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Waugh to lend helping hand

23/10/2005

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh has said that he wants to help the weaker cricket nations, such as Zimbabwe, Kenya and Bangladesh, to develop into better teams.

Waugh, who retired from international cricket in January 2004, said that he wants to see stronger performances from the lower ranked sides in the world to increase the game's global popularity.

"I'm really interested in developing countries like Kenya, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe because if you don't do that then the game is going to struggle," Waugh said.

The 40-year-old wants to build on the impetus gained from the excitement generated by the recent Ashes series to build up the cricketing minnows.

This comes after calls for test-playing status to be removed from Zimbabwe and Bangladesh after the suffered massive defeats to more established nations.

"You've got help countries like Zimbabwe, who are really struggling and aren't test standard at the moment, get back on track," Waugh added.

"Bangladesh have got to keep developing and I think some of the African countries have got a lot of talent, especially Kenya and some of the east African countries."

Despite being humbled by England in two test matches this summer, Bangladesh did manage to shock Australia in a one day international to show their potential.

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