In The Papers Today (Oct 11, 2005)

Brian Lara arrived in Sydney, Australia after a poor run of scores in the first three ICC SuperSeries ODIs and, predictably, he was the focus of the media's attention.

Speaking on the three successive losses, Lara said the "Rest of the World" team was not unprepared but they did under-perform. Lara continued batting practice at the Sydney Cricket Ground alone long after his teammates disappeared.

In the Barbados Nation, Mike King reflects on the anti-climactic week of cricket that was the preliminary rounds of the KFC Cup, pondering what lessons can be learned from the week that promised so much and delivered so little.

He laments the standard of cricket on display, saying it was a perfect opportunity to see the region?s best cricketers but the quality of performances was inadequate. Media facilities also left a lot to be desired according to King, with limited radio broadcasts and insufficient connectivity for journalists to file articles direct from the matches.

The Jamaican team's failure to make the final four stage of the 2005 KFC Cup takes up the most column space in the Jamaica Gleaner.

Anthony Foster reports that coach Robert Haynes refused to speak to the media on arrival at Norman Manley airport on Monday, but his face showed disappointment. Captain Wavell Hinds is quoted as saying, "I think we took too long to get our momentum going and our minimum standards were too low."

A separate article in the paper conveys the disappointment of Jamaica Cricket Association President Jackie Hendriks, even before the team failed to make the finals. On the team's inconsistent performance, Hendriks said: "I just don't quite understand it. Last year we failed to get into the Final Four and then we went into the Carib Cup and won by a country mile; and then we go down this year again and lose the first three matches, I just can't explain it."

Tony Becca looks at the Stanford 20/20 tournament in his 'From the Boundary column'. In addition to recounting the details of the US$28 million deal, Becca praises Stanford for including the cash-strapped territorial cricket boards in his plans but questions why he chose 20/20 over a professional first class league.

He concludes by saying that West Indies cricket should thank the Texan billionaire, but by either typo, forgetfulness or ignorance, calls the man "Sanford".

The Jamaica Observer reports that Alloy Lequay, stalwart of cricket in Trinidad & Tobago, is questioning the inclusion of Dwayne Smith over Daren Ganga in the Test squad for the upcoming tour of Australia. Lequay says that Smith is a carbon copy of Ricardo Powell and, "We have been told that both have potential which we accept, but they have failed to produce at the higher level."

His nose is out of joint at the omission of Daren Ganga from the touring party, saying Ganga has been left out for non-cricketing reasons and that an investigation into the matter is on the cards.

The paper also reports that following the ICC SuperSeries one day matches, only one West Indian player is in the top 10 of the LG ICC ODI player rankings. That is Chris Gayle, who currently resides at number 5 on the batting list.

In the Guyana Chronicle, Allan La Rose celebrates the national KFC Cup squad's arrival back in the country for the final four stage of the competition. Team manager Carl Moore declared that his side performed above and beyond his expectations and that spirits are high ahead of the Wednesday semi-final clash with the Leeward Islands.

Moore also praised the leadership of skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul and deputy Ramnaresh Sarwan.

The Stabroek News features the LG ICC player rankings as well, noting that two of its national players appear in the top 30. Ramnaresh Sarwan is at number 12 and Shivnarine Chanderpaul at 26. Brian Lara sneaks in at 29.

Media Watch suspects that Cricinfo's Surfer reads CaribbeanCricket.com. Just last week, Ryan Patrick?s blog criticised the newest addition to the Cricinfo stable for writing about Australia, English and Indian cricket only.

The Surfer now carries a round-up of news relating to the Stanford 20/20 Tournament, including opinions from Tony Becca and Vaneisa Baksh.