Captain Dubious

The South Africa's Sports Illustrated  has rated Sourav Ganguly as the worst captain of this World Cup. In an assessment of the captains by the monthly magazine, Ganguly earned just 21 out of 40 points: tactical ingenuity (7), sense of humour (5), media management (4) and ability under pressure (5).

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, who scored 32.5 points, was rated the best in the world. Surprisingly, Fleming has more defeats than wins under his belt as skipper. In comparison, Ganguly has had a wonderful record as skipper. Fleming picked up a maximum of 9.5 for tactical ingenuity, 8 for his sense of humour and 9 for his media management. Shaun Pollock scored 9 for his ability as captain under pressure.

This is how the captains fared: Stephen Fleming: 32.5, Shaun Pollock: 28.5, Nasser Hussain: 28, Ricky Ponting: 27, Carl Hooper: 27, Waqar Younis: 26.5, Sanath Jayasuriya: 26, Sourav Ganguly: 21.

Cup that Cheers

Cape Town's red light industry is out to score off the large number of people heading to the city for the opening ceremony and matches to be held in the city. A Moulin Rouge cabaret bar dancer said she has choreographed a special "limited innings" strip show with a World Cup flavour. Jade (her stage name) said: "I'll hold my own in the field but men with ball sense normally beat the pants off me."

Meanwhile, a Sea Point establishment said it would offer discounts or extended time to clients who produced the World Cup tickets. Leon, a Sea Point escort agency boss, said the phones at Karin's Classique were jammed every time a national sports event was hosted in Cape Town.

"I have a free shuttle service for those fans wanting to de-stress after the game in the company of my ladies," he said.

The owner of a city business said, "Whether clients want a smooth outfield or a slow wicket, they'll get their pound of flesh with us."

Pros at Cons

Several homeowners in South Africa keen to let their homes to foreign fans for some extra cash during the World Cup have fallen victim to conmen. Thieves have answered accommodation advertisements and then robbed the house. Police have advised homeowners to rather work through a registered professional agency. Viewing should be scheduled for between 5 pm and 7 pm, when the whole family or most of the neighbours are home. Owners could also ask to see passport or ID document before making a viewing appointment.

Fan Unfair

South African fans will have to rework the list of items they will carry into the stadiums. Gone are the barbeque grills, cooler boxes, deck chairs, umbrellas, air horns, strobes, balls, Frisbees, musical instruments and animals. Banners and flags cannot be larger than 1.5 x 1m and should be devoid of offensive and distasteful wordings. Bicycles, scooters, skateboards and skates have also been added to the prohibited list.

This has not gone down too well with the local fans. Macy, a 28-year old Capetonian (local of Cape Town), said that she would not go to the games with so many restrictions."What's the point of going to the games if you can't have a barbeque? We've (she and her friends) have been going to the games for years with no restrictions. It will be boring."