The Googly

There's still time to sign up for the Googly Fantasy cricket league

With the start of the Twenty20 World Cup just a week away, may I just remind all you lovely readers that we are running our very own Googly Fantasy League for the event.  There will be prizes up for grabs, including a couple of these cracking t-shirts from our proud supporters at www.nipplecripple.com

All you need to do is get yourself over to the cricketweb.net, set yourself up a team, then email my good self to get the entry code for our league.  Before you know it you'll be competing with the cream of the cricketing public.

Get involved, you know you want to!

County Championship Division Two round-up

There were only two matches played last week, and both lost time due to rain delays. At Sophia Gardens where Glamorgan were playing Somerset, they lost the first two days and at Northampton, where the home side took on Middlesex, they lost the first day. Unsurprisingly, therefore, both matches were drawn and there was not a lot of excitement to be had.

Glamorgan lost the toss and had to bat first - continuing their disappointing performances and scoring a measly 198 (Wharf top-scored with 45). Caddick did the top-order damage for Somerset (again) removing the openers for just four. Langer proved his value yet again and made sure Somerset were safe with a stonking 113 (including 11 fours and one six). Somerset took the 12 points to extend their lead at the top of the table. They now sit comfortably on 202 and look unbeatable. Glamorgan continue to cling tightly to their bottom place.

In the county of shoes, Owais Shah (pictured) did the biz for Middlesex - 189 not out kind of set the tone, and backed up by a very well played ton by Ed Joyce, the outcome here was never in doubt. Klusener top-scored for Northants with 89 but in a lost cause. Weather ensured the match was drawn, but no question that Middlesex took the 12 points.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

A bit about the Twenty20

This is not a comprehensive round-up - hey with so many matches on tonight what do you expect? But what a start we've had to the competition! A plethora of delights, and one to cherish is Phil "The Cat" Tufnell's debutant performance attempting ball-by-ball commentary. His beautiful, gorgeous opening remarks were not about the fine cricketers about to take to the park, but this self-deprecating remark: "I've forgotten all the fielding postitions. My mind goes blank." Phil we love you and totally identify with that!  Phil did manage a few cricket related comments. On a catch he said "He held that lovely" and "Middlesex need boundaries. Can they kick on?" Later we heard from the Cat that " I don't think it's enough on this wicket - 2 overs to go". Phil when you told us that Surrey should knock it off, I think we were all won over. Please stay with us to commentate. Tell us about Ramps and keep us glued to the Oval - and you did, thanks mate: "It's all over mate, Mark won the game with the 6. Ramps for England, for me". Tuffers, I think we know where you're coming from. Mate. Love it.

Masters and Bresnam played well up in the Yorkshire match, even though as I wrote this the young Tim had no runs. I was diverted to find out what was happening to Brophy, and how Henderson was bowling. It's a fairly hectic process following this Twenty20. Snape has just got a hat-trick for the Foxes and Yorks are sliding away - baring a miracle from the Dazzler. And it's happening - Chris Gilbert plays the innings of his life (Arlo White tells us). "He should get 8 for that". At Grace Road it's game on as the phoenix rises from the flames and Dazz gets a 6 but then is caught on the boundary. He's gone. Yorkshire need 25 from 5. They won't get it. Jim Allenby is bowling a fine and accurate line. He's bowling to fellow Aussie Gillespie and Yorks can't win. The Foxes begin their defence in fine style, and with huge entertainment for the crowd. More on the Twenty20 later from your friends at The Googly.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

The Thunder Downunder: The Long Road to 2011

Another busy week in the Thunder sheds with Greg Blewett and Shane Warne spitting the dummy, Adam Gilchrist contemplating retirement from the one-day arena and Damien Wright breaking down - not for the first time - on an off-season mortgage lopping adventure in Wales.

The editors were startled at the response to the debut column last week but were a bit miffed to have to sort through the hundreds of emails that arrived in their inbox. (Thanks Mum but from now on send them to my address. Or better yet, Dad’s.)  So impressed were my generous employers that they provided a one-way ticket on the Ghan and a single complimentary meal voucher to the Darwin Harbour fish and chip shop for the week long ICC World Cricket League Third Division qualifying tournament for the 2011 World Cup played last week in the tropical Northern Territory capital. With no accommodation provided I fortunately discovered a luxuriant mango tree to sleep under outside Marrara Oval. The tree was laden and your correspondent was victorious most nights in a fierce nocturnal tropical fruit battle with a colony of flying fox and a concupiscent possum. The spoils were sticky and organically delicious.

Despite my benefactors best efforts I survived and hitched a ride back to the sheds with a shotgun toting, ute driving, flannelette and denim wearing Anglican vicar named Brenda, who kindly lent me her hair-dryer to exsiccate the guano off my notes when we stopped for a dip at Mataranka. While soaking in the hot springs and staring at the starry desert sky, my sky-god loving companion, resplendent in crucifix pendant and Akubra, pointed out the irony of fighting sharp-clawed arboreal beasts to survive in a town named after the legendary evolutionist. 

I’d very much like to enlighten you, dear readers, on the machinations of the qualifying system for the 2011 World Cup but unfortunately Messrs Duckworth and Lewis have not responded to my calls or messages. When I do call I hear a computer voice detailing the statistical likelihood of either Mr Duckworth or Mr Lewis being in their office at any given moment in time and space. Currently it is 0.354569874512. I rummaged around the bottom drawer and found the slide-rule and after much cursing and confusion, your correspondent calculated much to his disappointment, that the infamous mathematicians were currently putting on the 13th green of the Belle Mare Golf Course situated on the lush Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Suffice to say that of the eight nations represented at this Division Three tournament, the top two go on to the next stage - unsurprisingly called the Division Two tournament - that is contested at Windhoek, Namibia in November.

There were two groups of four and Group A consisted of Argentina, Fiji, Italy and Papua New Guinea. While the Group B participants were Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Tanzania and Uganda.

Group B was won with relative ease by Uganda winning all three matches by margins of 91 runs versus Hong Kong, 4 wickets in a low scoring contest with Tanzania and 26 runs against second placed Group B nation Cayman Islands.

Group A was far more exciting with three nations Argentina, Papua New Guinea and Italy, each winning two out of three, separated at the end of the first phase by run rate. Argentina topped the group with Papua New Guinea earning the other semi-final place. The luckless Italians, winners of the first and best match of the tournament against Argentina, were squeezed out by an inferior run-rate.

So after a dozen group matches where some good spirited cricket was played and many mangoes on grassy mounds consumed, the confirmed semi-finalists were, Uganda v Papua New Guinea and Argentina v Cayman Islands. These two matches was where the real prize would be decided, a place in the next round of qualification.

In the first semi, the unfancied Argentinians knocked over the pre-tournament favourites Cayman Islands for a paltry 102 runs in 40 overs. The hero was Argentina’s captain and burgeoning heart-throb Esteban MacDermott. The tall and athletic 25 year old MacDermott turned many a ladies head whilst in Darwin and on the hill at the Gardens Oval a throng of tanned local lassies were swooning and yelping as he blew them a kiss after everyone of his 4 crucial wickets.

The Bargies - as they were affectionately nicknamed in Darwin - lost wickets regularly in their chase and at one stage looked in danger of losing when 66-6, but the cool and quiet efficiency of wicketkeeper Alejandro Ferguson saw them home with 4 wickets and 94 balls to spare.

This was a brilliant and quite unexpected performance from the team in sky blue. They were only included in this tournament because of the suspension of the United States by the ICC. Before the tournament began hardly a soul gave the men from South America a metaphorical snowball’s chance of qualifying to Division Two. Many times they were under pressure and responded with spirit, passion and a fierce determination.

Their captain was brimming with pride at the post-match press conference.

“The boys could have easily lost focus or confidence after the one wicket defeat against Italy," MacDermott said, "but they remained committed and stayed on track because they trusted their instincts. This is the reward for their dedication and continuous hard work.

The man of the match then humbly gave credit where it was due and most unusually and perhaps dangerously for a South American called football, soccer.

"The credit for our promotion to Division Two not only goes to the team but to the entire support staff and all those who backed us all the way. Our performance in the tournament shows how rapidly cricket is growing in our country where soccer remains the first-choice sport."

The other semi featured the unbeaten and athletic Ugandans up against the plucky Papua New Guineans. The Ugandans were unbackable favourites in this contest but the Pappies - they love a nickname in the Top End - would not see their World Cup dreams dissolve without a fight. They fought tooth and nail and in a see-sawing contest the Ugandans prevailed by one wicket with 4 balls to spare. 

The Pappies skipper Rava Dikarna called correctly and batted on a well prepared pitch at the Tracy Village Oval. Early wickets were lost as the new-ball seamed around - a feature of this tournament - and at one stage PNG were reeling at 32-4. The beefy Mahuru Dai rescued the innings with an impressive 86 in 93 deliveries. He was ably assisted by John Ovia’s patient 43 and Asad Vala who scored a brisk unbeaten 40 to help the Pappies to the respectable and defendable 203-6 from their 50 overs.

Uganda’s chase under a hot and harsh tropical sun began in the worst way imaginable when young left-handed Arthur Kyobe was adjudged lbw to a booming inswinger delivered by PNG right-arm quick Hitolo Arena. Indonesian umpire Shahul Hammed considered it plum and had no hesitation in raising his wagging index finger. Undeterred by the brevity of the occasion 17 year old Roger Mukasa impetuously flayed the new ball around the park and when he was dismissed for 43 from 32 balls the Ugandans were off to a flyer at 75-2 from 12 overs.

After the fireworks from Mukasa the PNG boys dug deep knowing that all their hopes of proceeding further in this World Cup depended on the next few hours cricket. A superb spell of off-spin bowling by the wily veteran James Brazier triggered a mid-innings collapse and his unbroken spell yielded the impressive figures of 10-4-17-4. Brazier mixed up his deliveries in a masterclass of off-spin bowling and with the help of allrounder Ovia, who chimed in with 3 late wickets, the favourites Uganda were in trouble at 188-9 still needing 14 runs to get off 21 balls. Man of the match Kenneth Kamyuka steered the Ugandans to safety with a mature run a ball 43 not out, and his last wicket partnership with bunny Charles Waiswa where Kamyuka intelligently farmed the strike scoring all 14 runs, proved to be as anxious a finish as you could wish to witness.

The Ugandans were thrilled to progress to the next stage and their captain Joey Olweny told Cricinfo, "Obviously now we want to win the final and have immediately set our eyes at Argentina, but for the time being we want to enjoy this achievement because when we left our shores, the target was to qualify for the final and earn a place in Division Two. It has been a very tense and pressurised match and the boys have more than one reason to celebrate. The boys really deserve it."

The semi-final winners Argentina and Uganda celebrated their qualification with gutso and deservedly so. They will now join Denmark, Oman , United Arab Emirates and the host nation, Namibia in Windhoek in November.

The final played at the pristinely prepared Gardens Oval on a sunny breathless Saturday was a casual affair with only prestige at stake and it was won by the Ugandans by 91 runs keeping intact their unbeaten record in the tournament.

Your correspondent, despite sleeping in the long-grass and battling the fauna for his nightly tucker witnessed one of the most delightful cricket carnivals that has graced Australian soil. Eight teams from four continents consisting entirely of amateurs played their cricket in good spirits with smiles on their faces and the commitment and the desire you would expect from men who have given their time, many at a personal cost, to represent their nations. The cynicism that often surrounds the major nations of international cricket was absent and the ICC deserve the highest praise for creating a path for all 97 countries in the cricketing family to compete for a place at the 2011 World Cup.

In addition the umpires from the Asian and Pacific countries of Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Japan did a splendid job without technical aids. Not one player was reported for dissent during the whole 20 matches and the Spirit of Cricket was enthusiastically embraced by all the teams.

In other news filtering through to the shed, two Ugandan players, teenagers Patrick Ochan and Jimmy Okello, have been reported missing in Darwin after failing to board the plane with their team-mates on their long and disjointed journey back to Kampala. Few are concerned for their safety with it likely that the lads enjoyed Darwin’s legendary hospitality to its fullest and have decided to continue their celebrations. Who could blame them. The mangoes are ripe, the tropical Arafura Sea is warm and the women friendly and beautiful. 

The pessimists are always keen to denigrate the future prospects of international cricket. These myopic mental midgets fail to understand what cricket is really about. It isn’t about corporate boxes or match receipts or politics. It is a game. A glorious and ancient game based on fraternity, competition and equality. This week in tropical Darwin the Thunder Downunder witnessed the future of this grandest of games. Vibrant, egalitarian, sporting and global.

[Nesta Quin]

Friends Provident Trophy round-up

The ECB are really talking up the Friends Provident Trophy as they prepare to bestow an award on the player of the group stages. Today they're giving props to Surrey’s Ali Brown and James Benning for hitting 176 and 152 respectively as their side accumulated a record 496-4 against Gloucestershire Gladiators last month.

Benning was originally identified by David Graveney as one to watch ahead of the tournament, though with his record in recent years - a strike-rate of over 140 in Twenty20, nearly 80 in first-class games as well as an average of around 35, at the tender age of just turned 24 - it didn't take a psychic to work that much out.

Graveney enthused today: "James has been part of a fantastic Surrey batting attack. He hit a personal high score of 152 as his team accumulated a massive 496-4 in their Friends Provident Trophy game against Gloucestershire, shattering every record going in limited overs cricket!"

That's a massive 496-4 - not just a medium-sized one.

Nick Knight, on the other hand, is urging caution, reckoning it's too early on in the competition to begin singling players out for the player of the tournament. Having said that, he then goes on to muse: "You don’t have to look too far beyond Surrey for the contenders, with the likes of Ali Brown, James Benning and Rikki Clarke. But we do need the tournament to unfold more before we can make a final decision."

Tomorrow second-bottom Derbyshire Phantoms face fifth-placed Yorkshire Phoenix in a floodlit game, then on Friday Durham take on Worcestershire. Teachers' pets Surrey are back in action on Sunday when they play Essex at the Whitgift School. [Carrie Dunn] [Image: Getty]

Ireland win ICC Intercontinental Cup. Again

It took Ireland five and a bit sessions to retain their ICC Intercontinental Cup, smiting Canada by an innings and 115 runs.

Canada managed only 92 runs in the first innings, and Ireland hit 352 in response, with Jeremy Bray scoring 146. Once Kevin O'Brien's wicket fell with his team on 297-4, left-armer Umar Bhatti tore through the tail, and the medium-pacer finished with figures of 5-85.

A lead of 260 was too much for Canada to chase down, and Trent Johnston and Kyle McCallan combined to bowl them out for 145.

It's interesting to note how the "second tier" of cricket-playing nations are progressing. We've seen how Bangladesh are crashing onwards and upwards in the one-day game after having been the whipping boys for years, and now that Ireland have secured their own limited-overs elite status, maybe they will be the next to move up to Test matches. [Carrie Dunn] [Image: Getty]

Write for our footy blog Bratwurst and also be the UK's first mobile football blogger and we'll give you £500 to do it.

Ok, so there might be a lot of World Cup competitions around, but this is the coolest by far. How would you like to write for Who ate all the Bratwurst? as well as be the first footy blogger in the UK to go mobile?

And guess what we’ll pay you £500 to do it.

We are looking for four bloggers to write for both Bratwurst and our mobile sister blog Germany 2006 which will be available via the fantastic Mobizines. We want bloggers who can great write great short posts about anything and everything do with the World Cup. There are four spaces up for grabs and you can find all the details here.

The basics though is that you need to do is write up to 300 impassioned, maybe witty words about something to do with football or the World Cup.

Germany 2006 will be on Mobizines, which is a fantastic new mobile phone application that offers magazines to go on your handset.

You can read all about how Mobizines work here and what sister blog Tech Digest said about it when it launched here.

So £500 and you could be on your way to be the next Motty. What have you got to lose?

Competition entry form

Keep those limericks rolling in

Just a reminder that we have a limerick competition running with some great prizes on offer from Crease Clothing. So get going and win yourself a T-Shirt! 

Cricket limerick competition: win stuff!

It's early days at The Googly, but I thought it high time to launch a competition. Limericks are a lot of fun (and actually require some thought, too) so your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to produce the best limerick (emphasis on trying to make me laugh, please) - and here's your starting line:

England were in such a mess

We have two brilliant prizes from Crease Clothing, who make these fantastic cricket T-Shirts with funny and wacky cricketing slogans emblazened on them. “CHEEKY SINGLE” (for the ladies), "There's nothing wrong with trying to PULL EVERYTHING", "Great catch" and "You don't need SNOW to go sledging" among others. They're all great fun, are available in a variety of sizes and, best of all, are completely cricket-oriented. For the true cricket nut.

Now then, the rules and things:

What is a limerick?

A limerick is a five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet. If a couplet is a two-line rhymed poem, then a triplet would be a three-line rhymed poem. The rhyme pattern is a a b b a with lines 1, 2 and 5 containing 3 beats and rhyming, and lines 3 and 4 having two beats and rhyming. Some people say that the limerick was invented by soldiers returning from France to the Irish town of Limerick in the 1700s.

Example

A flea and a fly in a flue
Were caught, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

Easy. And here's another (far poorer) example:

England were in such a mess
They needed more players - not less!
But Flintoff stood tall
And Monty bowled them all
I'm sorry to say - I digress!

Really, really terrible - I apologise. But at least it gives you something to aim for and, hopefully, better. I'll run the compo until the end of the second Test, and might do another for the third. Available to all - just leave a comment, and make sure your email address is valid.

Check out Crease Clothing now if you can't be bothered to win a free one!

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

A bit about the Twenty20

This is not a comprehensive round-up - hey with so many matches on tonight what do you expect? But what a start we've had to the competition! A plethora of delights, and one to cherish is Phil "The Cat" Tufnell's debutant performance attempting ball-by-ball commentary. His beautiful, gorgeous opening remarks were not about the fine cricketers about to take to the park, but this self-deprecating remark: "I've forgotten all the fielding postitions. My mind goes blank." Phil we love you and totally identify with that!  Phil did manage a few cricket related comments. On a catch he said "He held that lovely" and "Middlesex need boundaries. Can they kick on?" Later we heard from the Cat that " I don't think it's enough on this wicket - 2 overs to go". Phil when you told us that Surrey should knock it off, I think we were all won over. Please stay with us to commentate. Tell us about Ramps and keep us glued to the Oval - and you did, thanks mate: "It's all over mate, Mark won the game with the 6. Ramps for England, for me". Tuffers, I think we know where you're coming from. Mate. Love it.

Masters and Bresnam played well up in the Yorkshire match, even though as I wrote this the young Tim had no runs. I was diverted to find out what was happening to Brophy, and how Henderson was bowling. It's a fairly hectic process following this Twenty20. Snape has just got a hat-trick for the Foxes and Yorks are sliding away - baring a miracle from the Dazzler. And it's happening - Chris Gilbert plays the innings of his life (Arlo White tells us). "He should get 8 for that". At Grace Road it's game on as the phoenix rises from the flames and Dazz gets a 6 but then is caught on the boundary. He's gone. Yorkshire need 25 from 5. They won't get it. Jim Allenby is bowling a fine and accurate line. He's bowling to fellow Aussie Gillespie and Yorks can't win. The Foxes begin their defence in fine style, and with huge entertainment for the crowd. More on the Twenty20 later from your friends at The Googly.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

The Thunder Downunder: The Long Road to 2011

Another busy week in the Thunder sheds with Greg Blewett and Shane Warne spitting the dummy, Adam Gilchrist contemplating retirement from the one-day arena and Damien Wright breaking down - not for the first time - on an off-season mortgage lopping adventure in Wales.

The editors were startled at the response to the debut column last week but were a bit miffed to have to sort through the hundreds of emails that arrived in their inbox. (Thanks Mum but from now on send them to my address. Or better yet, Dad’s.)  So impressed were my generous employers that they provided a one-way ticket on the Ghan and a single complimentary meal voucher to the Darwin Harbour fish and chip shop for the week long ICC World Cricket League Third Division qualifying tournament for the 2011 World Cup played last week in the tropical Northern Territory capital. With no accommodation provided I fortunately discovered a luxuriant mango tree to sleep under outside Marrara Oval. The tree was laden and your correspondent was victorious most nights in a fierce nocturnal tropical fruit battle with a colony of flying fox and a concupiscent possum. The spoils were sticky and organically delicious.

Despite my benefactors best efforts I survived and hitched a ride back to the sheds with a shotgun toting, ute driving, flannelette and denim wearing Anglican vicar named Brenda, who kindly lent me her hair-dryer to exsiccate the guano off my notes when we stopped for a dip at Mataranka. While soaking in the hot springs and staring at the starry desert sky, my sky-god loving companion, resplendent in crucifix pendant and Akubra, pointed out the irony of fighting sharp-clawed arboreal beasts to survive in a town named after the legendary evolutionist. 

I’d very much like to enlighten you, dear readers, on the machinations of the qualifying system for the 2011 World Cup but unfortunately Messrs Duckworth and Lewis have not responded to my calls or messages. When I do call I hear a computer voice detailing the statistical likelihood of either Mr Duckworth or Mr Lewis being in their office at any given moment in time and space. Currently it is 0.354569874512. I rummaged around the bottom drawer and found the slide-rule and after much cursing and confusion, your correspondent calculated much to his disappointment, that the infamous mathematicians were currently putting on the 13th green of the Belle Mare Golf Course situated on the lush Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Suffice to say that of the eight nations represented at this Division Three tournament, the top two go on to the next stage - unsurprisingly called the Division Two tournament - that is contested at Windhoek, Namibia in November.

There were two groups of four and Group A consisted of Argentina, Fiji, Italy and Papua New Guinea. While the Group B participants were Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Tanzania and Uganda.

Group B was won with relative ease by Uganda winning all three matches by margins of 91 runs versus Hong Kong, 4 wickets in a low scoring contest with Tanzania and 26 runs against second placed Group B nation Cayman Islands.

Group A was far more exciting with three nations Argentina, Papua New Guinea and Italy, each winning two out of three, separated at the end of the first phase by run rate. Argentina topped the group with Papua New Guinea earning the other semi-final place. The luckless Italians, winners of the first and best match of the tournament against Argentina, were squeezed out by an inferior run-rate.

So after a dozen group matches where some good spirited cricket was played and many mangoes on grassy mounds consumed, the confirmed semi-finalists were, Uganda v Papua New Guinea and Argentina v Cayman Islands. These two matches was where the real prize would be decided, a place in the next round of qualification.

In the first semi, the unfancied Argentinians knocked over the pre-tournament favourites Cayman Islands for a paltry 102 runs in 40 overs. The hero was Argentina’s captain and burgeoning heart-throb Esteban MacDermott. The tall and athletic 25 year old MacDermott turned many a ladies head whilst in Darwin and on the hill at the Gardens Oval a throng of tanned local lassies were swooning and yelping as he blew them a kiss after everyone of his 4 crucial wickets.

The Bargies - as they were affectionately nicknamed in Darwin - lost wickets regularly in their chase and at one stage looked in danger of losing when 66-6, but the cool and quiet efficiency of wicketkeeper Alejandro Ferguson saw them home with 4 wickets and 94 balls to spare.

This was a brilliant and quite unexpected performance from the team in sky blue. They were only included in this tournament because of the suspension of the United States by the ICC. Before the tournament began hardly a soul gave the men from South America a metaphorical snowball’s chance of qualifying to Division Two. Many times they were under pressure and responded with spirit, passion and a fierce determination.

Their captain was brimming with pride at the post-match press conference.

“The boys could have easily lost focus or confidence after the one wicket defeat against Italy," MacDermott said, "but they remained committed and stayed on track because they trusted their instincts. This is the reward for their dedication and continuous hard work.

The man of the match then humbly gave credit where it was due and most unusually and perhaps dangerously for a South American called football, soccer.

"The credit for our promotion to Division Two not only goes to the team but to the entire support staff and all those who backed us all the way. Our performance in the tournament shows how rapidly cricket is growing in our country where soccer remains the first-choice sport."

The other semi featured the unbeaten and athletic Ugandans up against the plucky Papua New Guineans. The Ugandans were unbackable favourites in this contest but the Pappies - they love a nickname in the Top End - would not see their World Cup dreams dissolve without a fight. They fought tooth and nail and in a see-sawing contest the Ugandans prevailed by one wicket with 4 balls to spare. 

The Pappies skipper Rava Dikarna called correctly and batted on a well prepared pitch at the Tracy Village Oval. Early wickets were lost as the new-ball seamed around - a feature of this tournament - and at one stage PNG were reeling at 32-4. The beefy Mahuru Dai rescued the innings with an impressive 86 in 93 deliveries. He was ably assisted by John Ovia’s patient 43 and Asad Vala who scored a brisk unbeaten 40 to help the Pappies to the respectable and defendable 203-6 from their 50 overs.

Uganda’s chase under a hot and harsh tropical sun began in the worst way imaginable when young left-handed Arthur Kyobe was adjudged lbw to a booming inswinger delivered by PNG right-arm quick Hitolo Arena. Indonesian umpire Shahul Hammed considered it plum and had no hesitation in raising his wagging index finger. Undeterred by the brevity of the occasion 17 year old Roger Mukasa impetuously flayed the new ball around the park and when he was dismissed for 43 from 32 balls the Ugandans were off to a flyer at 75-2 from 12 overs.

After the fireworks from Mukasa the PNG boys dug deep knowing that all their hopes of proceeding further in this World Cup depended on the next few hours cricket. A superb spell of off-spin bowling by the wily veteran James Brazier triggered a mid-innings collapse and his unbroken spell yielded the impressive figures of 10-4-17-4. Brazier mixed up his deliveries in a masterclass of off-spin bowling and with the help of allrounder Ovia, who chimed in with 3 late wickets, the favourites Uganda were in trouble at 188-9 still needing 14 runs to get off 21 balls. Man of the match Kenneth Kamyuka steered the Ugandans to safety with a mature run a ball 43 not out, and his last wicket partnership with bunny Charles Waiswa where Kamyuka intelligently farmed the strike scoring all 14 runs, proved to be as anxious a finish as you could wish to witness.

The Ugandans were thrilled to progress to the next stage and their captain Joey Olweny told Cricinfo, "Obviously now we want to win the final and have immediately set our eyes at Argentina, but for the time being we want to enjoy this achievement because when we left our shores, the target was to qualify for the final and earn a place in Division Two. It has been a very tense and pressurised match and the boys have more than one reason to celebrate. The boys really deserve it."

The semi-final winners Argentina and Uganda celebrated their qualification with gutso and deservedly so. They will now join Denmark, Oman , United Arab Emirates and the host nation, Namibia in Windhoek in November.

The final played at the pristinely prepared Gardens Oval on a sunny breathless Saturday was a casual affair with only prestige at stake and it was won by the Ugandans by 91 runs keeping intact their unbeaten record in the tournament.

Your correspondent, despite sleeping in the long-grass and battling the fauna for his nightly tucker witnessed one of the most delightful cricket carnivals that has graced Australian soil. Eight teams from four continents consisting entirely of amateurs played their cricket in good spirits with smiles on their faces and the commitment and the desire you would expect from men who have given their time, many at a personal cost, to represent their nations. The cynicism that often surrounds the major nations of international cricket was absent and the ICC deserve the highest praise for creating a path for all 97 countries in the cricketing family to compete for a place at the 2011 World Cup.

In addition the umpires from the Asian and Pacific countries of Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Japan did a splendid job without technical aids. Not one player was reported for dissent during the whole 20 matches and the Spirit of Cricket was enthusiastically embraced by all the teams.

In other news filtering through to the shed, two Ugandan players, teenagers Patrick Ochan and Jimmy Okello, have been reported missing in Darwin after failing to board the plane with their team-mates on their long and disjointed journey back to Kampala. Few are concerned for their safety with it likely that the lads enjoyed Darwin’s legendary hospitality to its fullest and have decided to continue their celebrations. Who could blame them. The mangoes are ripe, the tropical Arafura Sea is warm and the women friendly and beautiful. 

The pessimists are always keen to denigrate the future prospects of international cricket. These myopic mental midgets fail to understand what cricket is really about. It isn’t about corporate boxes or match receipts or politics. It is a game. A glorious and ancient game based on fraternity, competition and equality. This week in tropical Darwin the Thunder Downunder witnessed the future of this grandest of games. Vibrant, egalitarian, sporting and global.

[Nesta Quin]

Friends Provident Trophy round-up

The ECB are really talking up the Friends Provident Trophy as they prepare to bestow an award on the player of the group stages. Today they're giving props to Surrey’s Ali Brown and James Benning for hitting 176 and 152 respectively as their side accumulated a record 496-4 against Gloucestershire Gladiators last month.

Benning was originally identified by David Graveney as one to watch ahead of the tournament, though with his record in recent years - a strike-rate of over 140 in Twenty20, nearly 80 in first-class games as well as an average of around 35, at the tender age of just turned 24 - it didn't take a psychic to work that much out.

Graveney enthused today: "James has been part of a fantastic Surrey batting attack. He hit a personal high score of 152 as his team accumulated a massive 496-4 in their Friends Provident Trophy game against Gloucestershire, shattering every record going in limited overs cricket!"

That's a massive 496-4 - not just a medium-sized one.

Nick Knight, on the other hand, is urging caution, reckoning it's too early on in the competition to begin singling players out for the player of the tournament. Having said that, he then goes on to muse: "You don’t have to look too far beyond Surrey for the contenders, with the likes of Ali Brown, James Benning and Rikki Clarke. But we do need the tournament to unfold more before we can make a final decision."

Tomorrow second-bottom Derbyshire Phantoms face fifth-placed Yorkshire Phoenix in a floodlit game, then on Friday Durham take on Worcestershire. Teachers' pets Surrey are back in action on Sunday when they play Essex at the Whitgift School. [Carrie Dunn] [Image: Getty]

Ireland win ICC Intercontinental Cup. Again

It took Ireland five and a bit sessions to retain their ICC Intercontinental Cup, smiting Canada by an innings and 115 runs.

Canada managed only 92 runs in the first innings, and Ireland hit 352 in response, with Jeremy Bray scoring 146. Once Kevin O'Brien's wicket fell with his team on 297-4, left-armer Umar Bhatti tore through the tail, and the medium-pacer finished with figures of 5-85.

A lead of 260 was too much for Canada to chase down, and Trent Johnston and Kyle McCallan combined to bowl them out for 145.

It's interesting to note how the "second tier" of cricket-playing nations are progressing. We've seen how Bangladesh are crashing onwards and upwards in the one-day game after having been the whipping boys for years, and now that Ireland have secured their own limited-overs elite status, maybe they will be the next to move up to Test matches. [Carrie Dunn] [Image: Getty]

Write for our footy blog Bratwurst and also be the UK's first mobile football blogger and we'll give you £500 to do it.

Ok, so there might be a lot of World Cup competitions around, but this is the coolest by far. How would you like to write for Who ate all the Bratwurst? as well as be the first footy blogger in the UK to go mobile?

And guess what we’ll pay you £500 to do it.

We are looking for four bloggers to write for both Bratwurst and our mobile sister blog Germany 2006 which will be available via the fantastic Mobizines. We want bloggers who can great write great short posts about anything and everything do with the World Cup. There are four spaces up for grabs and you can find all the details here.

The basics though is that you need to do is write up to 300 impassioned, maybe witty words about something to do with football or the World Cup.

Germany 2006 will be on Mobizines, which is a fantastic new mobile phone application that offers magazines to go on your handset.

You can read all about how Mobizines work here and what sister blog Tech Digest said about it when it launched here.

So £500 and you could be on your way to be the next Motty. What have you got to lose?

Competition entry form

Keep those limericks rolling in

Just a reminder that we have a limerick competition running with some great prizes on offer from Crease Clothing. So get going and win yourself a T-Shirt! 

Cricket limerick competition: win stuff!

It's early days at The Googly, but I thought it high time to launch a competition. Limericks are a lot of fun (and actually require some thought, too) so your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to produce the best limerick (emphasis on trying to make me laugh, please) - and here's your starting line:

England were in such a mess

We have two brilliant prizes from Crease Clothing, who make these fantastic cricket T-Shirts with funny and wacky cricketing slogans emblazened on them. “CHEEKY SINGLE” (for the ladies), "There's nothing wrong with trying to PULL EVERYTHING", "Great catch" and "You don't need SNOW to go sledging" among others. They're all great fun, are available in a variety of sizes and, best of all, are completely cricket-oriented. For the true cricket nut.

Now then, the rules and things:

What is a limerick?

A limerick is a five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet. If a couplet is a two-line rhymed poem, then a triplet would be a three-line rhymed poem. The rhyme pattern is a a b b a with lines 1, 2 and 5 containing 3 beats and rhyming, and lines 3 and 4 having two beats and rhyming. Some people say that the limerick was invented by soldiers returning from France to the Irish town of Limerick in the 1700s.

Example

A flea and a fly in a flue
Were caught, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

Easy. And here's another (far poorer) example:

England were in such a mess
They needed more players - not less!
But Flintoff stood tall
And Monty bowled them all
I'm sorry to say - I digress!

Really, really terrible - I apologise. But at least it gives you something to aim for and, hopefully, better. I'll run the compo until the end of the second Test, and might do another for the third. Available to all - just leave a comment, and make sure your email address is valid.

Check out Crease Clothing now if you can't be bothered to win a free one!

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty