West Indies
Richie Richardson, the team manager, expects a difficult match in front of the Bangladesh home crowd today. "Every match is a challenge," he said. "Every one is going to be difficult, playing against Bangladesh in Bangladesh will be tough. But we have the ability, [and are] certainly very confident now that we can beat Bangladesh." He said he was not fazed by Bangladesh's recent elevation above the West Indies in the one-day rankings. "It's a competition where it is possible for anybody who plays well consistently to win; so it doesn't matter," he said. "It's how well you play in the tournament, that will make the difference."
Bangladesh
Abdur Razzak knows full well the expectations of the home crowd for today's match against the West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, but the spin bowler said he was trying to focus on preparations. "We have prepared very well, the boys are confident," he said. "Every match is a big match for us in the World Cup. We are giving equal importance to all matches, no matter whether we face Netherlands or England." Razzak said that Bangladesh's bowling attack against the West Indies would be dominated by spinners as he expected a "spin-friendly" wicket for the third match in Mirpur. He said Bangladesh would try to make the "best use of power plays and keep wickets intact" to put pressure on the West Indies.
Australia
David Hussey said he and his teammates have been tuning their skills in tackling spin and in-swinging yorkers ahead of tomorrow's match against Sri Lanka. He said Australia batsmen have playing sweep shots, using their feet to tackle spin, and have also played yorkers to brace themselves for the Sri Lanka strike bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga. He said Australia hope to continue their past successes against both Muralitharan, the world's most successful bowler, and Malinga, who is in form after a six-wicket haul against Kenya earlier this week.
India
Zaheer Khan's triple strike against England, which helped India salvage a tie, remains the only high point of the team's bowling as they prepare to face Ireland tomorrow. India conceded 283 runs to Bangladesh and then failed to beat England despite posting a total of 338. Zaheer has done well (two for 40 and three for 63) but others have failed to support him.
Memorabilia
Police in Colombo seized more than 1,000 items of counterfeit memorabilia in raids on two markets. The Colombo Crime Department arrested 12 people for alleged trademark and copyright infringement, criminal cheating and fraud. "These counterfeiters are seeking to trade off the reputation of the [International Cricket Council], Sri Lanka Cricket and the ICC World Cup," David Becker, the ICC's head of legal, said. "Only money invested in official merchandise goes back into the game, allowing for grassroots development and support."
Security
Costs of staging the tournament have forced the Bangladesh government to divert money from other departments to meet a US$7 million (Dh 25.7m) shortfall. Security for players, officials and fans took up the bulk of the overspend, a spokesman said. prime minister Sheikh Hasina told parliament this week that the tournament would cost the government $67m, against a budget of some $60m.
