The national league continued and the weekend was not a happy one for Bulawayo as far as the results show.Macdonald Club visited Harare and went down to the ever-improving Takashinga team (formerly Winstonians) by 63 runs. Chasing 235, Mac Club could muster only 172 as their poor season form continues. National team player Tatenda Taibu scored a fluent 82 off 84 balls and certainly stood out as the player of the day.Former champions Old Hararians recorded their second win of the season when they beat Bulawayo Sports Club by four wickets. Former Academy player Clement Mahachi showed his batting capabilities at last with a well compiled century, hopefully a glimpse of what is to come as the season progresses.In the other local derby, and many of Bulawayo’s former players will remember it as such, Queens, who have not won a game this season, lost to BAC. Batting first, Queens scored 232 all out with young Strydom 59 and Townshend 42 the main contributors, while BAC reached their target losing only six wickets, their main scorers – and both national hockey players -being veteran `Porgie’ Williams and young Mike Mckillop with 71 and 58 respectively. It is hoped that Mckillop will be available this season as he will not have the hockey commitments he had last year. This fine young sportsman, from whom many youngsters would benefit if they tried to emulate his attitude towards sport, would strengthen the provincial side for the Logan Cup.Over the weekend, the selectors will be naming the teams to play in a two-day game to get down to naming the squad for Logan Cup in February next year. One player who will be missing, as he was last season, will be Henry Olonga, who has opted to play for the Harare side Takashinga and will no longer be eligible to play for Matabeleland.The Matabeleland pace attack is likely therefore to be built aroundStreak, Nkala, Mbangwa, Townshend and Mahachi. Gavin Wren, a former Under-19 player, is showing an interest in cricket again and could well force his way into contention.

Neil Johnson looks set finally to put pen to paper for Hampshire next week; as reported in ; and two more players are poised to join him.The Zimbabwean has been playing in South Africa for Western Province since the end of the English season but is now ready to return as the county’s overseas players in time for next season.Johnson had an outstanding year with the bat, topping the averages and becoming the only Hampshire player to pass the magical 1,000-run mark for the campaign, as well as taking 23 wickets.He could be joined by two as yet unnamed first division players who have held talks with director of cricket and coaching Tim Tremlett during the past few weeks.Although the club are keeping tight-lipped over the identities, one is a batsman and the other a bowler.Skipper Robin Smith remains convinced that should the signings come off he will have two world-class acquisitions to follow Johnson.He said; “Neil seems quite happy with everything and hopefully something will be sorted in the next two or three days.”He was superb in his first season with us and it would be a tremendous boost to have him back for another year as our overseas player.”We are also speaking to two very high-profile players and if they agree to the move I think they will be of huge benefit to the club.”If you want to be successful you have got to look at strengthening all the time. We want to continue to improve and get even better and these players fit the bill.”There are always going to be injuries and call-ups so you need to have the squad who will cope with that and still be able to get you the results on the field.”

Trevor Chappell was looking forward to honing the Bangladesh cricketers’ skills on pitches greener and better than their bare home strips, but Auckland will make him and his eager charges wait.The Bangladeshi players looked fresh and fit yesterday in the first training session of their New Zealand tour, but wet weather forced them into using the Eden Park indoor complex.The long-range weather forecast suggests more Auckland rain this week, so the tourists may be short of outdoor batting and bowling before they start their three-day match against the New Zealand District Association XI at Wanganui, starting on Friday.Chappell, their Australian-born coach, is looking forward to good, typically New Zealand conditions as valuable experience for his players.”They can expect some sideways movement of the ball, and grassy pitches in New Zealand, while the bounce may not be as much a problem in New Zealand as it might be in Australia or South Africa,” said Chappell.”These will be very different playing conditions compared with the slow, grassless pitches which they so often encounter at home.”Chappell said the National Stadium in Dhaka was the only real cricket ground in the country, and was in use virtually every day of the year, so there was not much life left in the match and practice facilities. He saw the use of New Zealand playing conditions as part of the long learning curve his Bangladeshi players must travel in their climb to Test match competitiveness.

After the glory days of the 1980’s, the West Indies performance in recentyears remains a cause for concern in world cricket. With world attentionfocussed on the politics of, and wrangles within, the game, the casualcricket fan could be forgiven for not noticing West Indies’ gradual decline.This was a year when the team bade farewell to old faces and were left tosearch desperately for new; where tentative hope ultimately ended in bitterdisappointment.Courtney Walsh and Brian Lara stole the individual honours. Despitecricket’s grounding as a team game, its obsession with statistics shows thepower and importance of the individual. Walsh, at his cunning best, managedto pick up his 500th Test wicket in Trinidad. Jacques Kallis was his unluckyvictim (a woeful leg before decision) as the great man took such an immenseachievement in his stride.Lara, who had threatened without fully delivering against Australia andSouth Africa, came alive in Sri Lanka. He hit three centuries, one of them adouble, but could not prevent West Indies crashing to an ignominious 3-0defeat. A collision with Marvyn Attapattu broke Lara’s elbow, putting himout of the game for at least six weeks.So much has changed in West Indies cricket since last year’s ill-fated tourto Australia. At the turn of the year, West Indies braced themselves foranother pummelling at the hands of a rampant Australia, looking to extendtheir Test record for consecutive wins.The New Year Test at Sydney saw West Indies fight hard. Wavell Hinds showeda willingness to attack the quicks, and Ramnaresh Sarwan came back to formwith a half-century. Despite this, West Indies were well beaten, withAustralia reaching a victory target of 173 comfortably despite early alarms.A lacklustre one-day series, where West Indies edged out Zimbabwe to makethe final, was brightened by Brian Lara. He may not have deserved hisman-of-the-series award, but did bat beautifully. His best knock, 116 in alosing cause, was brilliant. Carving the Australia attack to all parts,several times launching McGrath over cover, West Indies were denied thechance of an unlikely victory by rain. The final outcome saw Australianeeding only two finals to comprehensively take the Carlton Series.Such a woeful performance demanded swift action. The powers-that-be in WestIndies cricket did not shy away from controversy. Sherwin Campbell was leftout of the side to face South Africa, and Jimmy Adams was ousted from boththe captaincy and team.It was Carl Hooper who was chosen to succeed Adams. Hooper, who had enjoyeda two-year sabbatical from the national game, was not a popular choice. SirGary Sobers slammed the decision, which was altogether too much forcommentator Michael Holding. The former Test great refused to commentate onthe West Indies series with South Africa, dismissing the selectors as “a setof jokers.”Still, Hooper had been on top of his game in the Busta Cup, leading aconfident young Guyanan side. Certainly the West Indies performed betteragainst South Africa. Though the home side lost the series, they were atleast able to compete. Unfortunately, this was a fairly turgid series,played on lifeless pitches. No batsman on either side managed a strike-rateof 50 runs per 100 balls, and all too often one side or other relied ondefensive tactics.Despite this, the matches were closely fought, with the game going down tothe wire on several occasions. South Africa went one-up at Trinidad, a Testwhich will forever be remembered by Courtney Walsh, and could have pushedtheir advantage further in Barbados. Indeed, after collapsing to 82-7, itwas only Dinanath Ramnarine and Merv Dillon’s desperate time-wasting whichsaved the match.At Jamaica, where Courtney Walsh bowed out of the game, West Indies produceda fine performance. Led by Dillon and Walsh, the bowlers struck back afteranother batting failure. Ridley Jacobs – who had made his first century inTests earlier in the series – weighed in with 85 in the second innings tothe delight of a rapturous crowd. Walsh picked up three wickets in his lasthoorah, a just send-off for a true master.After a routine thrashing by the Proteas in the ODI’s, West Indies set offfor Southern Africa. They emerged as surprise winners of the Coca-Cola Cup.Despite losing twice to India in the group stage, West Indies’ victoriesover Zimbabwe ensured a passage to the final. They managed to reverse theirfortunes against India at the perfect time. A solid team performance tookWest Indies to 290-6 from their allocation, and Corey Collymore picked upfour wickets to stop an Indian charge.A pace attack of Reon King, the recalled Pedro Collins and Colin Stuart area long way from the great West Indian pacemen. They were too good forZimbabwe though, as West Indies cruised to a first Test victory.Though the second match was drawn, there was hope for the West Indies.Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were in the runs. Along withMarlon Samuels, who was a steady rather than spectacular performer on tour,the West Indies have a number of talented young players who must be helpedto achieve. Hooper’s quick-fire 149 at Bulawayo was a trip back in time.West Indies left Zimbabwe happy, and were further buoyed by a predictableODI clean sweep in Kenya.On then to Asia, where Sri Lanka promised to give Hooper’s men a muchtougher time. Brian Lara was back after an injury worry, having discussedhis batting with Gary Sobers. Criminally, West Indies fans were not able towatch the series, and Lara’s magnificent return to form, because of disputesover TV rights. Constantly we are told that the Caribbean is becoming moreinfluenced by American sports. One has to ask how the next Ambrose or Walshwill chose cricket over basketball if they don’t have the chance to watchthe former and are saturated by the latter.Apart from Lara’s brilliance, this was a series perhaps best left unseenfrom a WIndies point of view. Murali was irresistible, picking up 11 wicketsat Galle, and ten at Kandy. Whilst Lara was prepared to attack, the otherbatsmen pushed and prodded, a recipe for disaster against the best spinnerin the world. Lara’s run of scores – 178, 40, 74, 45, 221, 130 – could dolittle so long as the lower middle order batted so feebly. Sri Lanka tookthe series 3-0, also winning the triangular tournament with relative ease,and West Indies were left with much thinking to do.The talent in the West Indies batting is enormous, a simple fact which cannot be questioned. The bowling gives more cause for concern. For severalyears Merv Dillon and Reon King (amongst others) have been able to hidebehind Walsh and Ambrose. No more. Now they must make their own way in thegame.West Indies must move quickly to arrest their decline. It truly is importantfor world cricket that West Indies are strong. They are 6th in the ICC TestChampionship table, and desperately need a series win when India tour.Before that, they will travel to Pakistan. Pakistan have not fared well athome recently, and West Indies will look to reverse the 3-0 defeat imposedon them last time they visited.

Delhi failed to gain the first-innings lead despite a double hundred from opener Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir made 214 before being run-out by a substitute. Railways reached 27 for one before stumps were drawn at the Karnail Singh Stadium, Delhi.Earlier, Delhi, who resumed at 262 for three, had to suffer the mortification seeinf her bastmen make a beeline for the pavilion. Only with the arrival of No. 10 Ashish Nehra did Gambhir find a partner who was willing to give him worthwhile company. The two put on 50 runs before Gambhir’s long vigil ended. Nehra went on to make 25 before becoming the last man to be dismissed. Railways bowlers Harvinder Singh and Murali Kartik, who claimed three wickets each, played a big role in helping their team secure the vital 102-run lead. With just a day’s play remaining, Railways are well on their way to the Ranji quarter-final.

Western Province continued to dominate on the third day without being ableto turn the knife as Eastern Province came within 100 runs of the hometeam’s score before declaring with one wicket standing. By the close, thehosts had stretched their lead to 150 with nine wickets in hand.Resuming at 197 for 3, debutant Homani continued to impress beforeeventually falling to Harris’s arm ball. Callaghan scored an attracttive 72before being well caught by Duminy, and after some dogged lower orderbatting, Kemp hit an aggressive half-century before Bradfield declared.Munnik, the breakthrough bowler the previous evening, went for 25 in a twoover burst, but it was the spinners who eventually came to the party. Harrisfinished with 3 for 131 in 49 overs, and Adams produced some more controlledbowling to take 2 for 77.Left 15 overs before close of play, Gibbs played some attractive shotsbefore being run out attempting a risky single. After that, Kirsten andTrott saw out time with no further loss.

New Zealand Cricket boss Martin Snedden has been delighted with the way the ICC Under-19 World Cup has worked out.It is the first big tournament run since he became chief executive of NZC last year, although staff members were involved in the running of the CricInfo Women’s World Cup in 2000.”It has been terrific. All the feedback has been great and the organisation has been spot on.”I know the ICC representatives here have been over the moon about the efficiency of the operation.”Tim Murdoch and Catherine Campbell have gone a great job of organisation while Karl Johnson and his team have done an amazing job on the grounds at Lincoln for the tournament.”And reports from Auckland and Dunedin where preliminary rounds were played have also been terrific.”It has just gone perfectly, touch wood. It has exceeded my expectations. I knew our people were good, but I am very pleased with how this has gone,” he said.All it needs now is for fine weather for the last three days of the event, tomorrow, Friday for the Plate Championship final and Saturday for the World Cup final.The High Performance Centre which includes New Zealand’s cricket academy has stood up well under the pressures and scrutinies of overseas teams.”It is an excellent facility,” Snedden said.”We are under-taking a major review of it over the next few months. It has been going for a five-year period and we want to see what we can do better,” he said.

New Zealand’s match-winner in the National Bank Series decider in Dunedin last night, Nathan Astle won due recognition for his feats from the English press today.Astle’s career-best innings 122 not out was sufficient to guide New Zealand home to take the series 3-2 and to stop in the water England’s quiet development towards next year’s World Cup.Not only did Astle bat the side home, Chris Cairns and Daryl Tuffey bowled too well for England and they were backed by a fielding performance that rarely wavered throughout the five-game series for New Zealand.Man for man, New Zealand proved the better team.The Guardian: “As New Zealand chased a moderate 219, Astle pulverised the new ball, collected his thoughts in mid-innings and then belted his way to the close. In all there were five sixes and a dozen boundaries in 150 balls.”England had their chances against him. When only 15, he drove Matthew Hoggard low to Nick Knight at shortish extra-cover, but Knight would have trouble catching rabies from a mad dog at the moment. And in the following over he would have been out by yards had Owais Shah hit the stumps at the bowler’s end. But England do not hit the stumps these days; New Zealand did so three times in as many attempts with the match not half an hour old.”England played into Astle’s hands. His attacking game is based on vicious cutting and slashing, in the manner of the great New Zealander Glenn Turner. He drives rarely, and then usually from down the pitch, miles into the air. By the end of his innings he was seeing the ball as big and clear as the full moon that rose over the stands.”Only when (Andrew) Flintoff removed the other opener Chris Nevin and then Craig White got rid of Brendon McCullum and Stephen Fleming in quick succession did England haul themselves back into the game. Astle then lost the strike for a while and was forced to watch Craig McMillan struggling for form.”The Independent: “In the end it was a match too far. The trouble with playing catch-up cricket, as England have done for most of the winter, is that it catches up with you. Having come from 3-1 down in India to draw 3-3, they had managed to pull level 2-2 with New Zealand after trailing 2-0. It was a compelling effort, which did everything to enliven a one-day series in which ball usually had the edge over bat, but Frank Sinatra’s world record for comebacks remains intact.”The home side deservedly won the decisive match of the series by five wickets with seven balls to spare when Nathan Astle struck a full toss for his fifth six in a domineering innings of 122 not out. It was Astle’s 12th one-day century, the highest of his career, the first by any player in this rubber, and eventually irresistible.”While Astle was there, the Kiwis were always going to win. If England could have prised him out they might have nosed home. The chief virtue of this side is that they do not know when they are beaten, otherwise they might have suffered some frightful hammerings. There was an extremely hard chance to short cover just before Astle moved rapidly through the gears and another difficult caught-and-bowled chance towards the end. To win tight matches, and this one was tight in the sense that it was the final, you have to take tight catches.”The Times: “Nathan may be a familiar Old Testament figure, but New Zealand’s most famous batsman of that name tends rather to defy biblical wisdom. Nathan Astle beat England largely off his own bat in the fifth and deciding game of the one-day series yesterday, emphasising in the process that New Zealand are still the better side, yet he remains a prophet without honour except in his own country.”That is to stretch a point, perhaps, but certainly this small, strong, resourceful all-rounder is undervalued beyond the North and South Islands. Few outside New Zealand would place him high among the stars of the international game and even the statistical wizards who produce the PricewaterhouseCoopers ratings place him, after his innings of 122 not out, just outside the top ten.”The fact is that, when he scored his twelfth one-day hundred in his 150th international match for his country, he drew level with Gary Kirsten, of South Africa, and now lies behind only six other batsmen in the world in this table of achievement.”Kirsten has played in 20 more games and those above them on the list of century-makers – Sachin Tendulkar, Saeed Anwar, Sourav Ganguly, Mark Waugh, Desmond Haynes and Brian Lara – have played even more.”Only Lara does not regularly open the batting in one-day cricket. It is the best place to bat, without doubt, especially when a player combines a good technique with a certain weight of stroke, as Astle does. He hit five sixes yesterday, five more than England could manage between them, on a firm if not especially fast pitch and another ground with invitingly small boundaries.”The Telegraph: “Big match performances from the Black Caps’ two classiest acts, Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns, condemned England to a 3-2 defeat in their one-day series, and left them with five wins and six losses since landing in India in January.”But this tour was never about results as much as team evolution, which took another step forward last night. Replacing the injured Michael Vaughan at No 5, Owais Shah scored his second half-century in nine one-day internationals.”After Paul Collingwood’s four for 38 at Napier, and Vaughan’s majestic 59 in Auckland, Shah’s innings extended a run of eye-catching form among the junior players. “All I’m worried about is trying to make us a better team, and I think we are going in the right direction,” said team captain Nasser Hussain afterwards.”Hussain won a good toss, and elected to bat, but England were always short of the big individual score they needed to reach a par total of 250. Five an over has been the gold standard in New Zealand – anything else left the bowlers too much to do.”Though Marcus Trescothick produced his second-longest innings of the series, England’s explosive opener had faced only 11 balls when he sliced a drive to backward point. Half-an-hour later, Nick Knight fell in exactly the same fashion (c Harris b Tuffey), and when Graham Thorpe played around a straight ball, the tourists had lost their three left-handed bankers for only 62 runs.”The Sun: “This time, Andrew Flintoff held his head in his hands after a final over which brought only pain and punishment.”Flintoff was hoisted for two sixes by century-maker Nathan Astle as England were condemned to defeat in the one-day series.”Astle’s assault in the 49th and, as it turned out, last over clinched New Zealand’s victory by five wickets – and the fluctuating series 3-2.”It meant England ended their congested winter of limited-overs cricket with a 5-0 win over Zimbabwe, a 3-3 draw with India and now this loss to the Kiwis.”What a contrast for Flintoff from his last over of the series in India 23 days previously when he tore off his shirt and whirled it above his head.”Then, the Lancashire all-rounder restricted India to five runs, took a wicket and helped England to a memorable five-run victory.”It would be wrong to heap blame on Flintoff. The reason England lost was that their batsmen failed to muster any more than 218-8 on a decent pitch.”England captain Nasser Hussain and Owais Shah, back in for the injured Michael Vaughan, both made half-centuries but England’s innings never gained sufficient momentum.”

SYDNEY, Jan 4 AAP – Australian paceman Brett Lee claimed his 100th Test wicket to dent England’s second innings at the fifth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.But by tea on day three, the tourists had recovered to 1-92, leading Australia by 91 runs, thanks to an unbeaten 47 to Michael Vaughan.Fellow opener Marcus Trescothick was the man out, bowled by Lee in the sixth over of the innings for 22.First innings centurion Mark Butcher was the other not out batsman at the tea break with 19.Steve Waugh could not manage to add to his stunning century of yesterday but Adam Gilchrist took up the challenge as Australia nosed ahead of England’s first innings total.The home side was bowled out for 363 shortly after lunch, just one run ahead of the tourists’ first innings total.Gilchrist top scored with 133 off just 121 balls before being caught behind by Alec Stewart off the bowling of Steve Harmison in the second over after the lunch break.Waugh, who resumed on 102 after hitting a four off the last ball yesterday to equal Sir Donald Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries, was out on the fifth ball he faced this morning, caught at second slip by Butcher off the bowling of Matthew Hoggard in the second over of the day.Hoggard struck again when he had Andy Bichel caught by John Crawley for four and, with his next ball, had Lee caught by Stewart.Jason Gillespie survived the next delivery to deny Hoggard the hat-trick.Gillespie remained the not out batsman, hitting two fours and a six on his way to 31 and sharing an 82-run partnership with Gilchrist.Stuart MacGill was the last man out when he was caught by Nasser Hussain off the bowling of Hoggard for one.Hoggard claimed 4-92 for England while Andrew Caddick and Steve Harmison took three wickets each.

PRETORIA – Jimmy Maher and Ian Harvey seem certain to lose their placesin the Australian team for Saturday’s World Cup match against India.Darren Lehmann was due to return from suspension and Michael Bevan frominjury for the game at SuperSport Park, Centurion, meaning two playersfrom Australia’s comprehensive 82-run win over Pakistan during the weekwould be unlucky omissions.Allrounder Harvey and reserve batsmen Maher were most likely to go.Their only reprieve could be if Bevan’s torn groin muscle had not mendedproperly, but all indications were he would play.”The way we played the first game was fantastic so I’ve just got to hopeI get selected,” said Lehmann.”It’s good to be back and available for selection.”I hope I play and play well.”Michael trained today and got through okay so I’m presuming he’ll beokay as well.”Lehmann missed Australia’s last five matches because of a suspension hereceived for making a racist comment after his dismissal in a gameagainst Sri Lanka in Brisbane last month.Bevan suffered a torn groin muscle less than a week before the squadleft for South Africa.The one certainty to come from the match against Pakistan was thatAndrew Symonds, who made 143 not out from 125 balls, was now anautomatic selection.”You can’t drop a bloke who made 140 – that would be a brave move,” saidLehmann.”That could be the turning point in his career and we all hope it is.”Australia was due to hold a team meeting at 9am Friday (6pm AEDT) withthe side to be announced about 30 minutes later.