The British newspapers have finally woken up to the World Cup in its midst. After weeks of trying to locate stories on the greatest event in cricket for weeks, I finally stumbled on some coverage this week. Presenting nuggets which I thought you may be interested in. Nick Harris in The Independent: 'If backsides on seats are any indicator of support, it is not England but India who are on course to enjoy the strongest advantage in the World Cup. The latter are the only nation of the 12 competing whose five group games have completely sold out... Most of the tickets for India's games were gone by March and it is probably no coincidence that the Indian population in the UK -- 900,000 as defined by ethnic origin for census purposes -- is greater than any other competing nation bar England and Scotland. The Pakistani population, at 600,000, is the next highest, followed by the West Indian population (500,000).' Brian Scovell in the Daily Mail: 'Sky's weatherman Francis Wilson is anticipating a rain-free World Cup on the basis that May and early June are traditionally drier months than later in the summer. ECB chief executive Tim Lamb is also optimistic, saying: ''In three previous World Cups, we lost only two games to the weather, and we're hoping our luck holds.'' Neil Hallam in The Daily Telegraph: 'Shoaib Akhtar is backing himself to make such an impact in the World Cup that he will be able to take his pick of big money contracts to play county cricket next summer... ''I have had two offers for next year including from one of the most famous counties, and there is already an offer of 80,000 pounds a season on the table.'' ' Derek Pringle writing about the 1992 final in The Independent: 'Many, including his own team-mates, find Javed (Miandad) an acquired taste. In contrast, I liked and respected him enormously though the impish mind games he played occasionally detracted from his enormous talent. He was also honest too in an after-the-event way... 'I felt I'd done (him) in the final when a stone dead lbw was turned down by umpire Steve Bucknor. Javed went on to score 58... '(He) knew he had been plumb and afterwards when I found him and Imran in a deserted dressing room, he was quick to console. "Bad luck," he said. Then tapping his leg half-way, he shrugged: "Allah smile on me today."' Mike Dickson in the Daily Mail: "I am someone who stands up for what he thinks, and on this occasion I was just standing up for my rights. I really don't regret it all." 'Cocktail hour refusenik' Graham Thorpe on being fined 1,000 pounds by the England team management for missing a social function in Kent last week. Shane Warne in The Times: 'The best pace bowlers will be sensational: Donald and Pollock from South Africa, Wasim Akram from Pakistan, our own Glenn McGrath, and Darren Gough from England... Of the younger batsmen I like the look of Jayawardene from Sri Lanka. Tendulkar and Lara are the two most exciting batsmen in the world. And I have to include Adam Gilchrist. I might be biased, but I honestly think that he and Mark Waugh are the best opening partnership in the world, ahead of Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharna...' Last word from Mark Pierson in The Independent: 'Tendulkar was unable to take the field after being hit on the calf during his dazzling 91. Even so, Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad -- who saw his other opener, Shahid Afridi, injured against Durham on Monday -- is confident. Akhand Bharat, wot? Zarina Donald is an avid reader of British newspapers.
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