After rain ended play early with Somerset tantalisingly close to getting their fifth bonus point from the match against Northants at Taunton, Coach Kevin Shine told me, “We are twenty six runs away from second place in the County Championship which is a fabulous effort and a wonderful achievement for the club.”The coach went on, “The highlight of the day was Matthew Wood’s century. He’s worked hard and shown promise through the season, and played with maturity beyond his years. His century bodes well for him and for the club. Well done for him and well done for Somerset.”

New Zealand manager Jeff Crowe has learnt to be philosophical about bad days in cricket but he can’t have suffered many worse than today’s effort against a lowly ACT President’s XI at Manuka Oval.With Test spin bowler Daniel Vettori leaning on crutches in the stands and gun all-rounder Chris Cairns being belted about the park by batsmen who have neverplayed first-class cricket, New Zealand’s preparation for the upcoming Test matches against Australia was looking shaky.The ACT side, including five players on the fringes of the New South Wales team, made the most of the Kiwis’ predicament and amassed 6-439 before declaring.ACT’s Jack Smith (156) and Sydney grade player Grant Lambert (101) hit entertaining centuries and made sure the Kiwis had plenty of fielding practice.At stumps, the Kiwis were 1-133, with Mathew Sinclair on 51 not out and Matthew Bell on 44 not out with a full day’s play remaining.Uncertainty still hangs over Vettori’s tour after twisting his right ankle heavily underneath himself yesterday when attempting to field a hot drive off his own bowling.He was due to have an MRI scan which would then be assessed by a sport doctor.”Really, it is only at that point that we will know what the future is for Daniel,” Crowe said.Discussions would be held with cricket management in New Zealand overnight to decide the next step, he said.”We’ll know more tonight whether it is in the serious category or not. I just hope that it’s not. It could well be that he’s playing in the first Test.”Cairns returned the figures of 1-115 from 25 overs in his first serious hit-out back in the Kiwi team in eight months after a serious knee injury. He bowled in five-over spells but was severely dealt with by century-maker Lambert this morning.”The thing is that he got through it. Let’s face it, it’s been a tough four and a half sessions for our guys,” Crowe said.”Those are the sort of days you’re going to have to endure anyway. That’s just mileage.”Crowe said Cairns needed to get back into match fitness with some long spells of bowling.”I’m just very pleased that Chris got up this morning … he’s a bit sore but he’s got through it OK and he feels good about it.”Last night he was working with the video guy just to make sure his action was looking good.”He said Cairns had two more matches in Queensland to find form before the first Test in Brisbane starting on November 8.Crowe said it was no embarrassment to have two centuries hit off the team’s bowling by players who had not played first class cricket.”Anyone who’s played cricket in Australia knows there’s some good talent in this place, all through the grades basically,” he said.”Our guys are not in Test mode just yet.”Lambert’s ton was the feature of the day’s play. He collected 15 boundaries from cuts, pulls and drives and brought up his century with a six over midwicket fromoffspinner Glen Sulzberger.

Auckland’s Kelston Boys’ High School have gained the last place in this year’s Gillette Cup national secondary schools’ cricket finals to be played in Palmerston North from December 9-11.Kelston beat Whangarei Boys’ High School by 67 runs in a game played today.Kelston scored 190 in 47.3 overs with Auckland secondary schools’ representatives Dusan Hakaraia scoring 51 and captain Blyne Fraser 49 during a 78-run third wicket stand. A WBHS bowler with the surname of Jessup took four for 22 from his 10 overs.Whangarei Boys’ scored 123 in 46 overs in reply.Amotoj Singh took three for 19 from seven overs and Michael Bates two for 11 from 10 overs.Hakaraia, Fraser and Bates are all members of the Auckland Under-17 team.It will be Kelston’s first visit to the Gillette finals.The tournament draw was also made today.On December 9, St Paul’s Collegiate of Hamilton will play Otago Boys’ High School and Wellington College will play Kelston Boys’ High School.On December 10, Kelston will play Otago and St Paul’s meets Wellington and on December 11, Otago meets Wellington with St Paul’s playing Kelston.Wellington College last reached the finals in 1992 while St Paul’s were there in 1998. Otago Boys’ have been regular finalists and will make their sixth appearance. They won the Cup in 1992 and 1993.Thirty-two boys who have played in the Gillette Cup finals have played first-class cricket.

The United Cricket Board of South Africa and Bakers Biscuits announced today that the Bakers Sponsorship of Mini Cricket and the Coaches Academy is being renewed at R13 million over three years.The sponsorship of the Bakers Mini Cricket programme and the Bakers Coaches Academy is no regular sponsorship as it is the longest standing amateur cricket sponsorship in South Africa. This year the sponsorship turns 19 years old and will be implemented over the next three years. This will be followed by a fitting celebration of it’s grand 21st birthday during the Cricket World Cup.The cheque for R13 million was handed over by Cliff Sampson, Managing Director of National Brands, producers of Bakers Biscuits, to Gerald Majola CEO of the United Cricket Board of South Africa. The ceremony was held during the lunch break of the International Cricket test between South Africa and India, on the field at Supersport Park cricket ground, Centurion.Gerald Majola, CEO of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, said, "This sponsorship has a great history in that it played an instrumental role in assisting with the unifying of cricket during difficult times. The loyalty of Bakers Biscuits has also paid off in the national playing arena, as the sponsorship has produced tangible results in the form of national and provincial cricketers such as Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini, Mfuneko Ngam and many more."The UCB appreciates the long standing support of Bakers Biscuits and we look forward to working together to ensure that the Bakers Mini Cricket and Coaches Academy programmes enjoy continued success."Maxwell Jordaan, Director of Amateur Cricket, said," The game of cricket transcends the lines of race, affluence and gender, which has been made possible through the cricket development programme with the help of vehicles such as the Bakers Mini Cricket and Bakers Coaches Academy. They provide the gateway to cricket for many children and adults all over South Africa."The programmes uplift and empower the people within communities by setting up opportunities in coaching, playing and administration. This is the true testament of the constant value added, by the Bakers Biscuits Sponsorship, to South African society."The launch of the sponsorship was celebrated with over 150 Bakers Mini Cricketers and coaches from schools affiliated to the Northerns Cricket Union taking part. They joined in the fun by throwing gifts to the crowd and participating in skills drills during the lunch break.Cliff Sampson, when handing over the cheque to the UCBSA, stated, " We are proud of the long history of the Bakers Biscuits sponsorship and of the waves of change that it has made in communities throughout South Africa. These changes have certainly formed a positive bond between Bakers Biscuits and consumers; however, the main objective of this sponsorship has always been and still remains; to teach the children of South Africa the joy of playing together so that they can work together."Through our dual sponsorship we continue to teach thousands of children and adults from all communities the joy of playing and teaching sport, the real value of teamwork and to learn self-confidence. This is what we call giving people a real sporting chance."Bakers Mini Cricket is played by over 90 000 children per year nationally while the Bakers Coaches Academy has seen over 30 000 coaches graduate since it’s inception.

When India beat England in style at Chepauk way back in February 1952, hope must have risen in the patriotic Indian heart that the country which had won freedom without firing a bullet was now ready to take on the world in cricket too, with nary a bouncer bowled in anger. Indian cricket had discovered its own ahimsa – the magic of spin – as Vinoo Mankad with 12 wickets in the match, and Ghulam Ahmed with four, bowled India to a famous innings victory. But the hopes were belied when India toured England the very next season and were drubbed 3-0. The West Indies tour that followed provided further confirmation that India were a force to reckon with only at home.The pattern continued throughout the 50s and 60s, when India registered some fine victories at home, though not necessarily series wins, against England and Australia; the West Indies continued to be invincible even on Indian soil. The Chepauk Test of January 1967 against Gary Sobers’ men produced exhilarating cricket from the home team, with sensational batting by the likes of Farokh Engineer and Ajit Wadekar; more significant, however, were the exploits of the new spin combination of Erapalli Prasanna, Bishan Singh Bedi and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, who were to weave magic against all comers in home conditions for years to come. But India again came a-cropper in England in the summer of 1967, dashing hopes that our cricket had at last come of age.Srinivas Venkataraghavan was the fourth component of what came to be known later as the spin quartet – a misnomer, really, since only three of these world-class spinners played together most of the time – and these men dominated Indian cricket for over a decade. Ironically Venkataraghavan, the man who, among the foursome, figured least in Test match cricket, was a key player in India’s first triumphs in the West Indies and England in 1971, wins that promised to be the ultimate turning point in the nation’s cricket fortunes.

But 1974 proved that nothing had really changed in Indian cricket, with India crashing to 42 all out at Lord’s and losing the series rather ignominiously. Once again, a home series helped restore the balance in India’s favour. A stirring fight was staged against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies, then on the verge of becoming an all-conquering combination; the Carribbeans did experience a hiccup or two along the way, not the least of which was a Port-of-Spain Test that India won, chasing over 400 in the fourth innings.India regained some lost pride against comeback captain Bobby Simpson’s Australia, sans those who defected to Kerry Packer’s World Series, losing the series in a closely fought 2-3 result. A brilliant away win against England under Kapil Dev’s captaincy in 1986 was fashioned – for the first time in Indian cricket history – by seam rather than spin, but that was the penultimate time India won a series abroad, the 1993-94 triumph in Sri Lanka being the only bright spot in the depressing succession of abject surrenders that followed. Kapil’s Devils had earlier shown tremendous resolve in drawing a series that they deserved to win against Allan Border’s Aussies in Australia in 1986-87. Although India were involved in the second tie in Test history the following year at Chepauk, Indian cricket abroad went steadily downhill from that time onwards.The year 2001 raised hopes again. VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid came together in ahistoric record-breaking partnership to give India her most improbable, ifnot her greatest, victory of all time at Kolkata. In Harbhajan Singh shehad apparently discovered a spinner in the mould of the greats of the past to partner the strong-of-mind Anil Kumble, a veritable demon on Indian tracks. The young sardar has since shown that he still has some way to go before he is to be bracketed with the best in the business.In Laxman, we hoped that we had found a batsman who could dominate the best bowling attacks in the world and make batting look as simple as driving aFormula One car in a video game. Joining the world’s best batsman, SachinTendulkar, and the other two champion batsmen in the Indian side, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, he added an exciting new dimension to the Indian line-up. But our joy was to be all too short-lived. In South Africa and elsewhere, the Hyderabad batsman has consistently exhibited a streak of recklessness that has bordered on the irresponsible.The Indian vice-captain, technically among the most accomplished in the world, played outstanding cricket of great character against the Australians, but since then he has shown a distressing tendency towards Hamletian indecision, especially after the ludicrous attempt to convert him into an opener bombed.The Indian captain too flattered only to deceive, his match-winning innings in the Kandy Test proving to be no more than a flash in the pan. And, even as we learned to overlook his rough edges and appreciate his ability to lock eyes with his opposite numbers in, figuratively speaking, fight-to-the-finish staring contests, he has shown inconsistency in the horses he backs, sometimes in defiance of the selection committee, and deficiency in common sense while ringing bowling changes that defy logic.The Master Blaster is yet to win a match abroad off his own bat, something that both Brian Lara and Steve Waugh have done for their teams. While there is no doubting the little man’s clear superiority over his nearest rivals in terms of sheer class, dedication and commitment, we, the Indian nation, starved of heroes and heroic deeds, still look up to him in vain to perform a miracle or three.After the early promise of the Javagal Srinath-Venkatesh Prasad combination fizzled out some years ago, India suddenly found a surfeit of riches in the pacedepartment. Even on Indian wickets, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra showed enough talent and fire to promise a bright future for Indian bowling, especially with Kumble returning to match fitness and Harbhajan Singh proving to be an equal partner. Once again, we were to be disabused of any delusions of Indian bowling grandeur, with injuries curtailing the left-arm seamers’ progress. The one Indian on a genuine comeback trail, Srinath, has also been plagued by injuries.The mirage of a solid opening pair in Sadagoppan Ramesh and Shiv Sunder Das also vanished, with the southpaw taking an untimely sabbatical to nurse his back. By accident, we found a more-than-able replacement, but unfortunately, Deep Dasgupta is still a less-than-competent wicket-keeper. Predictably, instead of showing patience with the gutsy youngster, critics are already baying for his blood.The year promised much but delivered precious little. All the old doubts and weaknesses remain, compounded by indecision and confusion in the administration. The Mike Denness controversy has done nothing to enhance India’s image, although it was a clear case of a team under siege by a roguereferee overreacting to an unpleasant situation. Instead of winning the sympathy of the rest of the world, India has managed to earn the dubious tag of rebel nation. The much-awaited contract system has been postponed, and Ranji Trophy reform is still a year away. Fast domestic wickets continue to be a mirage, and while India has a crop of good medium-pacers, quality spinners, especially the left-arm variety, will soon become extinct, thanks to an uncaring system that refuses to give them opportunities.The beginning of the 90s was marked by much optimism for the future of Indian cricket. No such positive feeling for the first decade of the new millennium is justified in the light of the 2001 experience.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is to discuss India’s withdrawal fromthe Asian Test Championship when it meets in Sharjah next month.The ACC meeting slated for Feb 13 will discuss imposing penalties onthe pattern of the International Cricket Council, but their immediateimplementation appears unlikely.India had refused to play Pakistan in Lahore for a match of thechampionship last year and later withdrew from the event. Theirdecision led to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suffering heavyfinancial losses.The meeting, to be chaired by ACC president, Lt. Gen Tauqir Zia, whoalso heads the PCB, will also decide on setting up a permanentsecretariat. The UAE, Malaysia and Nepal are the three venues inconsideration.The development programme from April 2002 to March 2003 will also beconsidered for approval.The ACC moot will be preceded by a meeting of the Asian CricketFoundation (ACF) on Feb 12. The agenda of the meeting which is to bechaired by Jagmohan Dalmiya has not been circulated yet.Besides the four chief executives of the cricket boards of Pakistan,India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Abdul Rehman Bukhatir of theCricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) will also be in attendance.

Australia qualified for the ICC Under-19 World Cup final against South Africa on Saturday but the West Indies with a little more patience might have pushed them a lot closer than the final 93-run margin of victory in today’s semi-final.By confining the Australians to 252/8 when they batted first in cool overcast conditions on the reserve day at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, the West Indies gave themselves a chance.They had pulled the Australian scoring rate back from a possible 280-plus and, while the job remained in front of them, they got into a good position at 102/2 in the 22nd over.But just as the West Indians had utilised spin to peg back the Australians, so the Australians did in even more masterly fashion when, between the 20th and 40th overs, the West Indies were only able to score 61 runs.The innings’ of the two sides were similar in construction, based largely around high third-wicket partnerships. In Australia’s case theirs, between captain Cameron White and opener Craig Simmons was worth 84 runs but, having come on the top of 84 runs scored by the first two wickets, it had a much more solid base.Simmons, who was named man of the match for his 84 off 110 balls, played a fine innings, hitting eight fours and a six, while White kept the score moving through the middle of the innings, playing some deft late cuts during the early part of his innings and then working the ball around the ground more later. He was finally out caught from Alcindo Holder’s off-spin for 64.The West Indies stand of 82 runs was more by necessity after the two openers, including the big-hitting Donovan Pagon, were out with only 20 on the board. Tonito Willett and captain Narsingh Deonarine combined well to not only get settled but to get the scoring rate moving at an acceptable level.It was then that White made his decisive move. The introduction of left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty for the 20th over, followed a few overs later by the arrival of left-arm chinaman bowler Beau Casson had the desired effect.Deonarine was first to go for 40 and then Willett tried to hold the innings together but eventually departed the eighth man our for a lovely 83 off 123 balls.Whereas earlier, the Australian lower order had a chance to hit out to build on the earlier work, the West Indian middle and lower-order had not only to survive but also keep the scoring rate moving.With such superbly tight bowling, they had no show. Doherty bowled his 10 overs through to finish with two for 26, Casson took two for 28 off nine and Jarrad Burke came into quickly polish off the end of the innings with final figures of two for 17.Ten overs remained after the last eight West Indies wickets had fallen for 57 runs.White said afterwards while it was disappointing not to get more runs if someone had said before the game they would get 250 he would have been happy with that.He was disappointed to get out when he did. He was a little concerned once the West Indies got to the position of 102/2 but was delighted with the way his bowlers responded.Despite the fact the side had to wait an extra day and would have only tomorrow to prepare for the final, they were still feeling fresh and were “ready and well prepared.”Australian coach Wayne Phillips said he had been delighted with the way the team had gone throughout the tournament and they were justifiably going into the final feeling confident.”There has always been tremendous rivalry between Australia and the West Indies and today was no exception,” he said.West Indies coach Gus Logie said they were happy to be in the semi-finals, and while they hadn’t made the final they had done well, especially when the side’s batting had rarely clicked during the tournament.They had hoped to put up a good fight against the Australians and while beaten he felt there were some significant lessons learned because the tournament had been good preparation for the future by the players.He said that while the West Indies don’t have the quality of fast bowlers of their recent history, the wickets in the West Indies were more conducive to spin bowling nowadays and it was not unknown for teams at youth level to have good spinners, a feature reflected in the side’s bowling in Christchurch.He believed the Australians would win the tournament.”They have been quite consistent and have set a standard for us all to follow.”Logie also thanked New Zealand Cricket and the ICC for staging the tournament.”The grounds and facilities have been tremendous. We will have very fond memories of this tournament. Having everyone staying at the one venue here made it a nice little community and it was a good thing for players to experience this sort of thing,” he said.

Remarkable as it might appear, Australia took the result but England took heart from the last session of the fourth Test. Needing just 99 to win on the fifth morning, Australia lost five wickets in reaching the target with moments of stirring batting, intense excitement, umpiring controversy and, yes, heroic efforts from England’s two bowlers.If England had been disappointed by their failure to take wickets at the close of the fourth day, they had to wait no time at all for success at the start of the fifth. Matthew Hayden hooked at a short ball from Andrew Caddick and substitute fielder Alex Tudor took the catch.While Justin Langer was content to settle in after that blow, Ricky Ponting took the attack to England. He went for his considerable array of strokes from the off and had hit three fours and a six as he raced to 30 from 35 balls taking full toll off bowling that was a little too short. Having said that, it was a short ball from Steve Harmison to which Ponting played something of a half-hearted pull that touched the glove on the way through to James Foster.Three balls later, Harmison produced a beauty to Damien Martyn that took a faint outside edge on its way through to Foster and suddenly Australia were 58 for three. They needed only another 49 runs to win, but there was still time for drama.It came in the 12th over of the morning, bowled by Harmison to Steve Waugh who had four unconvincing runs to his name at the time. The fifth ball climbed past the outside edge and went through to Foster who looked inquiringly but said nothing. Marcus Trescothick at first slip raised his arms, but there was no more by way of an appeal until the fielders saw a replay on the big screen. Then Foster appealed, but umpire Dave Orchard said not out.Next ball, Waugh drove off the back foot low into the covers where Hussain clutched the ball and threw it up in a celebration that was only cut short when he noticed that Orchard had signalled a no ball. Waugh did not notice and had to be called back when well on his way to the pavilion. He returned to crash the last ball of the over back past the bowler to the boundary.After some more uncomfortable moments, Waugh tried to leave a ball from Caddick that looped off the glove wide of Mark Butcher at second slip who took off to hold a spectacular catch. Four balls later, Langer was hit on the pad by Caddick, everyone went up and Russell Tiffin pointed his forefinger to the sky. Langer out for a calm 24, but a replay showed that the ball had pitched outside leg stump.It was extraordinary entertainment, especially bearing in mind the fact that England had just two fit fast bowlers. Both Caddick and Harmison gave their all but Australia had the depth of batting to reach their objective. There was still time for a few moments of excitement before Gilchrist hit the winning runs and for once in the series there was a real contest.It took a long time in coming and the result was as expected, but at last England have something positive to remember as they go to Sydney for the final Test. Australia needed their steadiest nerve to head north with the chance of a whitewash still very much on the cards.

There could be an interesting finish on the fourth day of the match betweenthe CFX Academy and Mashonaland A at Country Club in Harare. Mashonaland A,after leading by 73 runs on first innings, failed in their second inningsand the Academy were left with 223 to win. However, Mashonaland A seizedthe advantage by taking two Academy wickets for 18 runs by the close.It took the Academy batsmen two overs to score the four remaining runs toavoid the possibility of a follow-on, without losing either of their tworemaining wickets. Pete Rinke and Nyasha Chari soon looked settled, playingsome well-judged strokes and handling the second new ball capably. Rinke on48 survived a low chance to first slip off Amos Maungwa, before reaching hisfifty off 163 balls. After the drinks interval, though, they showed signsof losing concentration, hardly surprising as with their regular diet ofone-day cricket they would rarely, if ever, have been required to bat for solong.Aided by some poor fielding, however, they stayed for almost two hours untilcaptain Henry Olonga in desperation brought himself on to bowl for the firsttime today and had Chari (24) playing the ball on to his stumps via theinside edge. The declaration came soon afterwards, with Rinke on 84, at 273for nine, 73 runs behind. This gave the Academy two overs’ bowling beforelunch, during which they scored five without loss.After the interval Mashonaland A quickly lost Brendan Taylor (4), wellcaught low in the gully off Jordane Nicolle. Mark Vermeulen, whose noisybehaviour on the field during the Academy innings had excited adversecomment, also scored only four before essaying a wild swipe across the lineto be bowled by Arnold Rushambwa, and Mashonaland A were 30 for two.With the removal of the scorer of more than half of their first-inningsruns, Mashonaland A looked vulnerable and the batting lacked conviction.Opener Andre Neethling was next to go, caught at the wicket off Rinke for25, and was immediately followed by Alester Maregwede, caught at mid-ontrying to pull Nicolle. Mashonaland A were now 54 for four.Elton Chigumbura and Andrew Durham dug in but, on the stroke of tea, Innocent Chinyoka came on and bowled out Durham for 3, leaving Mashonaland A in considerable trouble, 63 for five at tea. Chigumbura, aged 15, was theonly specialist batsman left, but he handled the pressure well.Mashonaland A have a long tail, and things worsened for them when the stubborn Norbert Manyande (9) was run out by a brilliant direct hit from Chinyoka, fielding near the long-leg boundary, attempting a second run. Chigumbura compiled an impressive 39 before being caught at slip off the ubiquitous Chinyoka, the score at this stage being 127 for seven.With their long tail, Mashonaland A were not expected to last much longer,and they did not disappoint the Academy, although Shepherd Makunura scored auseful 21 not out. The eventual total was 149, leaving the CFX Academy 223to win.Henry Olonga, perhaps fired up by his team’s poor batting, opened the bowling with a fiery spell, but failed to break through. David Mutendera took the wickets, trapping Chinyoka lbw for 6 and then forcing night-watchman Arnold Rushambwa to play the ball on to his stumps without scoring. Mashonaland A will therefore enter the final day as favourites.

Otago Cricket’s events and fund-raising manager Steve Davie will end his contract at the end of next week.Davie took up the position in September 2001 and introduced a number of successful concepts to Otago Cricket’s calendar: the annual dinner, sponsors’ golf day and a range of hospitality options being the highest profile.Otago Cricket’s financial position enjoyed a healthy turnaround last season, the fund-raising efforts of Davie complementing New Zealand Cricket’s continued support of the game at provincial level.While he leaves to pursue other business interests, Davie’s services will not be entirely lost to Otago Cricket. He will continue to promote and host the dinner and golf and will maintain a liaison with the region’s major sponsors.