Harper is not taking Bangladesh too lightly — he remembers the shocking defeat his team suffered at the hands of Kenya in the 1996 World Cup. “We can’t afford to take any opponent lightly,” he said.

Fancy Lance

is Top Man

South African all-rounder Lance Klusener is the early pace-setter for the World Cup’s man of the tournament award, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday, the first rest day of the event.

Klusener’s match-winning bowling against Kenya and his destructive late batting assault that almost snatched South Africa victory in the curtain-raiser against West Indies have put him in first place in the standings with five points. A point behind Klusener, who was also man of the tournament in 1999, is Dutchman Tim de Leede.

The Dutchman shares second place with Wasim Akram (Pakistan), Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa) and Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka). The standings are based on the cumulative man of the match results, awarded by the match referee — three for the winner, two for second and one for third.

Current standings:

Lance Klusener (RSA) 5pts, Wasim Akram (Pak) 4, Tim de Leede (Ned) 4, Herschelle Gibbs (RSA) 4, Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri 4, Andre Adams (Nzl) 3, James Anderson (Eng) 3, Ian Billcliff (Can) 3, Austin Codrington (Can) 3, Stephen Fleming (Nzl) 3, Jason Gillespie (Aus) 3, Brian Lara (WIs) 3, Thomas Odoyo (Ken) 3, Chaminda Vaas (Sri) 3, Craig Wishart (Zim) 3.

I Would Like to Captain England — Vaughan

In Port Elizabeth, leading batsman Michael Vaughan has put his name forward as a potential successor to Nasser Hussain if he carries out his threat of resigning as England captain after the World Cup.

Hussain attacked the game’s authorities over their handling of the Zimbabwe crisis on Saturday and confirmed he was considering giving up the job.

If Hussain stands down after four years, Vaughan will be among a small band of candidates for the role.

“First and foremost, the job is not available and I’m concentrating on my batting in my first World Cup,” he said.

“If at the end of the World Cup or in a year’s time the job does become available I would like my name to be mentioned but for now I’m happy to carry on playing.

“Nasser is doing a great job and we are all behind him and hopefully he will continue.” England resume their World Cup campaign in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday when they take on Namibia.

World Cup Organizers Clamp Down on Ambush Marketing

In Johannesburg, an attempt by the organizers of the Cricket World Cup to clamp down on ambush marketing has resulted in an assault charge being laid against a security official, South African media reported yesterday.

A Johannesburg businessman, who was evicted from the stadium after opening a can of Coca-Cola and subsequently laid a charge of assault, said that the way in which he was treated was unacceptable.

Arthur Williamson, who was watching Saturday’s match between India and Australia with his wife and son, said that he had been approached by security guards after opening a can of Coke and told that he was not allowed to drink Coca-Cola, as Pepsi had exclusive rights.

“I told them I would quickly finish the can and gave them an undertaking that I would not open the other ones in my cooler bag.” (Agencies)