8 May 1999
World Cup Snippets
Sa'adi Thawfeeq
The Cup's best bowler a quadriplegic
Northampton where world one-day champs Sri Lanka are based for the
World Cup is the venue where former West Indies fast bowler Winston
Davis lives.
Whenever the World Cup comes Davis is remembered for producing the
best figures in the tournament's history when he took 7 for 51
against Australia at Headingley in 1983. He also represented
Northamptonshire in the English county championships.
Davis today is a quadriplegic, denied the use of his arms or legs
after falling from a tree on his home island at St. Vincent in 1997.
Although money raised has brought him a special vehicle, more funds
are required. As a result, some of cricket's greatest figures will
play in a benefit match for him on May 23 near Northampton.
Billed to take part in the fund-raising match for Davis are former
stars Viv Richards, who comes out of retirement to play his first
game since 1992, Dennis Lillee, Mike Gatting, Allan Lamb, Mark
Ramprakash and Michael Holding.
Go to the police
So serious are the organisers taking the World Cup that journalists
who lose their accredition pass will first have to report it to the
nearest police station and obtain a police report number before they
can report the loss to the accredition officer.
Even so there is no guarantee that a replacement pass will be issued
immediately. The World Cup Media Information and Facilities Guide
states, in cases of difficulty, a day pass may be issued until the
matter is resolved.
Big and small
The biggest team in the World Cup is Zimbabwe. They have ordered
eight extra large (XL) and seven extra extra large (XXL) shirts for
their 15-man squad. The smallest team is Bangladesh.
Sky's the limit
Sky Sports who have acquired the televising rights for the 42 World
Cup matches, have lined up a commentary team good enough to represent
a World XI. It boasts of more than 20 international cricketers and in
excess of 100,000 Test runs.
Starting with the presenter and commentator David Gower, the rest of
the commentary team comprises Ian Botham, Bob Willis, Michael
Holding, Paul Allott, Allan Border, Ian Chappell, Martin Crowe, John
Emburey, Graeme Fowler, Sunil Gavaskar, Tony Greig, Ian Healy, David
Hookes, Dave Houghton, Robin Jackman, Allan Lamb, Bill Lawry,
Mudassar Nazar, Mike Procter, Dav Whatmore, Tony Cozier, and Charles
Colville (presenter).
Young and old
The oldest player taking part in the World Cup will be Scotland's
Iain Philip whose 42nd birthday is on June 9. The youngest is Shahid
Afridi of Pakistan who turned 19 on March 1.
The genuine ones
Journalists covering the World Cup have been priority listed for
passes because press facilities at the majority of the 21 venues are
extremely limited due to space restrictions.
Lord's the venue for the opening match and the final, has the largest
facility with 225 press box desks and 200 overspill seats. The
minimum facility is at Derby where there are only 20 press box desks
and 20 overspill seats.
There are 19 priorities for organisations. The main ones are: 1.
International News Agencies, 2. National News Agencies from the two
competing countries, 3. National Daily Newspapers from the two
competing countries, 4. National News Agencies from other countries,
5. National Daily Newspapers from other countries, 6. National Sunday
Newspapers rom the two competing countries, 7. National Sunday
Newspapers from other countries, 8. Cricket specialist Magazines from
the two competing countries, 9. Cricket specialist Magazines from
other countries.
The second priority considered is the Nationality of the journalist
and the third, is his order of rank within the organisation :
1. The Cricket Correspondent, 2. Cricket Writer, 3. Sports Feature Writer,
4. Sports News Writer, 5. Feature Writer, 6. News Writer, 7.
Freelance, and 8. Other.
The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka could take a cue from
this and ensure that only the genuine cricket journalists are allowed
into the vicinity of the press box.
Grass cutter
During the six weeks of the World Cup competition a total of 75
tonnes of grass will be mown at the 21 venues. And it will take more
than 2,500 man hours to keep the outfields in good nick. End of BBC
The World Cup tournament will signal the end of the BBC's cricket
coverage - before they hand over to Channel 4 and Sky. BBC and Sky
between them will produce 336 hours of match broadcasts, using 160
miles of cable and eight mobile studios during the World Cup.
Source :: The Daily News (https://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/)