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It took 13 balls on the final morning of this Test for Nasser Hussain to reach his twelfth Test century, his fifth as England captain and his fourth against India as he led England’s resistance at Headingley. However, once he was out for 110, that resistance crumbled and India swept to a convincing win by an innings and 46 runs to level the series with one match to play.Hussain started on his way by driving the fifth ball of the day handsomely through the covers for four. He pulled a thunderous four to bring up the century partnership with Alec Stewart, and then nudged a two square on the leg side to reach a hundred off 184 balls with one six and 16 boundaries.At the other end, Stewart was looking far less certain, playing and missing and generally failing to locate the middle of the bat, but hanging on resolutely. As so often happens when one batsman is struggling, it is the other who falls first. Anil Kumble came on from the football stand end and, with his sixth ball, had Hussain pushing forward and edging to bat/pad where Virender Sehwag swooped for a very good one-handed catch.Stewart took a single off the second ball of Zaheer Khan’s next over, new batsman Andrew Flintoff got a no ball first up before edging the next to Rahul Dravid at slip. It was his fourth Test innings on this ground and his fourth nought. He has survived for a grand total of 11 balls.Stewart had faced 135 in this innings alone when Kumble spun one past his forward defensive push and the ball was edged to Dravid at slip. Stewart was out for 47, and England had lost three wickets for two runs in ten balls.Ashley Giles and Alex Tudor made a decent fist of defiance for nine overs and had even played some cultured strokes when self-inflicted disaster struck. Tudor pushed a ball from Harbhajan Singh just to Sourav Ganguly’s left at mid-on. For some reason known only to Giles himself and one that he will always regret, he set off for a single. Realising that Tudor was not interested, his attempt to turn and regain his ground was totally inadequate.Tudor himself followed eight runs later when he was taken at bat/pad by Sehwag, before Andrew Caddick edged Kumble to gully where Ganguly took the catch and India had completed their victory in only 153 balls on the final morning and, once Hussain had gone, only 78 minutes passed before the match was over and India were heading to The Oval at one-all in the series and their spirits sky high.

On the back of their impressive six wicket victory over Hampshire at the County ground today in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, there was even more good news for Ian Blackwell and Matt Bulbeck, who have both been named in the short list of twenty for this coming winter’s Academy trip to Australia.Chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "This has been a very good day for Somerset, who have been further buoyed up by the news that Ian Blackwell and Matt Bulbeck have both been short listed for the English Academy to be held in Australia this coming winter."Twenty four year old Ian Blackwell, joined the Cidermen from Derbyshire for the 2000 season, and last year enjoyed his best ever season. During the winter he represented England in the Hong Kong Sixes, and earlier this season scored an impressive century against Yorkshire that was watched by England boss Duncan Fletcher.For twenty two year old Matt Bulbeck this will be very welcome recognition that he is now fully fit and back to the level of performance that he had reached before he was forced to miss much of the last two seasons because of a back injury.Earlier this evening `Blackie’ told me: "Kevin Shine told me about it just after I returned back to the dressing room today. I am very, very pleased because it is the next step in my career that will hopefully go further. I hope now that I will get picked and then I impress them when I go out to Australia."

Those who followed the advice of my colleague, Matt Finnegan, prior to the First Test will be happy with England’s victory inside three days of actual play. England are now 6/5 favourites for a quick repeat and a fifth successive Test Series win.It is difficult to see the Pakistanis getting into the Second Test in Manchester. They were woefully under-prepared (and cold) at Lord’s. With the younger players inexperienced at playing on English tracks, Pakistan would perhaps have stood a better chance in a Three or Five Test Series.Back England to win the second test at 6/5 – after checking the weather forecast first.The draw is as short as 5/4 due to doubts about the weather. Old Trafford is one of the wettest grounds in the country (something that usually counts against backing Lancashire for the Championship), and only one one-day game has taken place there so far this summer.Pakistan are 7/2 to win – which would normally be an insult to some quality performers. Younis Khan might represent some value at 4/1 to be their first innings top scorer. For England, Michael Vaughan is in the form of his life, and is priced at 5-1 to be top scorer in England’s first innings.Looking further aheadThe long-awaited Ashes Series draws ever nearer. Let’s hope poor weather doesn’t scupper a contest that could define this English summer.England have real momentum going into the Ashes – and can be backed to hold the mighty Australians 2-2 in the series – priced at 6/1.

Victoria led Western Australia by 135 runs on the first innings in their drawn two-day match in Perth.Victoria batted on to be 68/1 when stumps were drawn.Chris Rogers began the day briskly, but it was Craig Simmons who was the onlywicket to fall, cutting William Carr into the gully and being caught there byHodge for eight (24 balls). Western Australian were 24/1.At the first session drinks break, with the cloud cover increasing andthe chill factor getting decidedly Arctic, Western Australia were 34/1with Rogers brightly up to 23 (43) and anuntroubled Geoff Cullen three (26) after 16 overs.Shane Harwood, bowling from the golf club end, was unlucky not to have GeoffCullen caught on four at second slip by Matthew Elliott in the 21st over. Afterthat good luck Cullen started to find the boundary, so that by lunchWestern Australia had progressed to 87/1 from 31 overs with Rogers 53 (91) and Cullen 25 (61).Attempting a sweep toward fine-leg, Cullen 25 (65) was judged outleg before wicket to the bowling of Cameron White and Western Australia hadlost their second wicket for 90 in the third over after lunch.Six balls later, Carr hit the pad of Rogers 56 (105) before Rogerscould hit the ball with his bat and he too was out leg before wicket.In the 35th over Western Australia had been setback to tune of 94/3 with two new batsmen at the crease.The second session drinks break arrived with WA consolidating their fourth-wicket partnership of Brad Hogg 13 (32) and Shaun Marsh 20 (53) andthe total had slowly risen to three wickets for 128 runs after 48 overs.Brad Hogg, who had been supporting his Willetton team-mate Marsh with sporadic flashes of aggression, fell when bowled by Matthew Inness for 29 (79) in the shaddows of the tea break.Kade Harvey edged his second ball faced from Inness to the ‘keeper Darren Berrywithout scoring. The umpires called the tea break at that stage withWA 5/162 with Marsh on 38 (90).A post-tea collapse saw WA back in the field with 30 overs to play,and falling well short of the target with just 174 on the board.Adam Voges gave Elliott a catch in the slips off the bowling of Innessafter scoring two (14). Marsh was bowled by Hodge after a solid inningsof 40 (104). Ryan Campbell two (4) went out slog-sweeping Hodge, after actually top-edging high in the air to leg gully where the square leg fielder, Inness, ran in to accept an easy one, giving Hodge his second wicket.Matthew Nicholson failed to score off eight balls when he played the ball backonto the leg stump to be bowled by Inness. And Inness cleaned up theinnings with Sean Cary six (8) caught cutting by Hodge.Victoria had 30 overs to play before stumps in this two-day practicematch with 135 runs lead.Campbell did not take the field after he developed swelling in hisleft knee – an old injury on which he had surgery during the winterbreak of 2001. Rogers took over the post of ‘keeper and Hogg tookover the captaincy role.Nicholson snared the wicket of Elliott when the Victorian captainedged to the stand-in ‘keeper Rogers after compiling 37 runs (63) withVictoria one for 56 in the 19th over.

Canterbury were put through their paces today at Jade Stadium in fitness tests, in one of the few summer-like days of the season to date.A full programme over the next fortnight has been set up for the under-performing side of the last couple of seasons, and with the prospect of having international players available for the start of the summer, and perhaps later, coach Michael Sharpe is keen to have the side hitting the State Championship running and ready to take every opportunity they can.Early points may well be vital with so much international cricket on later in the summer.After their full training session today, the players were being given tomorrow off as it is a public holiday in Canterbury. They will have club cricket on Saturday and then a two-day trial match at Hagley Park on Sunday and Monday.Tuesday has been set aside for pool rehabilitation and peripheral activities with sports psychology and nutrition on the agenda.The selectors are looking to name their team on November 22.Sharpe said there is good all-round strength in the region this year and after the good first seasons last year for Wade Cornelius, Michael Papps, Shanan Stewart and Peter Fulton, he is looking for them to build on that and to benefit from having the international players for the first two matches of the year.”They always add something to the team and it is good for the young players to rub shoulders with them,” Sharpe said.”It is very, very good to have them for some of our play and when they move into the internationals it gives others chances.”The recent good form shown by Canterbury sides in the national age-group competitions was starting to bear fruit by strengthening up the next tier of the game.Players had enjoyed a lot of club cricket on grass so far this summer, especially when compared to other regions and it was a case of everyone getting into the groove and going forward together he said.

Max cricket still has a role to play in New Zealand’s cricket structure.That’s the view of New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden, who made the comment when releasing the international itinerary for next summer today.India’s tour opener will be a Max international at a venue still to be decided.A pre-season Max event would also be part of the domestic programme when it is announced, he said.International cricket was still assessing a third level of the game to fit with modern lifestyles.”We need a short version which can be watched in a short period of time.”There is a market for it, the ratings are good. The value of the game is not necessarily at first-class level or international level. It is at the participation level,” Snedden said.It wasn’t traditional cricket but it was part of a wider range of the cricket product.”Different people have different tastes and different time spans to watch cricket,” he said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was left in a catch-22 situation as the team’s consistent poor performance has opened up a debate and has led to severe public outcry.The PCB chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia summoned his cabinet in Rawalpindi Saturday morning for an emergency meeting “to analyze the recent performance of the team and management”.The meeting will be attended by chairman of selectors Wasim Bari, general manager cricket operations Zakir Khan and director Chisty Mujahid.The pundits of the game were anticipating sweeping changes and their predictions were being vehemently supported by the cricket crazy followers.A survey conducted revealed that nearly 84 per cent of the cricket enthusiasts wanted the team management and the top notches to be fired. However, 11 per cent demanded the sacking of the team management and retaining the side while the rest were not bothered.The initial feedback from the PCB quarters was that changes would be made in the Pakistan team setup with the management and some players likely to get the axe. However, the changes at this time might prove disastrous as despite being all but eliminated from the ICC Champions Trophy, the team is still on tour andunlikely to return.”The Pakistan team will remain the guest of the ICC until Sept 24 because it is committed to attend several official functions. And with the first Test against Australia beginning from Oct 3, there is a possibility that the team might not return to Pakistan at all,” Chisty Mujahid said from Lahore.In this background, it would be unwise if the PCB goes for an overhaul and make the team management and senior boys face further humiliation by sacking them while they are on tour.Secondly, the PCB has not yet managed to get hold of a foreign coach but Chisty said he would be much better placed to answer this question only Saturday evening. He, nevertheless, maintained that the PCB had not contacted anyforeigners.Thirdly, skipper Waqar Younis was being tipped to be replaced as search for a scapegoat continues. But fact of the matter is that Waqar holds an excellent record as captain. He has an impressive 63.8% success rate in 47 one-day games while he has an 80% success rate in Tests.Even if the PCB is contemplating a change, there seems to be no available choice available, except recalling Moin Khan. But then recalling the wicketkeeper would mean dismissal of Rashid Latif who has done a brilliant job since his return last May.Nevertheless, the followers of the game were not in a compromising mood and have demanded that heads should roll.”If we have to lose by 224 runs, then by eight wickets and again by eight wickets, why play with aging and veteran cricketers. Why not inject new blood and lose,” argued 28-year-old Fawad Mustafa.Mustafa Kamal, a banker working in Kuwait, sent an email saying: “Our big guns are now working on ad hoc basis.”Another 23-year-old fan Nauman-ul-Haq slammedthe team saying: “If the cricketers have any grace left,they should start packing their bags and plan to do something else.”Khawaja Fariduddin, a cricket fanatic, believed it was a conspiracy against Waqar. He said he couldn’t understand why a winning team turned into the whipping boys, adding he was sensing something serious was boiling in the dressing room.If there was harsh criticism on the team, some took a more sympathetic course.”I believe, the PCB are to be blamed for the scenario because they made the players to compete in avoidable off-shore venues. Instead of curtailing their schedule, they made the players play all over the world,” Aftab Ahmad, 48-year-old engineer, said.”The boys are clearly drained, mentally and physically, and that’s showing in their performance. They need a well deserved rest so that they can recharge their batteries and get back to business,” Raheel Shamsi, an automobile engineer, observed.Fawad Lodhi, a merchant Navy officer, said: “I don’t think there is any need to press the panic button because when you play non-stop cricket, the performance of the team and the players is bound to slump and that’s what has happened to the Pakistan team.”Ali Ahmad, a businessman, noted: “The worst part was that all the players were out of form at the same time. But I still have confidence in these players and only minor problems need to be tackled instead of making sweeping changes.”

The news of Hansie Cronje’s death in a plane crash has saddened opponents and colleagues of the former South African captain.Cronje’s former South Africa team-mate Gary Kirsten said: “It’s a terrible shock, it’s a tragedy. He was a great friend of mine.”Hansie was a great leader. He was an inspiration to me when I first came into the national team and he gave me confidence. It was impossible not to respect him.Referring to Cronje’s ban from cricket, he added: “Obviously what happenedwith him was going to be tough for everyone to deal with, but I will rememberhim fondly.”Even when things turned bad for him with the scandal it didn’t change certain things, like the fact that he was a great cricketer, a great performer and a great on-field leader of his country.”Cronje’s first vice-captain on assuming the captaincy in 1995 was Craig Matthews, now an administrator at national level and marketing manager with Western Province.”It puts everything into perspective, doesn’t it? At times like this we can look around and ask, truly, how important was the match-fixing scandal?” he said.”Of course it damaged the game and it was wrong, but I’ll judge him by what he was to me – a mate and a great cricketer.”The words ‘match-fixing’ and ‘Hansie Cronje’ will always be associated and that’s understandable but he was about far more than that. He actually persuaded me that I was good enough to play international cricket and that changed my life.”The thing that gets to me more than just about anything is the pain and hurt that the Cronje family has had to endure over the last two years. Can any family be expected to go through that?” asked Matthews.Fast bowler Henry Williams, banned for six months for agreeing to take money from Cronje to underperform in a one-day international against India, was grateful that he had ‘made up’ with Cronje before his death.”He was the best ambassador for South Africa as a captain and a person. Despite what happened I still believe he was the best man we had,” said Williams.”I spoke to him a couple of times after the match-fixing incident and I said to him I forgive you. It happened and we can go on with our lives now.”Thank God we made up and forgave each other. I feel bad and sad about what’s happened but when it’s your time it’s your time.”Kepler Wessels, the only captain under whom Cronje served for the national side, felt Cronje was beginning to put his life back on course after two years of unhappiness.”I actually bumped into him last week for the first time in a long time and I gained a very clear impression of a man determined to create a new niche for himself in society,” said Wessels.”He knew that things obviously would not be the same with regards to cricket but he was building a new life outside the game and he came across as positive and determined.”As a captain I will never forget the things he brought to the team, most memorably his enthusiasm and his work ethic, and when he took over as a captain he continued those things.”If he had still been in charge of the national team today it would not be in the mess it currently is.”United Cricket Board president Percy Sonn said: “Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Hansie’s wife Bertha, his parents Ewie and San-Marie and the whole family. Hansie was an excellent cricketer and a very popular and successful captain, who led his team to some great achievements and who gave much to cricket in this country during his career.”UCB chief executive Gerald Majola added: “Hansie will be missed by his team-mates and management, as well as by cricket administrators and the South African public. We were all terribly sad to hear the news today.”The former national team convenor of selectors, Rushdi Magiet, was appalled by the tragedy.”It’s really shocking news,” he said. “We’re really terribly shocked here.Hansie was a fantastic leader and I’ve always had a really good relationshipwith him.”Since unity in 1991, I got to know him very well. I think he was one the best players South Africa have ever had and he was a terrific player of off-spin.”Bob Woolmer, South Africa’s coach when Cronje was captain, said: “I speak on behalf of myself and my family when I say I’m devastated at Hansie’s death. My condolences go out to his lovely wife and his whole family.”Words are never easy at this time. We were friends and colleagues, and as recently as March 10th we sat drinking wine together overlooking the mountains that have taken him from us. When I see them again I will remember that time.”He was the best captain I had the pleasure of working with. He was a real leader of men. They would have walked off Table Mountain for him. He was a man destined for greatness. I will miss him enormously.”In the last two years he found out who his true friends were. He has gone to a better place and I hope he does well in God’s cricket team. To all of us who knew him, this is a terrible day.”Barry Richards, one of South Africa’s great batsmen before their years ofisolation under the apartheid regime, said people should look beyond Cronje’swrong-doing and judge him on his impact on South African cricket as a whole.”He will obviously be remembered for all the wrong reasons,” admitted Richards. “But he made quite a contribution as a skipper and a player before allthat happened.”He got himself involved in a situation that he couldn’t get out of and if all this had not happened, Hansie would have been remembered as a great SouthAfrican captain.”England all-rounder Ian Botham, who played against Cronje in the 1992 World Cup, suggested people should remember him for positive reasons as well as the match-fixing scandal which brought him a life ban from professional cricket.”It’s a sad time. Sadly people will forget all the good things he did and remember him for all the wrong reasons,” said Botham, speaking on Sky Sports television.The England captain, Nasser Hussain said: “We were all shocked when we heard the news of Hansie’s death. As a cricketer, he was a fine player and a tough opponent.”A number of our players had either played under him or against him and he was a fine captain on the field. Our sympathies are with his family.”James Whitaker, who was captain of Leicestershire during Cronje’s season in English county cricket in 1995, echoed the sentiments.”He was a great example to other professionals at Leicestershire, he committed himself to the club both off the field and with his input on the field,” Whitaker said on the same television channel.”I hope he will be remembered for his inventiveness on the pitch and his cricket ability.”Leicestershire coach Jack Birkenshaw was shocked and distressed today atthe news of Cronje’s death. “It is just devastating. After all that has happened then there is this,” he said.Birkenshaw, who coached the former South African captain in domestic cricketat Orange Free State and was instrumental in bringing him to Leicester, added:”For me he is one of the best cricketers I have ever been associated with.”He did very well for us and he was a gent really. I have never known anyonework harder at his game. He was dedicated and he was a top bloke.”Cronje, who was 32, died on a plane that crashed in bad weather in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

Dissatisfied with information they received during the final stages of the decisive fifth Cable & Wireless One-Day International, New Zealand have filed a formal complaint to vent their feelings.The confusion surfaced over the number of overs fast bowler Paul Hitchcock had towards the end of the tense match on Sunday at the Arnos Vale Playing Field which West Indies won by four wickets off the final ball to clinch the series 3-1.The ‘Black Caps’ captain, Stephen Fleming, originally wanted Hitchcock to bowl the final over, but had to resort to Daryl Tuffey after it was belatedly discovered the count on Hitchcock’s tally of overs was not accurate.It has cost us the match and the series. Both umpires pretty much admitted that they made a mistake, a dejected Fleming said. The match referee agrees with me.According to Fleming, the on-field umpires told him Hitchcock had three overs remaining to complete his full quota of ten at the start of the 42nd over in which he struck a vital blow by removing West Indies skipper Carl Hooper.The New Zealand captain said the umpires told him about two or three overs later Hitchcock had only one over remaining.On at least four occasions, Fleming said he asked for a clarification on the number of overs bowled by Hitchcock and it became evident the information given by the official scorers and also posted on the scoreboard on the ground was not corresponding with information by scorers in the television and radio commentary booths.We had a meeting with the umpires in terms of our disgust at their performance. The match referee will deal with it accordingly and I think he shares the same view, Fleming said.The bottom-line is that it has hurt us and it has left more of a sad taste than what’s already there.Fleming said the defeat, the third for New Zealand in the five-match series in which the opening game was abandoned because of rain, had left them devastated.Amidst all the uncertainty, Fleming was asked if he considered stopping play to get the accurate position from the match referee.The umpires keep bowling lists, which they just tick off. It’s just a case of going up and getting that information, he saidThe information that we got was that Hitchcock had three (overs) to bowl, which was fine. He bowled his eighth – two to go – and then they came and said, no, he’s got one.Clarification came somewhere perhaps down the road that he only had one to go. You can’t argue with that on the spot.With Hitchcock not at New Zealand’s disposal, Fleming turned to Tuffey, a relatively inexperienced fast bowler who turned 24 last Tuesday.His control was sadly lacking and West Indies knocked off the 16 runs they needed from the final six balls.Hitchcock is the perfect finisher, but the information was such that we had to turn to Tuffey. He is the other man who is trained to do this job, Fleming said.We could have gone to Scottie Styris, but the medium-pacers we have found on these wickets are not ideal to finish the innings off.West Indies skipper Carl Hooper wasn’t too concerned over New Zealand’s problems.I suppose at the end of the day you can look back at a lot of `ifs’ and `buts’. Tuffey had to bowl the last over and Chanderpaul played well, Hooper said.He, however, recognises that scoreboards like the one at Arnos Vale can pose problems at times.It’s not an electronic scoreboard, so as a result, you probably might miss an over short from a bowler or something like that, he said.But, I think the way to do it is to keep in touch with the umpires just find out how many overs have gone, how many are left and which particular bowler. That is the way I do it.

The recent revelations of marijuana-use by five of South Africa’splayers should in no way diminish the success of their Caribbean trip.Captain Shaun Pollock said yesterday that it was an internal matterthat had not overshadowed his team’s capture of the Vivian Richardsand Cable & Wireless Trophies. It hasn’t tarnished the win. We’ve putit behind us, Pollock said.It was an in-house thing that happened and you’re going to have thosesort of things in teams. I think we have dealt with it properly andwe’re not really worried about it.Pollock was speaking a day after the United Cricket Board of SouthAfrica issued a statement in which it was revealed that HershelleGibbs, Paul Adams, Roger Telemachus, Andre Nel, Justin Kemp andphysiotherapist Craig Smith were fined 10 000 rand (BDS$2 500) andseverely reprimanded for smoking marijuana in a hotel room in Antiguaon April 10.It was just after South Africa had clinched the Test series againstthe West Indies.It’s something that we dealt with as a team a month ago, Pollock said.The actual fact that it came out wasn’t going to rock the side becausewe knew about it and we dealt with it. Just the fact that it was outback home, maybe there might be a few comments flying around, but theguys were motivated to come out and play well.He was making reference to their emphatic victory by 53 runs in thesixth One-Day International at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday.It was yet another typically clinical performance from the SouthAfricans, who lead the One-Day series 5-1 following their 2-1 Testseries triumph.It’s been a brilliant effort by the guys on the tour and that’s all wewere concentrating on to come here and win the One-Day series and theTest series, the South Africa captain said.That’s never been done before. I think we did it in good style andplayed some great cricket.