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The USA Cricket Association elections are on hold, although this does not appear to have been conveyed to those involved in the process.Chris Dehring, the independent third party appointed by the ICC to try to find a resolution to the ongoing struggle for control of the USACA, managed to get a new constitution approved but the elections that were meant to follow within 30 days have already become embroiled in controversy.It is believed that Dehring will appoint an external independent auditor to oversee the elections and this means that they not take place until March at the earliest.Since the announcement of the yes vote for the new constitution, the USACA has yet again not uttered a word in public. Some regions have held their elections while others appear to be uncertain how to proceed.New York Region and Central West have already announced their regional board and their representatives to USACA.

The MCC are busy installing a new scoreboard and replay screen system at Lord’s during the close season.Three new permanent, state-of-the-art colour LED replay screens, which will be ready for the start of the 2008 season, will be situated in the Compton, Edrich and Allen Stands. These Lighthouse screens are each made of 88 modules that have been specially imported from Hong Kong. The screens will not only offer enhanced scoring display opportunities but also enable live and recorded video footage and colour images to be shown during both international and domestic matches.The new screens are also more environmentally friendly, using less energy to power them – the three combined need one third of the energy of one of the old bulb-based boards to run them.

“Installing the new scoreboards fulfilled several aims for MCC,” John Stephenson, the MCC’s head of cricket, explained. “To improve the visibility and visual quality of scoreboard information for spectators – the new screens will have five times more screen resolution than the existing scoreboards. To provide the action replay and associated visual information expected at major cricket venues in 16:9 widescreen. Finally, to reduce significantly on-going energy consumption, materials replacement and maintenance costs associated with old technology.”The scoreboards are part of an ongoing investment in Lord’s by the MCC. The next major improvement should be the erection of permanent floodlights.

New South Wales 5 for 360 (Forrest 177, Haddin 55*, Hughes 51, Katich 51) v Tasmania
Scorecard

Peter Forrest made his first Pura Cup century as New South Wales batted themselves into a strong position on the first day against Tasmania. Forrest fell late in the day for 177 and at the close the Blues had reached 5 for 360 with Brad Haddin on 55 and Grant Lambert yet to score.The early signs for New South Wales were excellent as Forrest, in his fifth first-class game, combined with the debutant opener Phillip Hughes for a 112-run second-wicket stand. Hughes, 18, is the Blues’ youngest first-class player since Michael Clarke burst on the scene and he immediately displayed the skills that earned him his place, striking 51.Forrest then had strong support from Simon Katich (51) and Haddin, as Tasmania’s attack struggled to string together two wickets in close proximity. His century came from 174 balls but he was not content to leave it there and finished with 21 fours and two sixes.His lengthy stay finally ended when Brendan Drew trapped him lbw with only 15 minutes left in the day. Ben Hilfenhaus was the only Tasmania bowler to claim more than one wicket, ending the day with 2 for 90.

Andy Bichel will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his troublesome right shoulder, but he intends to play on for Queensland next summer. Bichel hurt his shoulder throwing a ball while fielding during a club match at the start of the season and he has been limited to two Pura Cup matches with little impact.”It got to a point that while I could bowl, I couldn’t bowl to the level I was happy with and I was going to be hampered with my throwing for the rest of the season, and probably my career, if I decided to push on without the operation,” Bichel said. “I realise that some people might wonder whether this will be it for me but I’m firmly committed to playing again for Queensland.”Bichel, 37, had surgery in Brisbane on Friday under the same orthopaedic surgeon who performed similar operations on Adam Dale and Michael Kasprowicz. He said: “Kasper always used to joke that his shoulder operation was the equivalent of a 50,000-delivery service, so I guess this is my 100,000-ball service.”Although his output has been hampered this summer Bichel was the second leading wicket-taker in the Pura Cup last season with 45 at 24.66. He also had a productive county campaign with Essex this year, taking 41 wickets at 20.53 and scoring two centuries.

David Hussey, the Australia A batsman, was a stunning omission from Victoria’s Pura Cup side for the match against South Australia at the MCG on Friday. In a month where Hussey has scored 128 and 5 against West Indies and 45 and 50 against Pakistan in tour matches, his state has dropped him as they look for answers following a heavy loss to Western Australia last week.Greg Shipperd, the coach, said Hussey’s lack of runs – he has 257 at 23.36 in six Pura Cup games – forced the change. “David’s record – and I’m sure he’d be the first to admit it – in the four-day version of the game this season is nowhere near what he is capable of,” he said. “He needs to go back to the drawing board and make sure that he tightens up his game a little bit.”Hussey will be replaced by Nick Jewell, who has performed strongly in 2nd XI and club matches, while Shane Harwood returns for Allan Wise and will play his first game since breaking his cheekbone in December. “Our team performance indicates our batting’s going astray and a change needs to be made,” Shipperd said. “We’ve had some players putting pressure on from behind the scenes for a little while now.”Mark Cosgrove, who has scored a miserable 233 runs at 18.58 this season, has been dumped from the South Australia squad. Last season Cosgrove, nicknamed `Baby Boof’ for his heavy likeness to Darren Lehmann, was a glowing find for the Redbacks, but his second summer has been a disaster. Daniel Harris, the 25-year-old batsman, has been recalled after two years away from the side and 772 grade runs at 51.47, including three hundreds in his past three innings.The match will decide the second-year holder of the David Hookes Memorial Trophy, which is determined by points from the four Victoria and South Australia Pura and ING Cup games. Victoria currently leads with nine points to South Australia’s six.South Australia Graham Manou (capt, wk), Daniel Harris, Paul Rofe, Ryan Harris, Nathan Adcock, Trent Kelly, Greg Blewett, Tom Plant, Daniel Cullen, Shaun Tait, Callum Ferguson, Luke Williams.Victoria Cameron White (capt), Matthew Elliott, Jason Arnberger, Brad Hodge, Jon Moss, Nick Jewell, Ian Harvey, Graeme Rummans, Peter Roach (wk), Shane Warne, Mick Lewis, Shane Harwood.

Country venues across Victoria are eagerly anticipating next weekend’s Victorian Premier Cricket Round 11 fixtures. For the fifth successive season, the Country Round of one-day matches will re-commence the Premier season after the Christmas break.Five venues – Castlemaine, Eaglehawk, Lavington, Numurkah and Torquay – will host Premier Cricket for the first time, with the match between St.Kilda and South Melbourne at Lavington the first ever Premier Cricket match to be held outside Victoria.Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Victoria, Mr Ken Jacobs said the round was very important for cricket in regional Victoria. "We operate in an era of extremely busy scheduling and an unfortunate result is that country matches rarely feature on the tour itineraries of visiting international teams any more". He added "we believe the Country Round plays an increasingly important role in delivering high standard cricket to country regions, particularly given the availability of Victorian Bushrangers players".Northcote and Bushrangers fast-bowler Mick Lewis said the round was one players looked forward to every year. "It’s always an enjoyable round. I like the chance to play in different towns across Victoria and the facilities and hospitality given to us is first-class". Lewis said the matches created a unique atmosphere. "There’s generally very good crowds at the games and an atmosphere that only country people can create".BACKGROUNDERPREMIER CRICKET COUNTRY ROUNDRound 11 – Sunday 12th January, 2003NORTHCOTE v FRANKSTON PENINSULA at Numurkah Showgrounds, Numurkah
Player watch: Darren Berry, Mick Lewis, Ian Harvey, Rob Bartlett (N’cote) Matthew Mott, Shawn Flegler, Luke Walker (F/Pen)ST KILDA v SOUTH MELBOURNE at Lavington Sports Ground, Lavington NSW
Player watch: Michael Klinger, Nick Jewell, Graeme Rummans, Dan Horsley (St Kilda) Grant Gardiner, Roger Sillence (Sth Melb)ESSENDON v DANDENONG at Camp Reserve, Castlemaine
Player watch: Mathew Inness, Ben Fletcher, Vikram Solanki (Ess) Warren Ayres, Cameron White, Will Carr (Dand)CARLTON v CAMBERWELL MAGPIES at Deakin Reserve, Shepparton
Player watch: Matthew Elliott, Peter Harper (Camb Mag) David Harris (Carl)GEELONG v HAWTHORN-MONASH UNI at Spring Creek Reserve, Torquay
Player watch: Clinton Peake, Damien Koliba (Geel) Peter Roach, Simon Dart (Haw-MU)FITZROY DONCASTER v MELBOURNE at North Ballarat Oval, Ballarat
Player watch: David Plumpton, Brendan Joyce (F-D) Brad Hodge, Rob Cassell, Simon Cook, Shane Harwood, Andrew McDonald (Melb)RINGWOOD v RICHMOND at Wangaratta Showgrounds, Wangaratta
Player watch: Darren Dempsey, Craig Howard (Ring) Ian Hewett, Matt Albers (Rich)FOOTSCRAY-VIC UNI v MELBOURNE UNI at Canterbury Park, Eaglehawk
Player watch: Daniel Lowery, Ashley Robertson, Geoff Allardice (MU) Dale McDonald, Duncan Brede (F-VU)PRAHRAN v NORTH MELBOURNE at Princes Park, Maryborough
Player watch: Jason Arnberger, David Hussey, Jon Moss, Bryce McGain (Prah) Liam Pickering, Shannon Waters (NM)

Queenstown’s sun finally broke through on the third afternoon but it didn’t shine on either Otago or England as a draw was all England could manage against the worst-performed side in New Zealand’s domestic cricket this summer.That has to be of concern to England who struggled through two top order collapses when only three full playing days lie ahead of the side before they meet New Zealand in the first Test of their three-match series.There was a moment on this full day of cricket, when Otago might have been entertaining thoughts of an international scalp with England 162/8 in their second innings and time for a reasonable chase to occur.But that chance slipped away, like so many others for Otago this summer, on the backs of the batting of tail-enders, James Ormond, Richard Dawson and Andy Caddick.Canterbury with their international players involved will be a much more stern test for England and they will need a significant rise in performance to escape defeat against a better-equipped side on Hagley Oval.England scored 257 in their second innings, for a lead of 260. That was thanks mainly to an innings of 68 by stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick and 38 off 31 balls by Ormond, 35 not out off 50 by Dawson and 16 to Caddick as 95 were added by the last three batsmen.Earlier, Otago did the decent thing and declared at their overnight score, three runs behind England.Otago’s reward was the wicket of Mark Butcher before a run had been scored. He attempted a pull shot to a shortish ball from Kerry Walmsley, sort of a Butcher’s hook, and it flew high in the air from a top edge and Craig Pryor, running back from first slip, got his hands around the ball to complete a good catch.Graham Thorpe completely misjudged a ball from Walmsley and played over it, losing his off and middle stumps as a result. He too departed for a duck with the team score on seven.Then, as if to make a mockery of the departed batsmen, Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash took to the bowling in determined style scoring 99 for the third wicket off 105 balls in 73 minutes.It was, literally, thrill a minute stuff. Trescothick climbed into one over from David Sewell taking 20 runs while Pryor, who had bowled with such good effect in the first innings to secure a five-wicket bag, lasted only three overs while 28 runs were taken from his bowling.Ramprakash hit a lovely six over point off Walmsley but the bowler had the final say having him caught by Simon Beare for 42 off 46 balls.Trescothick brought up his 50 off 64 balls and was on 68, and just back from a brief rain break, when he was caught by Beare at point off an ineffectual shot from the first ball of Sewell’s second spell.Otago set out with the best of intentions but it was always going to take nothing short of a miracle for them to get anywhere near.Openers Robbie Lawson and Brendon McCullum rattled on 30 in nearly five overs but once Lawson was caught behind from Caddick’s bowling for 11, the collapse all Otago supporters feared began.Four wickets fell for four runs before captain Craig Cumming steadied the ship and then, with Pryor’s help, set about righting it.They got through to 57 before Pryor offered a simple caught and bowled chance to Craig White and Duncan Drew followed soon after for a duck.Cumming proved the rock, even if he started out as more the flaky, schisty kind of Central Otago rock than the tougher greywacke of the Southern Alps, as he hooked successive balls from a tiring Ormond for boundaries to lift his score to 23 and the team to 70.With Nathan Morland as a fine support, Cumming dominated the latter stages to blunt the English attack and saw the draw achieved, a minor triumph for an Otago team down on its luck in recent times.They deserved credit for their approach in the match. They provided England with a competent contest, they made the running with their declaration and by bowling England out twice and Cumming was able to reflect on 57 not out off 116 balls while Morland was 19 not out off 49 as Otago finished on 124/6.Caddick ended with three for 43, giving him seven for 85 for the match while today White bowled very tightly and took two for seven from seven overs. Andrew Flintoff did not bowl as he has some problems with a knee.

Five Continents took a step closer to reaching the semi-finals of the Open League at the weekend with a seven wicket win against Ljubljana CC at Markommannenstrasse on Saturday, their win putting them ahead 14 points ahead of United Nations CC, who have a game in hand over them, and whom they must play in August, which looks like being the crunch fixture in deciding who will take the fourth qualifying spot. An FCCC victory in the fixture would also close the door on United Nations’ bid for a semi-final berth. Five Continents are currently in good form, with Sunil Kauschal also scoring a century in a friendly match, and the team having knocked Vienna CC out of the ACA Trophy.Lords CC recovered from their shock defeat at the hands of Ljubljana CC in Valburga to register a commanding 140 run win over Pakistan CC, with half centuries by Ashwani Sharma and Deepak Sharma, as well as 40s from Wasif Mohammed and Ajay Grover and a massive 69 extras seeing them post 319 for 9 – believed to be an Open League record for matches at Markommannenstrasse. Pakistan in reply fell well short of the required target, with Ali Zulfiqar, 47, the highest scorer, with Wasif Mohammed taking four wickets.The thriller of the weekend was between Ljubljana CC and Pakistan Falken CC, on Sunday at Seebarn. Ljubljana batted first and reached 293-7 thanks to a century by Mark Oman (105*) – the first for Ljubljana CC, ably supported by Dan Ryan (40) and Tom Furness (32). With Sameer Chopra (Bobby) on great form, and with a glorious innings of 129, for a while things looked as though Pakistan Falken CC might have been on target for a stunning victory, although once Bobby fell, Ljubljana were able to clean up the PFCC tail, to record a victory by 68 runs, with Mark Oman taking three wickets to become the second Ljubljana CC player to take 100 wickets for the club and to claim 13 points lifting them up the league table.Pakistan CC has already cancelled its trip to Velden for a fixture against Ljubljana CC and a friendly against Salzburg CC, the latter replacing league opponents Zagreb CC, who had in turn announced that they would not be able to field a team against Pakistan CC. The big match of the forthcoming weekend will be Lords CC against Vienna CC, with a win for either side essential if they want to have any hope of overtaking Concordia CC in the league table.

Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Kamran Sajid and Asif Iqbal hit centuries for their teams while Allied Bank Limited scored a quick textbook win over Pakistan Education Board (PEB) on day 2 in the second round of Inter-Department Qualifying Tournament.Salman Butt, who recently played his debut Test against Bangladesh at Multan, scored 190 for National Bank who amassed 325 for three from 83 overs in reply to ZTBL’s 282 at Lahore Country Club in Muridke.Mohammad Hafeez hit 152 at Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot to help Sui Gas accumulate 349 for five in reply to Habib Bank’s modest 97. The bankers, trailing by 252 runs, were 145 for four when stumps were drawn.PIA’s Kamran Sajid (124) and Yasir Hameed (127) featured in a 227-run second wicket partnership to help the airline to a comfortable 183-run first innings lead over Pak PWD. PIA, resuming on 81 for one on the second day at the Quaid-e-Azam Park in Karachi in reply to PWD’s 144, declared at 327 for five. Pak PWD, in their second innings, were in dire straits at 49 for five with Umar Gul following up his first innings 5-51 with three for 16.Asif Iqbal hit a fine unbeaten 137 but it was not enough to help Service Industries to a first innings lead as they were bowled out for 300 while chasing PAF’s 302 for nine at Gymkhana Ground in Okara.Allied Bank Limited rushed to a ruthless win over PEB by an innings and 72 runs as the students, who were dismissed for 52 in their first innings, were shot out for 128 in the second.Saga were also sensing an easy win after their pace duo of Umair Khan (4-19) and Tauqeer Hussain (4-44) bowled out LEO International for 111 to force the debutant team to follow-on. At stumps, LEO International were 164 for five and still trailing by 17 runs.Pakistan Customs were also in sight of victory when they took a 226-run first innings lead over Pakistan Navy and then reduced almost sank the sailors to 196 for eight – thanks to fine bowling by Shahid Mahmood who took 5-49.Scores in brief (day 2 of 3):Pool A:
At Quaid-e-Azam Park, Pak PWD 144 in 52 overs (Zeeshan Pervaiz 33, Umar Gul 5-51, Fazle Akbar 3-32, Nadeem Khan 2-31) and 49-5 (Umar Gul 3-16) vs PIA 327-5 in 83 overs (Kamran Sajid 124, Yasir Hameed 127, Bazid Khan 31).
At PCB Academy, Pakistan Navy 86 in 37.4 overs (Junaid Zia 6-19, Imran Ali 3-29) and 196-8 (Kamran Ahmed 47, Rashid Ali 43*, Shahid Mahmood 5-49) vs Customs 312 (Kashif Siddique 76, Azhar Shafiq 65, Junaid Zia 47, Bilal Khilji 33, Farman Shah 3-88).
At UBL Sports Complex, KESC 156 in 58 overs (Javed Mansoor [3×4, 108b, Kamran Mansoor 42 [5×4, 106b], Azam Hussain 7-40) and 46-1 vs DHA 196-9 in 83 overs (Aamer Iqbal 97 [4×6, 78b], Wajid Ali 36, Saeed Khan 3-61).Pool B:
At KRL Stadium, KRL 213 in 80.5 overs (Saeed bin Nasir 89 [13×4, 181b], Yasir Arafat 41 [6×4, 2×6, 38b], Mohammad Khalil 4-51, Mohammad Hussain 4-85) and 95-5 (Ali Naqvi 42, Mohammad Hussain 3-21) vs PTCL 112 in 50.5 overs (Yasir Arafat 3-22, Ali Naqvi 3-23, Mohammad Asif 3-25).
At Army Cricket Ground, Pakistan Army 160 (Zubair Watoo 44, Farooq Iqbal 3-7) and 34-3 vs Wapda 355 in 71.5 overs (Mohammad Zaman 76, Tariq Aziz 62, Atiq-ur-Rehman 47, Hasan Adnan 47, Nabeel 3-36, Zubair Watoo 3-74).
At Shalimar Ground, POF 260-8 in 83 overs (Ahsan Masood 90, Usman Tahir 62, Imran Ali 41, Naseer Ahmed 4-83) vs PTV.Pool C:
At Railway Stadium, Railway 295 in 83 overs (Afzal Shah 75 [9×4, 146b], Asif Butt 50 [5×6, 30b], Khalid Bashir 40, Fahad-ul-Haq 40 [4×4, 68b], Mohammad Shoaib 3-33, Atif Ijaz 2-50, Shoaib Maqsood 2-78) and 50-2 vs HEC 265 in 83 overs (Amjad Ali 61, Atif Ijaz 43, Khalid Bashir 6-54).
At Country Club Muridke, ZTBL 282 in 77.1 overs (Zeeshan Mohsin 46, Zahoor Elahi 42, Javed Hayat 40, Faisal Naved 37, Imran Abbas 30, Aleem Moosa 3-85, Mohammad Javed 3-56) vs NBP 325-3 in 83 overs (Salman Butt 190, Naumanullah 76, Akhtar Sarfraz 39 not out).
At Gymkhana Ground Okara, PAF 302-9 in 83 overs (Shakeel Sharif 118, Naseer-ud-Din 45, Nadeem Farooqi 33, Rizwan Ahmed 4-67) vs Service Industries 300 in 83 overs (Asif Iqbal 137, Kashif Nizami 46, Tahir Masood 33, Mohammad Asif 32, Naseer-ud-din 4-107, Asif Khan 3-89).Pool D:
At Jinnah Stadium Sialkot, HBL 97 in 22.3 overs (Wasim Khan 8-41) and 145-4 (Saleem Elahi 53 not out) vs Sui Gas 349-5 in 83 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 152, Misbah-ul-Haq 79, Ali Hussain 40, Sohail Idrees 32, Abdul Rehman 3-100).At Saga Ground, PEB 52 in 16.3 overs (Abdul Rauf 5-36, Tanvir Ahmed 4-15) and 128 (Shahid Pervez Abbasi 67, Tahir Mughal 3-20, Abdul Rauf 2-40, Tanvir Ahmed 2-20) vs ABL 252-2 in 42 overs declared (Wajahatullah Wasti 107*, Farhan Adil 65, Ijaz Ahmed Jnr 35*). Result: Allied Bank won by an innings and 72 runs.
At Jinnah Stadium Sialkot, Saga 292 in 74.5 overs (Ashraf Ali 107, Kamran Younis 42, Shaiman Butt 39, Mustafa Bashir 4-83, Usman Nabi 3-69) vs LEO International 111 in 32 overs (Umair Khan 4-19, Tauqeer Hussain 4-44) and 164-6 (Safdar Niazi 50, Hasnain Abbas 37, Fahad Liaquat 31 not out).

Bangladesh have brought back Mashrafe Mortaza and Talha Jubair into their 13-man squad for the forthcoming two-Test series against India. Habibul Bashar has been retained as captain but Alok Kapali has been dropped after some weak performances against New Zealand.Mortaza last played a Test in November 2003, when he took 4 for 83 against England, before being ruled out by a knee injury. He has since recovered completely, and has been impressive in domestic games this season. Jubair’s inclusion was more surprising as he hasn’t made much of an impact since returning from a back injury. However, Faruque Ahmed, Bangladesh’s chief selector, indicated the reasoning behind the move: “We have considered our opponents’ strengths and the condition of the pitch. We thought pacers could be more effective than the spinners against the Indian batting line-up,” he told the , a Bangladesh newspaper. “We have also asked for a hard and bouncy track which also influenced our decision to keep three quick bowlers. Talha is a good Test bowler and we believe he can be effective in this series.”Faruque cautioned, though, that the team management was anxious to avoid more injuries to those two bowlers: “We don’t want to see another prolonged injury absence of these two. We are very careful about them.” If Bangladesh decide to play only two seamers, Mortaza and Tapash Baisya, then Mohammad Rafique and Manjural Islam Rana, the left-arm spinners, will both get an opportunity.The selectors also decided to name Khaled Mashud as Bashar’s deputy. Mashud, the wicketkeeper, had been removed from captaincy after Bangladesh’s disastrous 2003 World Cup, but has won back the selectors’ favour after impressive displays of late. Talking about the decision, Reazuddin Al Mamun, the chairman of the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s media committee, said: “The board had removed him as captain after the World Cup and he had some disciplinary problems at that time. But we are not rigid. We have observed Mashud and he seems to have overcome his negative traits. We also considered his bright performances in recent time.”There was also a rap on the knuckles for Rajin Saleh, the previous vice-captain. “We had high expectations regarding Rajin’s leadership quality but unfortunately he failed to deliver,” Faruque explained. Saleh retains his place in the squad, though.The first Test starts at Dhaka on Thursday.Squad Nafis Iqbal, Javed Omar, Habibul Bashar (capt), Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahman, Khaled Mashud (wk), Mohammad Rafique, Tapash Baisya, Mashrafe Mortaza, Talha Jubair, Manjural Islam Rana.