Vidarbha just about managed to stave off an innings defeat on the final day oftheir Central Zone under-22 match against Uttar Pradesh at Kamla Club, Kanpur onSunday. In arrears by 143 runs on the first innings, Vidarbha were 120 for ninewhen stumps were drawn.Put in to bat on Friday, Vidarbha were dismissed for 127 runs in 63.3 overs. Atone stage, they were 75 for one, thanks to a second wicket partnership of 61 off27.2 overs between Faiz Fazal (31) and A Janbandhan (45). But then S Pandey (4for 24) and V Pandey (4 for 25) brought about a sharp collapse and the last ninewickets fell for 52 runs. UP replied with 270 for eight declared. Openers AshrafAli (38) and Anshul Kapoor (61) put on 58 runs. Then Kapoor and Javed Anwar (80)consolidated by adding 71 runs for the fourth wicket off 89 balls. A sixthwicket partnership of 83 runs between Anwar and Arvind Solanki (59) helped UPtake a commanding lead. Anwar faced 102 balls and hit nine fours. On the finalday, Vidarbha were helped by the bad weather (about 300 minutes were totallylost because of this factor) but were still in danger of defeat when the eighthwicket fell at 67. The No 10 batsman Rupesh Shaikh hit a breezy 25 off 29 ballsand took the score to 105 with the No 8 batsman Anirudh Pathradkar. ThenPathradkar (15) and Atul Waghmare (3) held on for 13.4 overs to ensure thatVidarbha got three points. UP finished with five.

Pakistan’s sensational victory at Old Trafford set the nation alightand cricket-crazy supporters heaped praise on the cricketers. Eyewitnesses said scores of fanatics on motorcycles took to the streetscarrying placards of their favourite players. They chanted slogans andhoped that it was not just a one-match wonder.”We are proud of our players, and particularly for Waqar Younis andRashid Latif. The way they played at Old Trafford, it was amazing,”29-year-old Saad Khan, a Navy officer, said. Rashid, staging acomeback after almost three years, scored a priceless 71 in the firstinnings and then contributed 25 in the second but most importantlyadded 59 runs for the eighth wicket with Wasim Akram in quick time.Aftab Ahmad, 54, said he has been following Pakistan for the last 30years. It was such an wonderful performance and one of the best inrecent times. The last was in the 1992 World Cup but that was acompetition.” Nevertheless, Usman Ghani had a word of caution andadvice to the players. “Hopefully, it will end the losing streak. Butthe players need to keep their feet firmly on the ground. The trination series follows and we haven’t forgotten the 1999 World Cuploss,” he said with reference to defeat in the final to Australia whoare one of the three competitors.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials were not available forcomments. But this win would certainly provide them some breathingspace after a string of disappointing performances by the team.

Middlesex and Hampshire had to settle for a draw, after heavy overnight rain and torrential showers in the morning, meant, despite the excellent efforts of the ground staff, that play would be impossible.With the batsmen on top after three days, the likelyhood of a winning result seemed unlikely. Hampshire led by 85 with all ten wickets outstanding overnight.One interesting factoid from a Hampshire point of view was the open bowling partnership of Chris Tremlett and Alex Morris. A combined height of 12’10” is thought to be by Hampshire scorer Vic Isaacs, Curator Neil Jenkinson and Handbook Editor Andrew Renshaw (all at Southgate), to be the tallest pair ever to open the bowling for Hampshire. Other tall players such as Malcolm Heath etc, have failed to emulate this feat with their partners.The record for Tremlett and Morris could be short lived, with the possibilty in the near future of the young Tremlett teaming up with England star Alan Mullally.

Grace Road:
Middlesex 2nd XI 224-8 (NJ Brown 58)
Leicestershire 2nd XI 226-5 (CP Crowe 99)
Leicestershire 2nd XI won by 5 wicketsMaidstone:
Kent 2nd XI 266-6 (IN Flanagan 79, PS Lazenbury 62)
Sussex 2nd XI 210 (GRA Campbell 53)
Kent 2nd XI won by 56 runsBingley:
Yorkshire 2nd XI 261-8 (S Widdup 81, JD Middlebrook 53)
Durham 2nd XI 164
Yorkshire 2nd XI won by 97 runsOmbersley:
Gloucestershire 2nd XI 245-9 (DR Hewson 82, RCJ Williams 53no; P Baxter 3-52)
Worcestershire 2nd XI 248-5 (MAP Dale 90, S Moore 86)
Worcestershire 2nd XI won by 5 wickets

Having made a hash of the Pakistan A tour the Sri Lankan national selectorshave surpassed expectations with their Coca Cola Cup squad, showing thevision to accept the management’s argument that the balance of the side muststart to reflect requirements for the 2003 World Cup.During the next ten months Sri Lanka will participate in four triangulartournaments, two in Sri Lanka and two in Sharjah. They will therefore playat least 21 one-day matches on pitches traditionally conducive to Sri Lanka’s medley of spinners.They could continue as before and would stand an excellent chance of winningall four tournaments. Sri Lanka have developed a one-day system in the subcontinent, based upon two fast bowlers and three spinners, that is wellunderstood, slickly implemented and successful.Unfortunately it’s a system that won’t work in South Africa, a fact provedonly too clearly on Sri Lanka’s last tour, when they were hammered five-one.With the exception of Muttiah Muralitharan and perhaps Jayasuriya, with hislow-armed darts, the Sri Lankan spinners will not repeat their runthrottling heroics of the 1996 World Cup there.The fast bowlers, however, will be able to exploit the extra pace and bounceof the hard South African wickets and a change in the regulations that willhave a far reaching impact on the game, namely the introduction of onebouncer per over from September.One-day batsmen will no longer be able to lurch onto the front foot inconfident anticipation of another length ball. They can expect far moreballs around chest height and the odd few around their ear holes. Thependulum, so far in favour of the batsman in recent times, will swing backtowards the bowlers and the fast men will be the great beneficiaries.The future plight of the humble spinner cannot be compared to that of thedinosaurs or dodo, but it is going to become harder trade to ply. Asia’sspinners should form a pressure group and start campaigning for the WorldCup’s return to the sub-continent.With the World Cup likely to be dominated by seam then it is obviously wiseto experiment now, even if conditions in Sharjah and Sri Lanka don’t demandit. With four fast bowlers likely to play, rather then the normal two orthree, the players need to get used to a different style of cricket, tobowling changes at different times and less familiar fielding positions.No one has to adjust more of course than the fast bowlers themselves, whohave become quite accustomed to a short burst at the start, followed by anafternoon’s grazing in the deep. Now, they must become experts in both themiddle and later parts of the innings.Dav Whatmore has made it clear that these fast bowlers must also be able toscore runs too: “To be successful in South Africa we need to haveconsiderable fast bowling resources and some of those bowlers must be ableto bat. You only have to look at the success achieved South Africa torealise that conditions there are well suited these types of players.”This being the case the selectors are going to have to find two fast bowlingall rounders, who can change the match with both bat and ball. The searchwill not be easy. There is a talented group of bowlers emerging from RumeshRatnayake’s Fast Bowling Academy, but there are no genuine batsmen amongthem yet.The selectors though have plumped for two exciting prospects: Suresh Pereraand Dulip Liyanage. Perera has the charisma and sparkle; Liyanage is thework horse – steady and determined. Both are useful with the bat and couldreally stiffen up the tail. They now need a fair chance to prove that theycan do the job.Perhaps the most encouraging feature of the squad selected was that it hasshown, for the moment at least, that the selectors, coaches, and seniorplayers are all moving in the same direction and are sharing a common goal.Two weeks ago there were real fears that this wasn’t going to be the case.Even the Sports Minister has felt compelled to develop 15 ‘fast’ practicepitches at Premadasa International Stadium, which is a useful, thoughperhaps hopeful, move that is eminently more preferable to this weeksunwarranted meddling in selectionIt’s now a question of resolve. Everyone must remain committed to theproject and not break ranks at the first sniff of failure. Even if thepitches are to be harder and faster than the norm, as is being reputed now,don’t expect the Waca or Wanderers. The pitches in Dambulla and Premadasawill still offer the spinners assistance and there could well be a tradeoffbetween short term success and long term glory. For the moment at leastthough Sri Lankan cricket appears to be focused on the later.

They’re not bad, these Australians, are they? I had to watch most of the Lord’s Test on television, though I did manage to get along for a while on the first day. In the flesh and on the telly, come rain or shine, I could see why these Aussies have got to the position they have.When you have three pace bowlers like theirs coming at you, and they’re backed up by Shane Warne, it makes life with the willow in hand a shade difficult. I am sure all the England boys had the idea that they would go out and get a hundred, but that’s not always the way it turns out. Having said that, I thought Mark Butcher batted very well, and I was pleased to see Mark Ramprakash looking the part. In fact, when Butch and Ramps were together in the second innings they tried to take the attack to them and it looked good.Speaking as someone approaching a major batting milestone myself, I think I can say with a certain authority that English batsmen need to take the attack to the Australians a little more, and be more positive in defence. “Do or die” is the polite way of saying what comes to mind as the way of playing them. The trouble is, if it doesn’t come off and they do go bust, it looks pretty poor. At the moment, we just seem to be hanging around, waiting to be beaten.And my batting milestone? I’m disappointed you even have to question it. Since making my debut in 1986, I have now amassed 1,954 runs. With 29 already this season, I should easily reach the magic 2,000 mark before the end of the 2003 season!I have also been told that I am on 996 first-class wickets and so a quick mathematical calculation reveals that I need just four more for a thousand. I’m bowling well at the moment, so the bowling milestone should be reached well within a couple of weeks rather than a couple of years. Furthermore, I might just have a pint of lager to celebrate my thousandth wicket.Some years ago I would have been screaming for the selectors to pick me and let me have a go at these Aussies. The new, mature Philip Tufnell is not so brash, but I do believe that we need to take a fresh look at the policy of fielding seven batsmen. I don’t really think it has worked. The Australians have made big scores every time, so perhaps we need to think about the idea of stopping them scoring as many runs as they do. So perhaps we should be looking to more firepower to hit back. Then, even if we don’t get the runs, we still have a decent chance of bowling them out.Perhaps we could back up Gough and Caddick with the likes of Tudor and Silverwood, then if we do get rolled over for a couple of hundred, we could go out thinking we could do the same.I know some people say we should play a spinner at Trent Bridge because it’s a flat wicket, but I am not sure what the selectors are thinking at the moment. The policy has tended to be that we play spinners only when it turns. But I think a spinner should be there to give some variety and change of pace. Also, it looks as if the Aussies are handling the pace attack OK, so maybe we need to present a different kind of test for them.I understand there was a poll on CricInfo about who the public would like to see bowling against the Aussies, and the name of Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell topped the list. I always like to think that I’ve entertained the public over the years and enjoyed a certain rapport with them, so it’s pleasing to be given this vote of confidence but, as I say, it is up to the selectors and I’m not going to start bleating on about they must pick me, let me at ’em, and all that sort of stuff. At one time I might have done, but not now.Don’t get me wrong – I would love to get back into the England team. It would be great to represent the old country again, but as I get older and, hopefully, more mature, I’m quite prepared to see if it happens rather than going about it in as manic a way as I once would. At the moment I’m really enjoying playing for Middlesex under Angus Fraser and John Emburey, we’re in a good position to go for promotion. That’s what I’m focusing on and if I get wickets to help Middlesex I’m happy. If England called me, that would be absolutely fantastic as well.If it happens, it would be a case of having a go, bowl well and be confident in the belief that you can do well and then see how it goes. At the moment I’m bowling well for Middlesex and just trying to be consistent. You have some days when everything goes right, others when it’s a bit rocky, but as I get a little bit older I hope the consistency level rises. You aim to have more better days than poorer days, and make sure that the poorer days are not bad days. Experience helps you turn things round when they are not going quite right. Concentrate on doing the right things and not try to bowl the magic ball all the time.When it comes to the Australians, they might be looking good, but we mustn’t fall into the trap of thinking we can’t beat them. I don’t think that is the case. The boys just have to go out there and give it their best shot. I’ve never really believed that games are won by tactics; it’s players who do the trick. Whoever the selectors go for, I wish them the very best of luck – because a bit of that doesn’t go amiss, either.

Yorkshire powered on at the top of the Cricinfo Championship first divisionby crushing Lancashire by an innings and 37 runs at Old Trafford.They bowled Lancashire out for 188 in their second innings to completetheir first Roses double since 1978.Richard Dawson was the Yorkshire hero with four for 29, although GavinHamilton made the early inroads after Lancashire had resumed on 74 for oneand ended with three for 33.Only Mark Chilton offered much resistance with a patient 74 as Lancashireslumped to their fourth defeat in five Championship matches.Andy Flintoff was the first to go, missing out on his third consecutivehalf-century as he was bowled through the gate by Hamilton.Joe Scuderi was trapped lbw for a duck three balls later, and Graham Lloydgifted Hamilton his third wicket when he slashed a long hop to Gary Fellowsat backward point.Chilton and Warren Hegg then held up Yorkshire for 17 overs with a fifthwicket stand of 50 but it was broken by Dawson who lured Chilton down thepitch and had him stumped after a 159-ball innings which included ninefours.After that the Lancashire tail crumbled with a minimum of resistance, astheir last five wickets fell for 16 runs in only 12 overs after lunch.Chris Schofield hit a full toss back to Darren Lehmann and Hegg edged Dawson toslip where David Byas took a simple catch.Then John Wood skied a catch to Craig White off Dawson, Glen Chapple wasstumped and finally White splayed Gary Keedy’s stumps – a fittingly emphaticend to the match.Yorkshire’s performance even surprised their own skipper, David Byas, who thought that they would be unable to force a victory, ahving lost four full sessions to the weather.”When you lose that much time you just think you are playing for bonuspoints,” he said.”But White and Wood played brilliantly and they scored at such a pace that wecould sacrifice nine wickets just to get as close to 500 as we could as quicklyas possible.”We have ended up with twice as many points as I thought we would get threedays ago. I just never thought for a minute that this would happen.”But we have had a bit of luck, missed a lot of rain and we have made themost of it.”

The England under-19 women’s team will start as hot favourites to retain theEuropean Cup for their country when play begins in the four-nation tournamenttoday. The round-robin competition is being held at Bradfield College, Reading,in the English county of Berkshire, and concludes on Sunday.England have generally sent their ‘A’ team to this championship, which isconducted every two years against the full senior national teams of otherEuropean countries. This year, with rebuilding of the senior squad for the 2005World Cup in their sights, all fourteen England representatives are under theage of twenty.Lancashire all-rounder Arran Thompson leads a side which includes three otherplayers who have appeared at full international level for England – LauraHarper, Nicki Shaw and sixteen year-old Leanne Davis.Three players have been chosen from the Yorkshire team that last week won theWomen’s County Championship – Laura Spragg, Claire Atkinson and Clare Gough (norelation apparently to Darren).Making their first appearance at international level in this tournament is ateam from Scotland. Women’s cricket was virtually unheard of at competitivelevel in Scotland as little as two years ago, however the hard work of adedicated group of people has seen the formation of a national side under theleadership of Linda Spence which has enjoyed success against county sides fromthe north of England.Ireland and Holland return for this year’s European Cup, but one team who willnot be present is Denmark. Women’s cricket has undergone a dramatic decline inDenmark since they hosted the 1999 European Championships, with the local clubcompetition being disbanded in 2000 when teams were unable to field sufficientplayers.England Under-19 play Scotland in the opening round today, while Ireland facethe Netherlands. England, represented in the past by their ‘A’ team, have beenunbeaten in European Cup play since the tournament’s inception in 1989.Squads:England: Arran Thompson (capt), Alexia Walker (vc), Laura Joyce, Laura Harper,Laura Spragg, Clare Gough, Kate Oakenfold, Claire Atkinson, Nicola Shaw, LeanneDavis, Sarah Clarke, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Isa Guha.Ireland: Nikki Squire (capt), Anne Linehan (vc), Caitriona Beggs, Aoife Budd,Miriam Grealey, Cecilia Joyce, Isobel Joyce, Grainne Leahy, Barbara McDonald,Ciara Metcalfe, Lara Molins, Clare O’Leary, Saibh Young.Netherlands: Carolien Salomons (capt), Teuntje de Boer, Maartje Köster, BirgitViguurs, Pauline te Beest, Cheraldine Oudolf, Annemarie Tanke, Carly Verheul,Caroline Hes, Marjolijn Molenaar, Eugenie van Leeuwen, Mandy Kornet, MinouToussaint (wk).Scotland: Linda Spence (capt), Kari Anderson (vc), Sara MacLean, ElizabethSmith, Alison Ramsay, Vari Maxwell, Kathryn White, Fiona Urquhart, AileenGalvin, Denise Newlove, Pam Quin, Caroline Sweetman, Shona McIntyre.

New Zealand Cricket’s financial performance came in slightly above budget with a surplus before grants of $2,598,518 last summer.That was $68,000 above budget, a performance NZC chairman Sir John Anderson described as “a sound result.”However, when the grants of $4,339,489 to associations, including an extra one million dollars for the return to two full rounds of Shell Trophy play, were taken into account the net result for the year was a deficit of $1,740,971.The annual report will be presented at NZC’s annual meeting at the New Zealand Cricket Pavilion at Bert Sutcliffe Oval on September 14.Anderson commented: “New Zealand Cricket’s business is cyclical in nature, revolving equally around the commercial value of opposition teams touring New Zealand and revenue-sharing from World Cups.”New Zealand Cricket is in a sound financial position, with significantly increased revenues in the next two years confirmed from tours to New Zealand by England this coming season, India in 2002/03, and the World Cup in South Africa in February 2003.”This confirmed revenue will provide a solid base to allow New Zealand Cricket to continue with its mission to promote cricket nationally, provide appropriate national competitions and field competitive international sides,” he said.However, he attacked a prevailing attitude, especially in government circles, that leading sports such as cricket no longer require funding support due to their ability to attract significant television rights fees and sponsorships.Anderson said: “This presents a serious concern for New Zealand Cricket as we recognise the business environment in which we operate is fragile and television rights income can vary significantly from year to year.”Anderson also recognised the performance of New Zealand’s teams on the field of play.”For the first time in our cricket history the New Zealand men’s side celebrated the winning of a world title, lifting the ICC Knockout Trophy in Kenya during September.”Three months later when captain of the CLEAR White Ferns, Emily Drumm, held aloft the prized CricInfo Women’s World Cup after a tense final against Australia, both our international teams had achieved a historic result.”These achievements by the players were the pinnacle of five years of dedicated effort to up-skill and significantly resource the elite level of both the men’s and women’s game,” he said.Cricket’s place in the New Zealand sporting spectrum was confirmed as the country’s No 2 sport, and the most popular summer sport by UMR Insight in its annual National Business Review-Compaq sports poll.The poll showed 67% of people were either very interested or fairly interested in cricket, an increase of 13% on the last poll in 1998.Anderson also said the website of New Zealand Cricket, nzcricket.co.nz had become the No 1 sports site in New Zealand over the past 12 months.”The site, hosted by CricInfo, attracted more than seven million page views during December 2000 compared to 5.8 million the previous December. This no doubt reflected the popularity of the women’s world cup.”However, one of the biggest areas of growth on the site during the 2000/01 summer was in the live scoring of Shell Cup and Shell Trophy; again affirming that although fewer people are physically attending matches, cricket remains a passion with a huge number of New Zealanders,” he said.Anderson also praised the efforts of Christopher Doig, who resigned as Chief Executive during the year.”The past five years have seen a period of unprecedented growth in the structures and business fortunes of New Zealand Cricket, building on the recommendations of the 1995 Hood Report.”The resignation of Christopher Doig as Chief Executive, in February, provided an opportunity for the Board of NZC to take stock of the considerable progress made under his stewardship and to reaffirm the organisation’s direction moving forward.”Christopher Doig had signficantly grown the revenue streams. His skill in securing sponsorships and commercial contracts provided the platform to professionalise the delivery of a number of facets of the game,” he said.

Auckland Cricket will launch its new 20 Over League this Sunday 14th October with a festival match between two invitation teams at the picturesque grounds of the Cornwall Cricket Club.The 20 Over League, which is being offered as a playing option through the 17 Principal Cricket Clubs in Auckland for the first time this summer, is an exciting, action packed version of the game designed to appeal to a wide range of ages and abilities.The festival match will feature a host of past and present Auckland Cricket players, media and other celebrities commencing at 1pm. Musical entertainment will be provided by Radio Hauraki, partnering Auckland Cricket in the launch of this fast-paced sporting alternative. The match is expected to last for approximately three hours.Entry to the match is free to the public. Proceeds from a gold coin collection, raffle and sausage sizzle will support the SPCA. Refreshments will be available throughout the course of the afternoon.Confirmed to play are current Auckland and New Zealand players Brooke Walker, Rebecca Rolls, Andre Adams, Emily Drumm, and Rob Nicol and former New Zealand players Danny Morrison and Tony Blain. A host of other household names including Hamish Carter, Julie Coney and local radio personalities Andrew Dickens and Justin Brown will also take part. Confirmed guest umpires for the afternoon are top New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden and Auckland Cricket’s Media Liaison Officer Graham Reddaway.