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Western Province suffered a first-day collapse on a lively pitch at Newlands to be bowled out for 114 in their first innings against KwaZulu-Natal. Ryan Canning made 30, and was the only Province batsmen to show the Durban pace attack any resistance. Career bests from Nicolas Hewer (4 for 31) and Saidi Mhlongo (3 for 27), together with 3 for 43 from Ugasen Govender, was enough to race through the Province batting in 48.2 overs. The Natal innings almost suffered the same destruction but 45 from Wade Wingfield saw them recover from 52 for 4 to 103 for 5 when bad light stopped play early. Two concerns for Natal is are the injuries suffered to Govender, who limped off during the Province innings, and Mark Sanders, who was forced to retire hurt.The derby grudge match at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein between neighbours Free State and Griqualand West did not quite start off as planned for Griquas. Winning the toss and batting first, they were soon in trouble at 55 for 4 but a couple of twenties, a 46 not out from Jandre Coetzee and 25, which included three sixes, from the No. 10, Revelation Plaatjie, enabled them to limp to 195 all out with Jacob Malao taking 3 for 54. The Free State top order did not suffer the same fate as they finished the day, an early stop due to bad light, on 114 for 2 with Benjamin Hector scoring 43 and Lefa Mosena not out on 46.

(D/L method)
Scorecard Lisa Sthalekar ended with 3 for 9 to halt the Hurricanes’ charge•Getty Images

Not even the rain could stop Sydney Sixers. Inspired by the bowling of veteran Lisa Sthalekar, they romped to their ninth consecutive victory to set up a Sydney derby in the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League final.The rain had been forecast and, true to form, it would simply not stay away. Torrential, persistent drizzle in the early part of the day delayed the game’s start and reduced it to 14 overs per side. After Hobart Hurricanes won the toss, elected to bat and posted a subpar 8 for 86, the rain returned, with a misty vengeance, forcing ground staff to bring on the full covers.Hurricanes knew, having finished second in the ladder, that a no-result would see them advance to the final. The second innings of the match had been due to start at 4.37 pm, and could start no later than 5.12 pm, with Sixers set to bat just five overs. Fortunately for the Sixers, however, the showers eased, the covers were peeled back and, at 5pm, with eight overs to be bowled and a target of 55, the players returned to the field.When they did, the sun even dared to shine. The Sixers had just a two-over Powerplay, and Alyssa Healy was determined to take advantage of it, with a brutal drive off Julie Hunter, and twice pulling Pyke – for four then six – to take Sixers’ target below a run a ball. With 20 from the Powerplay and in a small chase with no margin for error for the Hurricanes, Healy was dropped at square-leg by Brooke Hepburn, and spared a stumping when dancing down the track by wicketkeeper Em Smith.Healy and Ellyse Perry were in no mood to let the Hurricanes off. They ran hard and picked off boundaries with ease, both strong in front and behind square on the legside. Despite Hunter’s best efforts – her second over, the sixth, included three dot balls – the Sixers strolled home with 10 balls to spare as Perry drove Knight through the offside. It had taken just 22 minutes.Earlier, Veronica Pyke looked to guide Marizanne Kapp’s second ball of the innings to third man, but only succeeded in edging behind, where Healy took a fine diving catch. Heather Knight found some rhythm, consecutively ramping and swinging Sarah Aley hard to leg for boundaries. With Erin Burns also looking at ease against Kapp, whose second over cost 15, the Hurricanes’ four-over Powerplay looked productive, with 30 runs scored for the loss of just Pyke.Enter Sthalekar. She tossed her first ball up, enticing Knight to drive down the ground, and the bowler dove to her right to take a fine catch. Her first two overs would cost just five runs to put the breaks on the Hurricanes, even if Amy Satterthwaite swiped twice to drive Lauren Smith for boundaries in the over between. Sthalekar was withdrawn from the attack and the batsmen settled again, with Burns late-cutting Perry beautifully. The Hurricanes looked well-placed on 68 for the loss of two wickets.Perry brought Sthalekar back to bowl her third and final over in the innings’ 11th, and the offspinner dismissed both set batsmen in three balls to derail the Hurricanes’ charge. First, Burns used her feet but slapped straight to cover. Then, off the last ball of her spell, Sthalekar gave a full ball plenty of flight and trapped Satterthwaite plumb in front.From there, Hurricanes’ innings never recovered, losing four more wickets, with Hayley Matthews inside edging Aley, Corinne Hall playing on to Kapp, and both Sasha Moloney and Julie Hunter run out going for the third in Perry’s final over. Indeed Sthalekar, surprisingly, provided the only blot on the Sixers’ superb finish, dropping Moloney at cover off Perry.Otherwise, this was a highly professional performance. Sixers were a team thrown together a matter of days before the tournament. They took time – six defeats – to find their feet. Now, however, they are within touching distance of completing a truly outstanding, unfathomable turnaround.

It’s about time that the other side of one of cricket’s most puzzling stories was placed on record. February 13 next year will mark 60 years since Andy Ganteaume joined the select group of players to score a century in his very first Test innings.That in itself is worthy of the highest commendation, whatever the circumstances in which those 112 runs were compiled in the second Test of the four-match series in 1948 against England at the Queen’s Park Oval.But as anyone who knows anything about the history of the game around here would be aware, Ganteaume claims a unique niche in the annals of the game, for that knock was to be his only Test innings, for reasons that are best explained by the man himself in his autobiography, My Story: The Other Side of the Coin, which was launched last Monday at the Oval Pavilion.Just for the record, it should be noted that Rodney Redmond scored 107 and 56 in his one and only Test for New Zealand against Pakistan at Auckland in 1973. However, the left-hander would surely have added to that notable debut but for problems he experienced wearing contact lenses on the subsequent tour of England that resulted in a loss of form. He was then out of the game for an entire season and never managed to score enough runs at domestic level to seriously address the selectors again.Ganteaume’s case, of course, is very, very different, as his omission and complete discarding until the 1957 tour of England (when he was 36 years old and well past his best) have much more to do with the politics of the day and the considerable influence of the white hierarchy in the colonial British West Indies.Heading into his 87th year, the former Maple and Trinidad and Tobago right-handed batsman and wicketkeeper is known for his cheery disposition at any local gathering, cricketing or otherwise. Yet no-one reading the book is left in any doubt as to his utter contempt for “the Establishment”, as he refers to them regularly in a manner that would not be out of place were it Luke Skywalker or Han Solo commenting on Darth Vader’s evil “Empire”.However, unlike those two heroes of the original Star Wars movie trilogy, Ganteaume was no dashing hero wielding the willow in a cavalier spirit. Indeed, his overall first-class record (averaging 34.81 in 50 first-class matches spanning 1941 to 1958) is nothing more than ordinary.And with the incomparable trio of Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott and Frank Worrell making their Test debuts in the same series, it is understandable if the erstwhile employee of the Wartime Control Board suffered by comparison.Yet none of that justifies the treatment meted out to him by the decision-makers of the day. Imagine the outrage now, especially in the player’s home territory, should a batsman be dispensed with after scoring a hundred on his Test debut. Yet, in keeping with the entrenched social order of the time, barely a dissenting word was uttered in his defence, certainly not often and vociferous enough or from an influential enough source as to make any difference.And this really is the most revealing aspect of Ganteaume’s musings, for it paints a picture of an orderly, disciplined society in which people of the wrong colour, class, status or attitude could be shoved to one side, especially if they were not blessed with such exceptional ability as to embarrass the overlords into recognising them.While he goes to some lengths to rubbish the theory that he was dropped for slow scoring (112 runs in four-and-a-half hours), the reality is that only those who chose to be conveniently deaf, dumb and blind would have even entertained such a notion.Yet the fact that he devotes so much time to give his perspective on the most critical period of his sporting life suggests that behind the ever-present smile is a deep sense of hurt at not only the blinding injustice but also what he maintains is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts by the likes of “Establishment” heavyweights Jeffrey Stollmeyer and Gerry Gomez.Ganteaume doesn’t put water in his mouth to systematically dismantle the aura that, for many, still surrounds the memories of his two compatriots. The irony is that the Mapleite, who played most of his cricket in the Queen’s Park Savannah, got his Test chance in the “Establishment” bastion (the Oval) courtesy of an injury to Stollmeyer, while it was Gomez, the captain for the match, whose note to the two debutants (Ganteaume and Worrell) to press on with the scoring is used as evidence to support the claim that the opener’s apparently slow progress in the first innings cost the West Indies victory on a rain-affected final day.By waiting almost 60 years before deciding to give his side of the story, Ganteaume can be accused of besmirching the characters of those who are no longer around to defend themselves. Yet he takes in front by refuting that contention in his introduction, adding that he has actually restrained himself from spilling everything.In any event, he states that he has “no fear of successful contradiction”. No doubt, a few, upon reading a book that is more a documentary of life in colonial times than a literary masterpiece, will attempt to succeed where he expects them to fail.So long after his only Test innings, old Andy is still ready to face the music.

Regional cricket associations in Pakistan will finally be given the financial empowerment they have demanded for so long, as the new PCB administration slowly begins to unveil its vision for domestic cricket.Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, announced at a press conference in Karachi that gate money from international matches would go to the relevant association, marking a distinct shift in policy from his predecessors. “From now, including the last ODI between Pakistan and the West Indies at Karachi, all revenue gate money will go to the region,” revealed Ashraf.The revenue will be divided between the city hosting the match and the rest of the province. “For example, for the last Karachi ODI, 50% of the revenue will go to the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) immediately and the rest will go back to the province of Sindh and other districts like Larkhana and Hyderabad. Overall, 100% will go back to the region to develop the game further,” said Ashraf.Under the regime of Shaharyar Khan, regional associations had become increasingly marginalized. Revenues from international matches were distributed only through the board, the organization of international matches was left solely in the hands of the PCB with no involvement from the associations. Even in the selection of regional teams, for domestic tournaments, one PCB-appointed selector was always involved. It had been argued, with some justification, by the board, that regional associations were so torn by internal politics and even corruption that they were unable to function properly.But not all policies of the previous administration have been set aside. Ashraf also announced that welfare and pension funds for ex-cricketers, an idea first mooted earlier this year, has now been put into place. “The fund will help out hardship cases and medical emergencies in particular. All Test cricketers who retired before the Kerry Packer era in 1978 and are now sixty-plus years old, will be receiving a monthly pension,” said Ashraf.Under the plan, Test cricketers with over 20 appearances for their country will receive Rs 25,000 a month. Those who represented their country over ten times will receive Rs 20,000 a month while players with fewer than ten appearances will receive Rs 15,000 a month. The same amounts will be available to the families of cricketers who have passed away. The board is also considering setting up a pension scheme for current Test cricketers.

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, has said that the Pakistan Cricket Board had made the right decision in appointing Geoff Lawson as coach.”It is a positive decision and will help the players,” Malik was quoted in the newspaper . “As for Lawson’s expertise, I feel he can do a good job with both bowlers and the batsmen because the batsmen do not need basic level coaching and just need to hone their skills.”Talat Ali, the Pakistan team manager, also commended the decision and said that Lawson’s experience could benefit the team.Meanwhile, Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan captain, denounced the appointment. “The move to hire foreigners when you have better people here gives a wrong message to the youngsters that our elders are nothing and foreigners will be preferred for key posts over experts such as Hanif Mohammad, Intikhab Alam and many others,” Miandad told .Miandad, who has in the past spoken against the need for foreign coaches, also felt that the board had erred in their choice of a foreigner as coach. “Also, I believe the decision has not been taken on merit since Dav Whatmore has better international experience and has a definite edge since he has the experience of coaching Asian teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”Miandad said that many of Pakistan’s successes in the past had come under Pakistani coaches, while little had been achieved under foreign coaches.Lawson, however, said that he would like Miandad to be a member of his team. “I’d like to get Javed on board to be part of the coaching crew, to be part of the system and help out, because he was an outstanding player and a tough bloke as well,” he told the . “We could do with a few of those characteristics among the guys at the moment.”Intikhab Alam, a former captain and more importantly the manager-cum-coach of the 1992 World Cup-winning Pakistan side, aired similar views as Miandad. Speaking to , Alam said, “Whatmore had helped Sri Lanka to win World Cup in 1996 and he also showed fine progress with the Bangladesh team.” Talking about Lawson’s appointment to , Alam said, “I have nothing against him but he should be prepared for a lot of criticism and a hard time.”

Allan Donald, the former South Africa fast bowler, has expressed an interest in becoming Yorkshire’s new director of cricket, according to reports from South Africa.The club have suffered a calamitous winter with several administrative hiccups. The post was originally offered to Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, who accepted the role before pulling out at the eleventh hour. This effectively left the man he was to replace, David Byas, without a job; after mulling his options over Christmas, Byas retired earlier this week.Sources in South Africa, as revealed in this morning’s say Donald, 40, is interested in the position, although it is believed the club will still advertise the position in the national newspapers.”It’s flattering if someone like Allan Donald is interested in the job,” Stewart Regan, Yorkshire’s chief executive said, “and we are certainly interested in talking to as many people as possible, but we have not received an application from Allan and everything is still wide open in terms of the club filling this position.”The job is undeniably one of the most high-profile in cricket and it’s bound to attract some high-quality names” he said. “At the same time, I would stress to our supporters that we are still very much in the process of casting the net and that nothing whatsoever has yet been finalised.”Donald, who retired from cricket in 2002, has been linked to several managerial and coaching positions. He applied for the job of England’s bowling coach in 2006, when Troy Cooley returned to Australia, but withdrew his application when a development opportunity arose in his native South Africa. He now works for the country’s high performance department, as well as a commentator on South African television.Yorkshire will advertise the position in the national newspapers on Sunday.

Scorecard

Sri Lanka’s batsmen missed a crucial opportunity to adjust to the Queensland conditions ahead of next week’s Test and were knocked down on the first day of the tour game by Ashley Noffke. The tourists received an early taste of what the Gabba would be like next week and their top order failed to cope with the tricky bounce and early movement from an attack led by Noffke’s 5 for 36 and supported by Mitchell Johnson, Andy Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz.However, there was encouragement with the performance of the bowlers as they reduced Queensland to 4 for 60 when bad light stopped play 5.4 overs early. Lasith Malinga was a difficult prospect under dark clouds and he captured Jimmy Maher and Chris Simpson while Farveez Maharoof removed Ryan Broad and Andrew Symonds. Symonds’ Test warm-up ended on 22, an innings which included three consecutive boundaries off Malinga and finished with an edge to Prasanna Jayawardene.Jayawardene, the batsman-wicketkeeper who will play in Brisbane after Kumar Sangakkara’s hamstring injury, and Marvan Atapattu were the only members of the top seven who made an impression as the Sri Lankans reached 9 for 210 before declaring to allow their bowlers an opportunity in the sultry conditions. It was a worrying performance and the batsmen have only one more innings to fine tune for the first Test.Sanath Jayasuriya (0), Michael Vandort (4) and Mahela Jayawardene fell in the morning to Noffke and Chamara Silva (0) was run-out chasing an unnecessary second. While Jayasuriya dusted off with a century in the previous match in Adelaide, Jayawardene has looked unconvincing since arriving in Australia and picked up a second zero.Jayawardene lasted only six balls before Noffke had him lbw playing from the crease, which left the Sri Lankans at 3 for 14 after Jayasuriya pushed to gully and Vandort edged to first slip. Noffke was particularly impressive in his first spell, taking 3 for 7 off 11 overs, and he kick-started the opening session, which finished when Atapattu was out cutting on 48, leaving the Sri Lankans at 6 for 81.”It was a bit of hard work in the morning,” Atapattu said. “We were taken by surprise more than anything by the sideways movement. We expected the wicket to be harder and bouncier. But you shouldn’t have any doubts about our talent and ability going into a Test.”Noffke was again heavily involved after lunch, collecting Maharoof and Chaminda Vaas, who fell to a sharp caught-and-bowled, and he took his third five-wicket haul of a fine season to justify his elevation to the new ball ahead of Bichel and Kasprowicz. “It’s never been done before and it’s strange,” he said.”They’re two guys who I’ve learnt a lot from in the past, standing at mid-off and watching them. It’s a good learning experience and it’s just the evolution of cricket, we’re all going to retire or step down and let the younger guy through.”Fortunately for the Sri Lankans, Prasanna Jayawardene was able to push them towards respectability with the help of Maharoof (20) and Malinga Bandara, who struck eight fours and a six off Daniel Doran’s legspin in his 43. Jayawardene’s responsibilities have increased with Sangakkara’s injury and he showed his capabilities during his half-century. Like Atapattu, Jayawardene cut well and hit nine boundaries in his unbeaten 58, which came from 130 balls.

The International Cricket Council has said it will help to ensure that the South African duo, Nicky Boje and Herschelle Gibbs, are able to tour India in October without fear of arrest.Boje and Gibbs run the risk of being detained by Indian police over match-fixing allegations dating back to 2000, but Dave Richardson, head of the ICC’s cricket operations, said they would try to defuse the situation before the Champions Trophy tournament at the end of the year.”We can only facilitate the process,” said Richardson. “It is principally a problem of two individual players and they are obviously taking legal advice. But if we receive a request from the South African cricket board, we are willing to facilitate it.”Gibbs and Boje have not toured India since the scandal broke in 2000, because they have failed to obtain any assurance that they will not be detained for questioning.The former South Africa captain, Hansie Cronje, was implicated in the same scandal. He admitted involvement on his part and was served with a life ban before dying in a plane crash in 2002.The Champions Trophy will be held from October 7 to November 5 in Mumbai, Mohali, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

Paul ‘Sachin’ Harris
He’s tormented Pakistan enough with the ball, but it was now Paul Harris’ turn to do so with the bat. He arrived early this morning and took a crunching blow to the head to begin with. But the more he hung around, the better he got. Having survived a barrage of bouncers and frustrating Danish Kaneria with the sweep, he pulled out the day’s glory off Mohammad Asif: a drive on the up, straight enough past the stumps, elbow high, Sachin Tendulkar’s trademark stroke. It was, for Pakistan, the most dispiriting moment of the day.Are we in Johannesburg? – III
Perhaps learning from Pakistan’s mistakes earlier, Dale Steyn kept it full in his first over and Kamran Akmal duly played-and-missed on several occasions. However, reverting to the shorter length, Steyn was edged over the slips for a four, straight-driven for another, pulled past mid-on for a third, driven to cover for three and finally driven to the backward point boundary to end a 19-run over.Guard of honour
As Inzamam-ul-Haq strode out of ODIs in Jamaica, he was given a guard of honour by his team-mates. A repeat of that, with the South African team lining up near the pitch and welcoming the local hero as he ambled in at the fall of Akmal’s wicket, for what could very well be his last outing. As suggested by our very own Cricinfo journalist, it might well have been a tactic employed for a flow of emotions which, in turn, could lead to an early dismissal.Nel kneels to pray
Pakistan’s openers were tearing into South Africa’s attack, Andre Nel was tearing into Pakistan and something had to give. In the 14th over of the innings, Butt left a ball from Nel that angled in and missed the stumps by a few inches. Nel’s follow-through is one of cricket’s great sights; this time he curved round, off the pitch and knelt down cursing his luck. Anywhere else, that would’ve been that. In Pakistan, during Ramadan, and on a ground where Mohammad Yousuf first knelt down in a prayer of thanks (for his double century), the gesture was significant, as the crowd’s roars of approval proved.Rattled yet again
Younis Khan, with an aggressive century in his previous Test outing a few days ago, was welcomed by a loud Lahore crowd, hoping for a repeat of aggression right from the start. Clipping his second delivery to midwicket for three, Younis was on his way. Well, until a quick delivery, prompting a rash drive, sneaked in between bat and pad to peg back Younis’ off stump. A reckless shot to be dismissed cheaply again, this was the third time Younis had his stumps rattled in three consecutive innings.Marathon man
Pakistan are in the midst of a fitness makeover and Kamran Akmal appears to be one of the beneficiaries. He told David Dwyer, the new fitness trainer, that he felt the freshest he has ever been after keeping for 90 overs under the Karachi sun. He kept here for 125 overs before calmly trotting out to open Pakistan’s innings. A flurry of boundaries and a second half-century, off only 56 balls, suggests he wasn’t kidding about how fresh he feels. If only he could hold on to the catches.

Titans regained the top spot in the Standard Bank Cup after a win in a highscoring match against Warriors on a good batting strip at StGeorge’s Park, Port Elizabeth.Batting first the Warriors started off cautiously but at the fall of the first wicket Robin Peterson came to the crease and raced away to 90 off 82 balls. The third wicket also produced a partnership of 97 as Peterson and Arno Jacobs took control. Jacobs and Tyron Henderson then put on 42 in the final five overs for the Warriors to finish on 246 for 3.The Titans fired on all cylinders as the top four all scored half-centuries. Alviro Peterson and Goolam Bodi scored 51 each, Martin van Jaarsveld, the Man of the Match, scored 62 and Johan Myburgh finished on 56 not out as they passed the target with an over to spare.It was hard work for the bowlers, but that is how it should be for a limited overs match and credit must go to the ground staff for the preparation of a spectator pleasing pitch.Cape Cobras played themselves right out of the Standard Bank Cupsemi-finals after being blown away by the Lions at Newlands, Cape Town.Set a meagre target of 161 the Cobras were bowled out for 121 in what must rate as their worst performance of the season. A top score of 24 from Renier Munnik was all the Cobras could muster as Saurab Chatterjee picked up a career best of 4 for 27 in 6.3 overs.The Lions had also struggled to put an innings together with Matthew Harris propping up the middle of the innings scoring 56 and easily winning the Man-of-the-Match award. With Charl Willoughby taking 3 for 19 in his nine overs and the Lions reaching 160 for 9 in the 45 oversthe Cobras looked to be in with a chance of their first win of the season, but by handing the Lions the bonus point the Cobras now have no chance of reaching the semi-final stages.