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Matt Prior has admitted he felt “stupid” for smashing a window in the Lord’s dressing room during the final day against Sri Lanka but insisted it was entirely accidental and no malice was involved.The incident occurred after Prior was run out for 4 and had returned to the dressing room where he said his bat slipped rather than there being any huge outburst of frustration at his dismissal. The glass that fell down into the pavilion below, cutting one female spectator on the ankle, but Prior apologised before taking the field a short while later.As far as MCC and the ECB were concerned that was the end of the matter, but the ICC reprimanded Prior after he was reported to Javagal Srinath, the match referee, by the umpires. Prior accepted they were just following protocol and his feelings are now more of embarrassment.”Every time I looked up at the pavilion during Sri Lanka’s second innings, I just saw this big broken window and I felt stupid more than anything else,” he told the . “When you make a scene like that, you’re thinking, ‘Oh no, what are people going to say?’ It didn’t look good, obviously, and I’d just been run out, but people were putting two and two together and coming up with five, seven, nine and 10.”It wasn’t a case of being angry that I’d got out. The situation of the game was to try to score as quickly as possible, so it wasn’t like I was run out on 99. It was a complete accident and there was no more or less to it than that. It looks awful, terrible: run out, then a smashed window, but it was a complete freak accident.”Although Prior scored a superb 126 in England’s first innings, to help them recover from 22 for 3, it developed into a tricky Test for the wicketkeeper with the home side’s wayward bowling giving him a hard job behind the stumps. He conceded 32 byes in the match – 25 of those in the first innings – although many weren’t his fault and could have been called wide.”I’m very proud of my keeping and I didn’t feel I was keeping badly, so when you see the byes racking up, there is an element of frustration,” he said. “But it was only through wanting to do well for the team and the goals I’ve set myself but not enough to warrant going into the dressing room and smashing a window.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsImmediate impact: Devendra Bishoo is finding international cricket easy•AFP

Thirteen wickets went down on an action-packed second day at Providence which ended with West Indies ahead on a crumbling track. Legspinner Devendra Bishoo added to his burgeoning reputation with a probing debut spell that befuddled Pakistan’s batsmen, giving West Indies a handy, and unexpected, first-innings lead.If anyone was wondering whether the testing track had eased up since the first day, the answer was provided as early as the second over of the morning, when Saeed Ajmal’s delivery barely reached ankle height, fizzing through the wicketkeeper’s legs. That set the tone for a frenetic day when spin and bounce conspired to make life difficult for batsmen.Pakistan were a happy side at lunch, having wrapped up the West Indies innings for 226, before creeping to 45 for 1 with some safety-first batting. Bishoo, though, showed what a threat he was going to be right after the break by getting his second ball to spit off the pitch and fly off Azhar Ali’s edge past slip. In his next over, he got one to zip through low and Ali couldn’t get close to it as he thought of a cut.It was the more amiable bowling of Darren Sammy, though, that got the breakthrough, ending the dogged 52-run stand between Taufeeq and Ali. Sammy was getting the ball to dip in on occasion, but the wicket came off a delivery that went straight on; Taufeeq played around it and was struck in front of middle and leg. That ended Pakistan’s largest partnership and signalled the start of the slump.Misbah-ul-Haq survived a lbw call on 0 off an indipper from Sammy, but two overs later he became Bishoo’s first Test victim. Bishoo slipped in a straighter one, which Misbah looked to play off the back foot – he missed and was so plumb that he contemplated walking off even before the umpire raised the finger. In the next over, Ali inexplicably left a delivery from Sammy that ducked in sharply from outside off, and was mortified to see it take off stump. The two wickets will provide the under-fire Sammy some respite from his many critics.Asad Shafiq, another promising youngster from Pakistan, also didn’t last long, trapped on the back foot by a flat legbreak from Bishoo, who got the lbw decision after referring it to the third umpire. 57 for 1 had become 66 for 5.Pakistan’s hopes of getting close to West Indies’ score now depended on Umar Akmal, who began with a confident punch through cover for four. He had an entertaining battle with Bishoo, highlighted by the 32nd over. Even with the wickets tumbling, Akmal didn’t shelve his strokes, shuffling down the track and thumping over long-on for four, and backing that up with a powerful cut past point for another boundary. An unfazed Bishoo responded by sliding in a quicker legbreak that easily beat Akmal.Bishoo, bowling accurately with five fielders lying in wait for the edge, soon got his third wicket, with Mohammad Salman using up another referral after being adjudged lbw. Bishoo continued to produce the odd unplayable ball – combining turn and bounce to baffle the batsmen – but Abdur Rehman and Akmal survived till tea, putting on 33 to take Pakistan to 113 for 6. The final session began with several French cuts from Rehman, interspersed with some forceful hits, and despite the close calls, the pair put on 50 runs.That was when Akmal had his seemingly mandatory brainfade. Looking to swipe a short ball, he top-egded it high and only as far as the wicketkeeper. Rehman picked up a few more boundaries to finish as the top-scorer, though the Pakistan tail couldn’t put up the sort of fight West Indies’ had. The home side’s last-wicket pair battled gamely for eight overs on the morning, before Ajmal induced the inside-edge that brought him his five-for and best bowling figures in a Test.Bishoo’s control and subtle variations meant West Indies took the first-innings lead despite picking only one specialist spinner in the line-up. They still can’t rest easy though, as they have already lost two early wickets. Devon Smith confirmed he is Mohammad Hafeez’s bunny by being trapped lbw – the sixth successive innings that he has been dismissed by Hafeez – and Darren Bravo was caught on the crease by a straighter one from Ajmal.There is still the small matter of negotiating the dreaded Ajmal doosra, which none of the West Indies batsmen pick consistently. After all the controversy over the past month, tomorrow will be the day for Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan to prove the worth of all that experience.

ScorecardBatsman Karl Brown came within four runs of his second century of the season as County Championship Division One leaders Lancashire were made to work hard for their successes by struggling hosts Hampshire at the Rose Bowl.Brown, who scored 114 against Sussex at the start of the season, was Lancashire’s top scorer with 96 in difficult batting conditions as the visitors were bowled out for 328. Last man Gary Keedy was trapped lbw by former Lancashire bowler Dominic Cork with two balls of the scheduled day’s play remaining.Cork chose to field first on a green-tinged wicket and was rewarded when he removed Paul Horton, who was caught at third slip by James Vince with the last ball of Cork’s first over. David Griffiths made the most of the conditions by dismissing Horton’s opening partner Stephen Moore, who edged behind to Nic Pothas on 18 and then removing Mark Chilton (seven) to leave the visitors’ total on 65 for 3.Brown was unbeaten with 51 at lunch when Lancashire were 96 without further loss and the conditions began to ease in the afternoon session as Brown and Steven Croft put on 100 for the fourth wicket in 30 overs.Lancashire went into the match without their experienced all-rounder Glen Chapple who had a knee injury while for Hampshire French-born batsman Benny Howell was making his championship debut and Dimitri Mascarenhas was playing in his first four-day match for 21 months. Briggs dismissed Croft with a successful appeal for lbw while sweeping but the crucial wicket was that of Brown.The irrepressible Cork brought an end to Brown’s innings with the Lancashire total on 183, inducing an edge as he attempted to pull and giving wicketkeeper Nic Pothas time to run around and complete the catch.Brown faced 174 balls and hit 14 fours but Lancashire were in no mood to throw away his solid contribution. Tom Smith was Cork’s third victim, out for 17 when he was snapped up by the diving Jimmy Adams at second slip but Hampshire found it difficult to remove an obdurate tail.Kabir Ali had Gareth Cross caught behind also mistiming a pull but then came an important stand of 68 for the eighth wicket. Hampshire were held up as Sajid Mahmood and Kyle Hogg got in the way before Griffiths returned to bowl Mahmood for 32 and a ball later Hogg, who had hit eight fours in his 38, was out lbw to Kabir.Even then the Lancashire resistance was not over as last pair Keedy and Oliver Newby put on 32 precious runs until Cork struck for the fourth time in the final over. Cork finished the most successful of the Hampshire bowlers with 4 for 78 while Griffiths took 3 for 82.

Legspinner Devendra Bishoo, whose Man-of-the-Match performance helped West Indies win the one-off Twenty20 against Pakistan in St Lucia, has said his increasing “self-confidence” played a big role in the development of his bowling.”My self-confidence helped me a lot from World Cup up to now,” Bishoo said. “This is just the starting point of my career and I am enjoying my cricket. Everybody is a normal cricketer and that’s the way I go about thinking about it. I just back myself and do whatever I do best.”Bishoo picked up four wickets, including that of Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, and conceded only 17 off his four overs. He said he had focussed containing the batsmen. “We set a target of 151, which we could have worked with, and capitalised on it. When I came on to bowl, I just tried to contain the batsmen. I varied my pace as much as possible and it worked out.”All wickets are big wickets. I always back myself to do well against the batsmen I come up against. When I came on to bowl I knew the team needed a good performance. I just tried to use my variations and changes of pace.”Bishoo, who was playing his first international match at home, said he now hoped to go on and become a “great cricketer for West Indies.””This is a great feeling,” he said. “It was good to play the way we did and give the supporters something to celebrate. It worked out well today and we are looking forward to the ODI series”Afridi said the inability of Pakistan’s batsmen to string partnerships together contributed to the defeat in a game he believed his team should have won. Their highest partnership was 29 as compared to the 99-run partnership between Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons for West Indies’ second wicket.”I think the pitch was good for batsmen, and I don’t know why we missed this opportunity to win this match,” Afridi said. “We are not building any partnerships. This is what has been missing for us for a few months. Bishoo bowled really well, and all of their bowlers delivered in the right areas.”The first ODI of the five-match series will be played in St Lucia on April 23.

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand seamer, has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup with an injury and will be replaced by left-arm fast bowler Andy McKay.Mills was not one of New Zealand’s first-choice seamers in the early stages of the tournament, but Hamish Bennett’s injury gave him his opportunity. Mills played in three matches, but suffered a quadricep strain in the last of those games, against Canada, on March 13. He missed the quarter-final victory against South Africa, and although his injury had improved, he would not be fully fit in time to play the semifinal on March 29.Despite not being in the XI, Mills was involved in a mid-pitch confrontation when he carried the drinks during South Africa’s chase in Mirpur. Mills exchanged words with South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis following the run-out of AB de Villiers, and has been fined for breaching the ICC code of conduct.McKay, 30, was a part of New Zealand’s disastrous tour of the subcontinent late last year. He will join the squad in Colombo on March 27, two days ahead of the semi-final, where New Zealand will play the winner of the Sri Lanka v England quarter-final clash. McKay is the second replacement player in the New Zealand side, after Daryl Tuffey, who came in for Bennett.

Think Richie Richardson and a few quintessential images immediately come to mind. The wide-brimmed maroon hat that refused to give way to a helmet. The cut. The real, violent cut. The hook. That was Calypso. And then there is another image: of Courtney Walsh, last man in, who should be looking to take a single, bring back Richardson on strike, but who goes for an extravagant shot, and is bowled, leaving West Indies five short of a tie that would take them to the final of the 1996 World Cup. That’s the story of the match West Indies should have won easily; the whole lot of them play irresponsible shots. There are three balls to go still, and Richardson has no partner left. That sadly is the enduring Richardson image.”I have some good ones. And I have some not-so-good-ones,” Richardson said of the memories of the last World Cup in the subcontinent. “I feel that at one stage we were playing well enough, and we would have beaten Sri Lanka in the final had we gone through. I was a bit disappointed, I have to admit, when we were beaten by Australia in the semi-final. I thought that we relaxed too much.” And you wonder if this cannot be said of West Indies cricket in general ever since. Relaxed too much.”We had Australia to beat at several moments during the match, and we relaxed and allowed them to come through and win the match. I was very disappointed because of that, but that’s history now, and we are focussing on what is ahead of us. I am just hoping that the guys continue playing positive cricket, and we can beat every single team that comes up against us.”To listen to his press conference is to be transported back to West Indies’ heyday, so bullish and full of confidence is it. They are in Mirpur for what – barring other upsets – is effectively a quarter-final playoff against Bangladesh. It is a game that doesn’t have them as favourites according to the ICC rankings because for the first time they are ranked below Bangladesh. One loose game – and they are used to loose games these days – and they could find themselves out of the tournament. Richardson, though, is talking about winning the cup that counts.”To win every single match, that’s my target. To win the World Cup,” Richardson said. “I am very confident that we can win this World Cup. I am very positive. We are playing positive cricket, the guys are improving every day, and I am feeling very, very confident.”There is an old West Indian inclination of sort of saying, “Oh conditions are tough? We have Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop, Patterson, Richards, Greenidge, Richardson.”Tell him about the threat the hosts’ spinners present. “We are ready to tackle any opposition, any spin attack, any pace attack, any team. We are prepared to take them on. We are positive and intend to go out there and play positive cricket.”Tell him the hosts will lay a low and slow track, something West Indies are not likely to write to Santa Claus for. “It’s always difficult playing against a home team on their turf. Obviously they know the conditions really well, and they have the home support. [However] We have beaten people all over the world, so we are not worried about that.”Tell him his side has never played at Shere Bangla National Stadium. “We have gone places in the past where we have never played, and still do well. I don’t think we are going to worry too much about it. We have practised here for a couple of days. As I said before, it’s how quickly we assess the conditions, and how well we go and play.”All that doesn’t come at the cost of respect for their opponents though. “Every match is a challenge. Every team is difficult,” Richardson said. “We are not taking any team for granted. Playing in Bangladesh is a bit tough, but we believe we have the ability, and we certainly have the belief now that we can beat Bangladesh.”The last time they played Bangladesh, West Indies, albeit a depleted and a run-down side, could win just one Twenty20 in more than a month, losing both the Tests and the ODIs. That series doesn’t play on the team’s mind, said Richardson. “We are not looking at it as revenge. This is the World Cup, and we have to play well to win. We have to win matches in the qualifying round to make it to the quarters, so we are just taking it as very important and trying to win.”There has been a lot of talk about where West Indies are placed in the ICC rankings. Jamie Siddons, Bangladesh’s coach, set the ball rolling before the tournament started, saying that West Indies were a side they were expected to beat. “It doesn’t matter who is favourite,” Richardson said. “What’s important to me is, we go and play to our ability. If we do that, we can beat Bangladesh, that’s what I am interested in.”

The three Pakistan players at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations that rocked the Lord’s Test against England last August will discover on Friday if they are to be prosecuted by English legal authorities.Salman Butt, the former Test captain, and seamers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been accused of conspiring in the bowling of deliberate no-balls on last year’s tour of England – claims they all deny.The trio could be banned for life when an International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal announces its conclusions in Doha on Saturday, but a separate investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police will be concluded a day earlier, when they find out if they face legal action in England.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed that an announcement will be made at 11 a.m. GMT on Friday, although a CPS spokesperson said there was no connection between the two timings.In August 2010, Britain’s News of the World tabloid conducted a newspaper ‘sting operation’ which it said proved the Pakistan trio’s willingness were involved in the deliberate bowling of no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England.This, the paper said, was evidence of a spot-betting scam where money can be gambled on specific incidents in a match without the need to ‘fix’ the result.All the Pakistan trio were interviewed by police. So too was players’ agent Mazhar Majeed, whom the newspaper alleged accepted £50,000 to set up the deal. Majeed was also arrested.A third fast bowler, Wahab Riaz, was also interviewed under caution but it is not known why he will not be included in Friday’s announcement.While the ICC, which heard evidence from Butt, Asif and Amir during a hearing in Doha last month, has to consider whether its rules were broken and what, if any, punishment should follow if they were, the CPS must decide whether the players have a case to answer under English law.Butt, Asif and Amir are all currently provisionally suspended by the ICC.

Clint McKay, the right-arm bowler, is out of contention for the World Cup after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot. McKay, who grabbed 27 wickets at 19.59 for Australia in 2010, requires an operation and faces a 10-week recovery.The news is another blow for Australia, who still hold the No.1 ranking in ODIs and are aiming for their fourth World Cup in a row at the tournament starting next month. Australia’s final 15-man squad for the event will be named next week.McKay, 27, was Man of the Match in Australia’s last one-day international, taking 5 for 33 against Sri Lanka in November, and he collected three wickets in the Big Bash game for Victoria in which he felt pain in his foot.”Obviously his workload over the past two years has been a lot higher – he’s played for Australia, he’s played some cricket in England as well – but he’s been good considering the workload he’s had,” Victoria’s physiotherapist Thihan Chandramohan said in The Age. “It’s the first major injury that’s put him out for a long period … and it’s one that’s hard to prevent because it’s just related to the bone not handling the load that’s going into it.”McKay is hoping he can be fit for the start of the IPL in April, although that might be a little too ambitious. He was signed to Mumbai Indians for $US111,000.

Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting has admitted to having one eye on his legacy as he approaches the final years of a formidable Test career, but insists that his future as an international cricketer will not be dictated by the outcome of the Ashes.Ponting’s place among Australia’s all-time great batsmen is already guaranteed thanks to his national record of 12250 runs in 148 Test appearances, while his credentials as a leader include a tally of 47 victories in 73 Tests as captain, a win-loss ratio that is second only to Viv Richards and Steve Waugh among men who’ve led their country more than 50 times.In addition, Ponting led his side to consecutive World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007, as well as the first Ashes whitewash since 1920-21. Nevertheless, with England launching their latest tour with ominous purpose, Ponting knows he is in danger of being remembered as the first Australian captain since Billy Murdoch in 1890 to lead his country to three Ashes defeats. Given the status of the rivalry between the two countries, that would be an indelible stain on his CV, regardless of his personal achievements.”Of course I’m worried about a legacy, but if it is how I’m remembered, so be it,” he said. “The reason I play the game and cherish the captaincy so much is that I want to make sure the team are in a better position when I leave than when I started. I want to make sure I’ve got a good group of leaders under me when my time comes to move on and that’s why I spend so much time with the younger group. I’m always the first on the training track and the last one to leave, and most of that time is spent helping the younger guys understand different things about the game. Of course I’m worried about the legacy because I want to leave a great legacy for Australian cricket.”There’s not much more I can do,” he added. “I’ll do everything I can to play well and give the team the best chance to win. That’s all I can do and all I’ve ever been able to do. I’m really excited about what I think this group of players is capable of. If we play to our levels for five days, I think we’ll have the results go our way this time. I’m not worried about the other stuff. How I am as captain or player, people will have different opinions.”For all his bravado, Ponting knows that the buzzards are circling. Since launching the last Ashes with a bloody-minded hundred at Cardiff in July 2009, he has managed just one more hundred in 29 Test innings, and even that effort – a masterful 209 against Pakistan at Hobart last year – relied on him being dropped by Mohammad Amir on 0. He turns 36 on December 19, and goes into the Ashes on the back of three consecutive Test defeats against Pakistan and India. Despite his own desire to push on until the 2013 Ashes in England, he knows – like Allan Border and Steve Waugh before him – that selectorial pressure tends to bear down on ageing Australian captains sooner rather than later.In fact, Ponting was already feeling that pressure in England back in July, when he said in an interview: “I’d probably be looking for a new job if we lose [the Ashes] again”. On the eve of the series, however, he played down those remarks. “I said it as a throwaway line that turned into something a bit more than that,” he explained. “I’m probably the wrong bloke to ask. I’m giving myself the best chance possible. I’ve worked pretty hard on the physical side of my game over the last few months, and I just want to enjoy this series for what it is.”This week is the most exciting week you have as an international player,” he added. “The first Test of the summer is always a big one, and when it’s an Ashes series there’s always a little bit extra on the line. I will enjoy this week as much as possible. Hopefully we have a good game, the boys play well and the next few months go to plan. That’s all I can say.”Despite the pressure, Ponting still retains the support of his team-mates, who believe his desire for revenge will be a major motivating factor. “Without a doubt,” said Simon Katich. “We sensed that [during the Test series] in India, which in the past has probably been a tough place for him, but the way he batted – he didn’t get a hundred, but he got three 70s in four innings and he was in ominous form all those times. There’s no doubt he’s primed for a big summer. We’re all disappointed about what happened in England so hopefully that will be a big spur for us to put the past year behind us.”As for the strategy required to wrest the Ashes back from England’s grasp, Ponting was unequivocal. “We have to play at our best for longer periods – simple as that,” he said. “Every series in the last couple of years we’ve played some really good cricket but not for long enough. India is a good example. By not playing that brand of cricket for long enough, we’ve allowed other teams back into the game and they’ve pinched Test matches we should’ve won. That’s the way I look at it and it’s what we spoke about yesterday. If we don’t play five days’ good cricket, we don’t win. We know what we have to do and we’ll train to give ourselves the best chance at Brisbane.”On a personal note, Ponting fully expects to be targeted by England’s bowlers, especially their tall quicks who have noted a susceptibility to the short ball in recent seasons. But, he pointed out, he’s not the only leader in the firing line in this series. “I don’t think I’m any different to [Andrew] Strauss,” he said. “Captains are always expected to be that way, especially if you’re a top-order batter. You need your top order to score consistent runs, and if you’re doing that as captain, captaincy is a bit easier. I don’t see how it’s different from any other series I’ve played in. I’m always expected to score runs and to lead. There has probably been a bit made of that, but I honestly feel it’s been that way the whole time.”

It was always likely that South Africa would dominate this series, but Zimbabwe’s plucky performances with the bat in the Twenty20s and first two ODIs meant the scale of their crushing defeat in Benoni was unexpected. The hosts started the tour in slightly laboured fashion, their bowling and fielding well below their usual standards, but in the final game all three departments clicked and they duly ran to a record-breaking 272-run win.”Tonight was a good night,” said South African captain Graeme Smith. “It can be hard to maintain intensity when you’ve got 400 on the board and you clean them up cheaply, but I was happy with the intensity we showed. When you’ve got 400 it’s really easy to drift but the bowlers really set their own standards tonight, which was encouraging.”We’ve had a few issues in this series on the bowling front, but there were a lot of positives that came out at the end,” added Smith. “I think we’ve set up a good base despite there being a couple of changes that lie ahead. There’s good confidence around the group in terms of performances, and it doesn’t really matter who you play, your confidence is always the key in sport.”South Africa have been forced to experiment in this series in the absence of senior players such as Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. While their rookie batsmen, Colin Ingram and David Miller, have slotted into the side seamlessly, the back-up bowling pack initially fired in fits and starts. But Rusty Theron eventually finished as the leading wicket-taker in his debut series and Wayne Parnell also improved with each outing.”I think it’s great,” Smith said of their performances. “You want to see these guys coming in and performing well. Initially there was a question about the back-up bowling unit, and we had a lot of young batters coming through. It’s never going to be easy replacing Steyn and Morkel, but it’s nice to see guys like Rusty and some of the other guys coming in and impressing.”South Africa’s Man of the Series, AB de Villiers helped himself to 231 runs in three innings, including two consecutive hundreds in Potchefstroom and Benoni. With Mark Boucher not picked for this series de Villiers also shouldered the burden of keeping wicket, taking six catches. He credited a break from the game since South Africa’s tour of the West Indies concluded in June for his energetic start to the season.”I think the break was very good for me, just getting the mind off cricket for a while,” he said. “Especially after last season, which was a very long season that was a little bit of an up and down season and quite tough mentally. So getting away from the game totally for two months was really good, and I’ve come back really refreshed and energised.”