Thursday, 19th April 2007 at 11:08 am

No Ntini? Unthinkable

He’s one of the country’s most popular sportsmen, the quickest bowler in the squad, and a proven match-winner with the ball. Leaving out Makhaya Ntini for the England game, then, was one almighty gamble on the part of South Africa. But it might just emerge as a stroke of genius: in the past, Ntini has surged back from being dropped or criticised (remember Ray Jennings’ forthright assessment of Ntini in the Caribbean Test series a few years ago?), and after an indifferent World Cup so far, this could be just the motivation the fast bowler needed.

The evidence will be provided in the semifinal against Australia next week (Ntini will definitely be back, in all likelihood replacing Justin Kemp), and South Africa needs a charging Ntini at the helm of the attack, the win over England notwithstanding. Focusing on the Australians (and staying out of bars) will be the South African agenda until then; for the rest of us, it’s a handful of meaningless Super Eight games to wrap up the penultimate week of the World Cup.

There are two points of interest, though. The Australia-New Zealand clash on Friday could - depending on how the semifinals pan out - be a preview of the actual final, adding a certain importance to the result. And the West Indies’ game against Bangladesh will be the final time cricket sees Brian Charles Lara in a one-day outfit, the captain having announced his limited-overs resignation ahead of the game in Barbados.

It’s a sad way to go for the greatest batsman of his generation, the West Indies knocked out of their home tournament whatever Thursday’s result. But while Lara would have wanted a grander stage from which to say farewell, there’ll be plenty of emotion in Barbados on Thursday, as the Caribbean watches a quite sublime talent at the one-day crease for the very last time. Cricket will be a poorer place come the end of Thursday.