Back on the road

There has barely been time to take stock of the 52 matches and 42 days of the 2003 World Cup, but already the show is back on the road, as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Kenya converge on Sharjah for an eight-day quadrangular tournament.

There is $150,000 at stake in the Sharjah Cup, which begins with a match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe on Thursday, but more importantly for the three Test nations involved, there's an early chance to bounce back from their World Cup disappointments. Kenya beat both Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe en route to the semi-finals, while Pakistan failed to qualify from the first round. As a result, several unproven players will be given their opportunities in the coming days.

For Pakistan and Zimbabwe in particular, the World Cup marked the end of an era, and Thursday's teams will be almost unrecognisable from the teams that played out a soggy no-result at Bulawayo last month. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have both been put out to pasture by the Pakistani selectors, and several senior players have been overlooked for the time being, including Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar. For Zimbabwe, Andy Flower's retirement threatens to be an insurmountable loss, while Henry Olonga, Alistair Campbell and Guy Whittall have also played their final international matches.

Most of the attention, however, will be focused on Pakistan's new management pairing of Rashid Latif and Javed Miandad. "I was planning to retire after the World Cup, but I've decided to put it on hold to help my country in the rebuilding process," said Latif, who returns for his second captaincy stint. "It may not be easy to establish ourselves as a top team quickly. We need time to get the feel of international cricket, but with [coach] Javed Miandad, whom I consider one of the best brains in cricket, at the helm, Pakistan can look forward to regaining lost glory."

Only two members of Pakistan's squad, the seamer Umar Gul and batsman Mohammad Hafeez, are completely new to international cricket, but the remainder are raw, to say the least. "Most of the players are young and hence, we will try and work on improving the technical aspect of their game," said Latif. "But one has to be patient. We are not expecting the team to perform miracles. If they win here in Sharjah, it will be a bonus. The idea is to build a team for the future."

Sri Lanka, who open their campaign against Pakistan on Friday, are in a similar period of rebuilding. They have already decided not to renew Dav Whatmore's contract as coach, although a reluctant Sanath Jayasuriya has been persuaded to continue as captain for the time being. They enter the tournament without Aravinda de Silva, who has joined the selection panel since his retirement, while the middle order is also revamped, after the World Cup failures of Russel Arnold and Mahela Jayawardene, who averaged a meagre three runs in six innings.

For Kenya, however, everything is sweetness and light after their astonishing World Cup run, and further victories in the coming week are very much on the cards for a group of players whose team spirit is unquenchable. They have, however, lost the services of their coach, Sandeep Patil, who has returned to India, but another former Indian star, Abid Ali, has been drafted in for the duration of the tournament. Abid Ali, who is currently the coach of the United Arab Emirates, was persuaded to step in by the tournament organisers.