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Scorecard
New Zealand topped the league phase of Emerging Players Tournament after beating India in a rain-curtailed contest at the Allan Border Field. The match was initially reduced to 31 overs, and finally to 20, and India fell short of New Zealand’s 116 by four runs.Both teams failed to build momentum during their innings with wickets falling frequently. India sent New Zealand in and struck immediately – Manpreet Gony dismissed Jesse Ryder for a duck. Martin Guptill added 34 with Peter Ingram for the second wicket, the highest partnership of New Zealand’s innings. Guptill was bowled by Dhawal Kulkarni for 24 and New Zealand lost seven wickets for 71 runs.Kulkarni had the best figures among India’s bowlers, taking 3 for 14. Ravindra Jadeja picked up 2 for 32 with his left-arm spin.India’s revised target under the Duckworth/Lewis method was a moderate one – 115 off 20 overs – but their chase started disastrously. Brent Arnel ripped through the top order, taking 3 for 7, and barring Shikhar Dhawan, none of the top six got into double figures. The chase was salvaged by Jadeja, who capped an all-round performance by scoring 42, and Pinal Shah who made 22. However, Jadeja was run out by Bradley Scott and the tail folded with the score on 110.New Zealand face the Australian Institute of Sports, who finished second in the league, in the final of the tournament on July 26. India will take on South Africa Emerging Players in the third-place play-off.
Scorecard
David Warner struck an unbeaten 119 to help secure Australia’s second spot in the league with a 32-run victory against South Africa in a rain-shortened match at the Albury Oval. He shared an opening partnership of 125 with Theo Doropoulos, who scored 65, and steered Australia towards a match-winning total of 208 in 25 overs.Rain delayed the start and reduced the match to a 36-overs-a-side contest. Australia raced to 115 after 15 overs before there was another interruption in play. On resumption the match was curtailed to 25 overs a side and once the Australian innings finished on 208, South Africa’s target was scaled up to 224 off 25 overs.South Africa’s chase never took off with wickets falling at a steady pace. Eight batsmen got into double figures but no one made a substantial score. Wicketkeeper Daryn Smit’s 33 at No. 8 was the highest score.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Sloppy batting by Northerns in their second innings on the third day of this vital Super Eight encounter saw the match swing towards Easterns, though the potential brittleness of their own batting means there are no guarantees on Sunday.By the close on Saturday, Northerns were 104 for seven in their second knock, a lead of just 141, with Allahudien Paleker on 10, made off 82 balls as he tried to hold the innings together, and Steve Elworthy on 14, including a six and a four.The continued contribution of the latter, who can destroy attacks when he’s in the mood, seems vital to Northerns’ prospects of fashioning a winning lead after only Martin van Jaarsveld (25) got beyond 20 on Saturday.The day had begun with Easterns opener Andre Seymore, unbeaten on 113 overnight, extending his tenure at the crease beyond eight hours as he made a superb 174, including 23 fours. Seymore was ably assisted by Ant Botha (33), with whom he shared a 64-run stand for the seventh wicket, and Albie Morkel, who made 15 out of a partnership of 31 for the eighth.Lanky schoolboy Brendan Reddy weighed in with 11 off 12 balls at number 11, before Seymore was last man out, leaving Easterns just 35 runs adrift of the Northerns first innings total of 415.Morkel (2/24), who was the best of the bowlers in a depleted Easterns attack, and Botha (2/12) continued to contribute as Easterns made rapid inroads into the home side’s batting line-up after a 25-run opening stand between first-innings centurion Jacques Rudolph, who made 18 before being first out, and Johan Myburgh, who fell two runs later for six.

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.

ScorecardIndia A squandered a solid start to hand the initiative to New Zealand A at the end of a rain-affected first day of the first unofficial Test against New Zealand A in Lincoln.India were sent into bat and started strongly through their openers Unmukt Chand and captain Abhinav Mukund. The duo put on 50 runs in 11 overs and added 87 runs for the first wicket before Mukund (42) was dismissed. Anustup Majumdar followed soon after but Chand held firm to carry India from 87 for 2 to 118 for 2. However Chand fell soon after reaching his half-century and New Zealand struck once again before bad light halted play to reduce India to 136 for 4. Only 36.4 overs had been bowled at that stage, but rain meant no further play was possible.