A game that started in very warm and bright sunshine ended with abandonement at Carisbrook today with two State Shield points being awarded to both Otago and Central Districts.Otago won the toss and batted on a very good pitch but could only muster 161 – another very disappointing batting performance by them. Only Brendon McCullum with 50 – his maiden half-century at either international or domestic one-day level – made any impact on the Central bowlers who were certainly not unplayable. McCullum faced 59 balls and hit 30 of his runs from five sixes, amazingly with no fours in accompaniment.He was fifth batsman out as a middle and lower-order slump, which saw seven wickets fall for 40 runs, cost Otago dearly.Robbie Lawson faced 79 balls for his 21 runs but Otago struggled to make any other impact on the scoreboard.Brent Hefford with three for 44, Jacob Oram (two for 18), Lance Hamilton (two for 35) and Michael Mason (one for 21) from seven overs were the wicket-takers with two run outs completing the picture of Otago dismissals.Under these conditions this target was almost a certainity for Central and at 65 without loss this appeared to be so. The 65 runs were on the board in the 10th over, at which stage Jesse Ryder was caught for 21 from Nathan Morland’s bowling.Off the last ball of the 11th over, Craig Spearman’s innings of 45 off 31 balls was ended by James McMillan. The two wicket-takers only bowled an over each while Kerry Walmsley, with 31 taken from his four overs, and Shayne O’Connor (30 from his five) on the receiving end of the CD opening assault.But the rain had other ideas and, after two stops for 10 minutes apiece, a heavier shower sent all from the field at 4.51pm – they did not return and the umpires officially abandoned the game at 6.27pm as it was still raining.Central Districts looked by far the better team and were unlucky to be robbed by the weather. But with two quick wickets lost by them just before the rain came for the third time, a smidgeon of doubt existed as to the probable final outcome. However, such discussion is only academic of course – two points to each team.

Replica West Indies kits are not on sale at the Cricket World Cup 2003 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya because of the licensing arrangements in place for the event.Acting chief executive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Roger Brathwaite, said that Admiral, the British manufacturers of the West Indies’ kit for the tournament, had an agreement through the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) licensing agent to supply replica West Indies kits to the British market, but could not export to South Africa."The WICB, through Admiral, submitted and received approval on the kit design from the ICC, but if the South African licensee has decided not to market a replica of the West Indies kit then there is very little we can do," remarked Brathwaite."A South African company, Picto Busby, has the exclusive replica kit licence for the territory of South Africa for all participating teams at the tournament, but the licence our manufacturers hold from the ICC does not permit them to sell replica West Indies kit in South Africa."Brathwaite was glad to hear that the West Indies replica kit was the most sought after next to the hosts’, but greatly disappointed that cricket fans attending the tournament have had no luck purchasing the gear."We have spoken to our manufacturers about the challenge and they will contact their South African licensee, who also kits out the South African team, to see if there is anything that could be done," said Brathwaite, whose substantive post is chief marketing executive."Unfortunately, they have told us that it is too late for any fresh manufacturing and the decision concerning any stock risk for the territory of South Africa is down to Picto Busby and beyond their and, possibly, our control."Brathwaite noted the WICB was investigating the possibility of providing the 2003 replica kit through its website, www.windiescricket.com , and for the Cable & Wireless 2003 Series between West Indies and Australia.

Somerset Cricket Board Development Officer Andrew Moulding has been out and about on his travels this week putting the finishing touches to a scheme that will see grass practice wickets in place across the county for the coming season.When I caught up with him at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground he told me that he had just come back from visiting Weston Super Mare Cricket Club along with Tony Davies, who is the vice chairman of the Somerset CCC Board, and chairman of the Cricket Development committee where they had been in discussion with club officials.Mr Moulding told me: "We are looking to provide top quality grass practice nets in conjunction with artificial net facilities in all parts of the county, and we have been to Weston super Mare Cricket Club to put the final piece of the jigsaw into place."He continued: "For the last few years the ECB have been saying that players practice on artificial wickets indoors all winter, and very often on artificial wickets again in the summer, but what they also need is to have grass practice wickets to complete their match preparation particularly in early season."The new facility at Weston super Mare Cricket Club means that grass practice wickets will be available in all of the four `corners’ of the countyat Glastonbury C.C.in the south east, at Taunton C.C. in the south west, at Writhlington School in the north east and now in the north west at Weston.The Somerset Cricket Development Officer concluded: "Somerset is very much in agreement with the E.C.B. thinking and we are absolutely delighted that high quality grass wickets are now available throughout the county and will be able to play a significant part of cricketers early season practice."

In the entire World Cup history to date never has Pakistan been in such a tight corner as they are in the current tournament. Even when they had not qualified for the semi-finals (inaugural World Cup in 1975 and 21 years later in 1996), their reputation as one of the leading teams in the world had not been impaired to the extent as it has now.The lack of commitment, poor form/fitness and the mediocre performance so far exhibited by the team in World Cup 2003 has reduced their rating just above the `B’ Class teams participating in the mega event.Alas! A team whose rich potential and capability is never in any doubt is suffering heavily for poor leadership, mismanagement and absence of strategic planning.At last and finally the crunch moment has arrived.Pakistan must enter Centurion Park on 1st March with a `do-or-die’ spirit. Obviously the morale of Indian team is soaring having already earned 16 points and on recording a thumping 82 runs victory over England.Not withstanding this situation and for the fact that Pakistan has lost all the three previous World Cup matches played against India the overall statistics hang heavily in Pakistan’s favour with 52 victories against India’s 29 in 85 encounters.On analysis, Pakistan’s major weakness in the recent matches had been their inept batting, too many wides and noballs, scratchy fielding and on top of all that, a lack of application and concentration.However, supporters of the team believe that Pakistan will make amends and stage a comeback and one can hope they will keep their nerves in this crucial match.Yet any forecast on the result of the match may prove erroneous except it suffices to say, the key of success for the two teams in this match is largely held by Sachin Tendulkar for India and Wasim Akram for Pakistan.Here under is a brief review of the previous World Cup matches played between Pakistan and India:1. 1992-Sydney:
Man of the Match Sachin Tendulkar scored 54 the highest in the Indian innings of 216-7 in 49 overs. KapilDev and Vinod Kambli contributed 35 and 24 respectively. Legspineer Mushtaq Ahmad claimed 3 for 59. Pakistan team, well known as poor chasers, collapsed and fell 43 runs short of the target despite Aamer Sohail’s knocks of 62 and Javed Miandad’s 40. Kapil Dev, Manhoj Parbhakar and Javagal Srinath all took two wickets each.2. 1996-Bangalore:
Prior this match Pakistan had done reasonably well to win four of the five league matches but in their crunch match against India – the quarterfinals in Bangalore – they failed. Psychological pressure, indifferent batting and crowd behaviour accounted for the downfall of the potentially stronger team. Responding to a total of 287, Pakistan openers gave a flying start of 84 and they were chasing well at 231 for 5 when 4 wickets tumbled in quick succession, which sealed the fate of the match. Pakistani was without the services of skipper Wasim Akram, because of injury. The legend Javed Miandad bowed out of International cricket after this match.3. 1999-Old Trafford
Pakistan bowling attack, in particular skipper Wasim Akram (2/27) and Azhar Mahmood (2/34), succeeded in containing India. Still Rahul Dravid (61), Mohammad Azharuddin (59) and Sachin Tendulkar (45) enabled them to reach 227-6. Pakistan batting once again flopped against their traditional opponents and were bowled out for (180) in 45.3 overs. Saeed Anwar on (36), Inzmam-ul-Haq (41) and Moin Khan (34) only some offered resistance to the magnificent bowling of Man of the Match Venkatesh Parsad – 5 for 27 in 9.3 overs. Javagal Srinath 3 for 37 and Anil Kumble 2 for 43 ably assisted the Indian hero. Pakistan lost the match by 47 runs.

Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya officially tendered his resignation on Friday morning, handing over a letter to cricket board chief executive Anura Tennekoon.Jayasuriya had resigned immediately after the World Cup but was persuaded to stay on for the Sharjah Cup so the selectors could identify a successor."He handed over a letter to me this morning and I have informed the chairman of selectors," said Tennekoon.With two selectors currently out of the country, the five-man panel are expected to discuss the captaincy after the Sinhalese New Year next week.The committee, headed by former Sri Lanka leg-spinner Lalith Kaluperuma, will have to decide first whether to accept Jayasuriya’s resignation and then who should take over."The selectors will have to make the decision as to whether to accept his resignation," confirmed Tennekoon.However, Jayasuriya made it abundantly clear during the recent Sharjah Cup that he now wants to continue only as a player.”I was asked to continue for Sharjah but after this they will have to find someone else to do the job," he said. "I have made my decision and I will continue as a player.”Explaining his decision, he said: “After the World Cup I thought the time had come to groom someone for the 2007 World Cup.”The 33-year-old all-rounder believes Marvan Atapattu, the current vice-captain, is his natural successor: “My personal thinking is that Marvan should take over – he has a lot of experience and has been vice-captain for some time now.”

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, who toiled long and hard in the heat and humidity of Colombo, to score a total of 343 unbeaten runs against Sri Lanka, should take a good rest before he studies the statistical profile of his feats.It would be enough to tire out the most ardent statistician. But the nature of his achievement does make an outstanding impression on the record booksA complete statistical breakdown of Stephen Fleming’s 274 not out and 69 not out against Sri Lanka follows: (Statistics compiled by Duane Pettet)It was Fleming’s highest score, and first double century, in Test and first-class cricket. It surpassed his 174 not out against Sri Lanka, also at Colombo, in the summer of 1997/98 and was the highest score made by a New Zealander overseas. It headed off Glenn Turner’s 259 against the West Indies at Georgetown, Guyana in 1971/72.Clearly he enjoys scoring his centuries away from home because four of his five Test centuries have been scored overseas.The innings was his 20th first-class century.New Zealand players have now scored 11 double centuries, and Fleming was the ninth individual. Turner and Mathew Sinclair have scored two each.His score was the 28th equal highest individual innings in Tests and was the second highest individual innings for New Zealand and by anyone against Sri Lanka. Martin Crowe holds both the highest honours with his 299 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington in 1990/91.Only Sanath Jayasuriya’s 340 for the home side against India in 1997/98 ranks higher among scores made on Sri Lankan soil.The innings bettered John F Reid’s 180 made at the Colombo Cricket Club ground in 1983/84 as the highest by a New Zealand in Sri Lanka and was also the highest score in Tests at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium, supplanting Aravinda de Silva’s 206 for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh last year.Befitting his status among Test cricket’s captains, the innings was the sixth highest by a captain, and the second highest by a New Zealand captain.It was the ninth equal highest innings by a left-handed batsman in Tests and surpassed another of New Zealand great Bert Sutcliffe’s records as the highest innings by a New Zealand left-hander. Sutcliffe scored 230 not out against India at Delhi in 1955/56.His score was the eighth highest by a No 3 batsman in Tests and headed Sinclair’s 214 on debut, against the West Indies in Wellington in 1999/00 as the highest by a New Zealand No 3.It was also the ninth highest unbeaten innings in Tests and removed Bryan Young’s 267 not out against Sri Lanka in 1996/97 as the highest New Zealand unbeaten innings.Only Ken Rutherford (317), Mark Richardson (306) and Crowe have made higher first-class scores for New Zealand. It was the 12th highest innings by a New Zealander in first-class cricket outside of games for overseas sides. And it was the 16th highest innings in New Zealand first-class cricket.Of the 118 runs scored in boundaries (28 fours and one six), that rated as the seventh most runs scored in boundaries in a Test for New Zealand and the third most runs run in a Test for New Zealand. He ran 156 of his innings. Turner ran 171 of his 259 runs at Georgetown while Crowe ran 165 of his 299 at Wellington. Fleming had to run 205 of his runs in the match overall, which heads Crowe’s 187 at Wellington as the most by a New Zealander.The effort of scoring 162 runs on the second day was the fourth highest number of runs in a day by a New Zealander in Tests. Ahead of him were: 222 by Nathan Astle on day four against England at Christchurch in 2001/02, 173 by Crowe on day five against Sri Lanka in Wellington and 169 by Ian Smith on day one at Auckland against India in 1989/90.His 653 minute innings was the fourth longest by a New Zealander in Tests after Turner’s 704 minutes against the West Indies in Georgetown, Reid’s 685 minutes in Colombo and Mark Greatbatch’s 655 minutes against Australia at Perth in 1989/90.His 956 minutes at the crease throughout the match easily passed Greatbatch’s 876 minutes against Australia as the most time at the crease by a New Zealander in Tests.It was the second longest time at the crease in all Test cricket, behind Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad who batted for a minimum of 970 minutes against the West Indies at Bridgetown, Barbados in 1957/58. This was because the time for his 17 runs in the first innings of the match in which he scored 337 is not known.In the game Fleming spent 1610 minutes – nearly 27 hours – all but 45 minutes of the match on the field of play.Interestingly, New Zealand has four players in the top 10 of players who have spent the longest time at the batting crease: Fleming (956), Greatbatch (876), Geoff Howarth (835) against England at Auckland in 1977/78 and John Wright (828) against the West Indies at Wellington in 1986/87.He faced 710 balls during the match – the equivalent of 118.2 overs. Of this he faced 267 deliveries (44.3 overs) from off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, taking 118 runs off his bowling without being dismissed.His unbeaten 343 is the 12th most runs scored by a batsmen in a Test and the highest for New Zealand, beating the 329 scored by Crowe at Wellington.It is also the second most runs scored in a Test by an individual without being dismissed, behind the 365 Gary Sobers hit in his solitary innings for the West Indies against Pakistan at Kingston in 1957/58.His current run is a record for the most runs between dismissals by a New Zealand batsman, ahead of Crowe’s single innings of 299 at Wellington. He has a chance to extend it when New Zealand play the second Test at Kandy, which starts on Saturday. The world record of 490 is held by Sobers, who added an innings of 125 in the Test following the Kingston knock.Of a miscellaneous nature, his two innings in the game mean that he is now 86 runs away from being the latest New Zealander to score 10,000 first-class runs. Eighteen others have achieved the feat.His double century was the highest score by anyone since Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 329 for Pakistan against New Zealand at Lahore last year.Fleming became the first New Zealand captain to lead the side in 50 Tests and the eighth player in the world to achieve the feat. He is now sixth equal with Viv Richards from the West Indies and Mark Taylor from Australia.His 172-run partnership for the second wicket is a record for New Zealand against Sri Lanka. Previously the mark was 140 by Bryan Young and Matt Horne at Dunedin in 1996/97.Fleming was the sixth youngest of the New Zealanders to have scored double centuries being 30 years and 25 days when he reached the mark. More than half of the New Zealand batsman to reach the milestone have been aged over 30.New Zealand’s 515/7 declared was New Zealand’s ninth highest total, the third highest of its scores against Sri Lanka and New Zealand’s highest total in Sri Lanka. The previous highest was 459 at the Colombo’s Cricket Club ground in 1983/84.

India is set to “forget” the Mike Denness affair, on “humanitarian grounds,” according to an International Cricket Council(ICC) spokesman, reports the Press Trust of India. Denness was the match referee who handed severe punishmentsto six Indian cricketers during India’s last tour of South Africa. According to reports, India has agreed to let bygones bebygones as Denness has undergone a heart surgery and is ailing.At a meeting with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya, the new ICC chief Ehsan Maniis thought to have proposed this course of action. Dalmiya, it is reported, readily agreed to the suggestion.Denness had caused a storm by holding Sachin Tendulkar guilty of ball-tampering while finding five other cricketers, includingVirender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly, guilty of excessive appealing. Sehwag was the worst affected, being suspended forone Test and thereby missing the first Test against England at home soon after.At the same time, the ICC is looking to resolve the contracts issue amicably, reported The Times. “Legal solution arethe last resort. If all else fails we can go to arbitration, but I hope we can sort out the problem,” Mani was quoted as saying.The ICC chief added, “India has to have contracts with its players in future, like the other nine Test countries. They are thebiggest cricket country in the world, with the greatest potential in all aspects.”

After three days of coaching sophistry, the like of which India had never seen before, the MRF Coaching Seminar at Chennai drew to a close on a note of relief, light-heartedness and satisfaction. Organisers MRF could pat themselves on the back for a job well done, and the main speakers at the conference can walk away believing they’ve made a difference. Dennis Lillee, Greg and Trevor Chappell, Sandy Gordon and Mark Portus had a lot to offer, commanding rapt attention and respect, every time they took the stage.Lillee, who has now been coming to Chennai for sixteen years for his work with MRF, made it clear that he believed that the seminar had done everyone a world of good: “It’s been a good few days. We’ve got good feedback and interestingly in the end someone asked a very good question. He asked us what we got out of the conference and that’s a good thing, because we keep learning all the time. As I said earlier, we’re not the last word on any of these things – we’re just sharing what we know. The awareness now towards what we’re trying to achievewith coaching techniques is very high, certainly much higher than when we started off. The other important thing is that there are a few young cricketers here, who played recently and have become coaches. They accept new methods readily and they’re the future.”Not long ago, a seminar of this kind would never have happened. Teams, and countries, liked to guard their secrets closely. Thanks to an arrangement with MRF, the Australian academy regularly sends down teams to experience playing in Indian conditions. Greg Chappell underscored MRF’s work in this regard.”Australia are the leaders of the pack over the moment and I think it’simportant that we share whatever knowledge and information we’ve gathered. MRF have made a huge investment in cricket in this country and it’s their vision really.”From its early inception, TA Sekhar has spearheaded the pace foundation’s activities. He explained the real purpose behind hosting a seminar of this kind: “The National Cricket Academy was started two or three years back and we thought it was better to work closely with them. These guys [Lillee, Chappell and Co.] are all legends and walking universities when it comes to cricket. This is the best way for us to make sure that there is uniformity in coaching standards. This is what we’ve been working towards in the last sixteen years. Aconference of this sort is the best platform for coaches to learn the latest developments in the game. From there it will filter down to district, college and school coaches.”Lillee however, went one step further, suggesting that there was a cyclical element to being on top and India might well find themselves in that position not far from now. “In ten years time, there’s every chance that the Australians may be coming here to update themselves. That’s not a joke. In the past people on top were worried about passing on their knowledge, thinking that would make them lose their edge. Clearly that’s not true.”A feature of the conference was the manner in which cricketers who achieved high levels of success in their careers left all their baggage behind and got down to the nuts and bolts of coaching. From the outset, there was an accent on coaches staying in the background, giving all the credit to the individuals and teams who actually play the game. By the end of three days, this lesson was well taught – by personal example. Whether it was as well learned, is a matter of conjecture.

Day 1 Close India A 275 for 3 (Das 125) v DurhamIndia A ended the first day of their four-day match against Durham at Chester-le-Street on 275 for 3, thanks to a century from Shiv Sunder Das and some substandard bowling from Durham’s depleted attack.The crowd was barely sufficient to constitute a quorum, and the closest they got to seeing a big-name player was when Durham’s new signing Shoaib Akhtar was introduced to them at tea-time. Durham chose to rest several front-line players, and it was decision they were left to rue as India A made largely untroubled progress.Das was in superb form, driving and cutting with ease, and with Wasim Jaffer (43) put on 122 for the first wicket. Das then added 80 for the second wicket with Gautam Gambhir, the only batsman in the top five without Test experience. Gambhir played some exquisite leg-side strokes in making 35.Das’s confidence only wobbled briefly when he survived a good shout for leg-before from Mark Davies on 96. Durham’s hopes of pressurising Das while he was in the nervous nineties were dashed when they gifted him his hundred with a careless overthrow.Das chanced his arm after passing three figures, eventually falling for 125 to a slip catch from Vince Wells off Ian Hunter (212 for 3), but Hemang Badhani (43*) and Parthiv Patel (21*) put on an unbroken of 63 in almost two hours to ensure that India A ended the day in a commanding position.

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.