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Close England 445 and 0 for 1 (Vaughan 0*) lead South Africa 362 (McKenzie 90, Anderson 5-102) by 83 runs
Scorecard

Worth a shout: Andrew Flintoff roars with delight after trapping Mark Boucher lbw

Marcus Trescothick’s wicket to the final ball of the evening rounded off a fruitful day of fight, with a touch of finesse, for South Africa in the third npower Test at Trent Bridge. After a dramatic start by James Kirtley, who took two wickets in as many balls, South Africa were hauled right back in to the contest by some determined and, at times, dazzling batting from Neil McKenzie, Mark Boucher and Shaun Pollock.McKenzie and Boucher led the fightback for South Africa with an 129-run partnership, as England lost their way after a good morning in which they took three quick wickets. McKenzie was solid in defence and looked to get forward at every opportunity, stroking a host of superb cover-drives in his 11 boundaries. He and Boucher batted throughout the afternoon session and they passed the follow-on target with ease as the England bowlers couldn’t match their good early work. McKenzie played a cracking square cut off Steve Harmison and brought up his 11th Test fifty with a classical cover-drive two balls later.The new ball didn’t faze him either. He drove Harmison for another four to signal the hundred partnership. Boucher, meanwhile, was happy to play second fiddle to McKenzie as he quietly went about his business. It was the highest sixth-wicket stand for South Africa against England and it squashed England’s early spark and zest in the field as they, like the pitch, went strangely flat.Harmison missed the evening session with a thigh strain, but James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff did temporarily lift England’s spirits again after their wicketless afternoon. Anderson struck to give England, and himself, a boost when he ended McKenzie’s eye-catching innings. Anderson bowled a good length ball outside off which McKenzie drove at loosely and edged to Trescothick at first slip (261 for 6). It was uncharacteristic lapse of concentration from McKenzie who fell 10 runs short of what would have been a well-deserved hundred.Boucher continued to play cautiously until he was adjudged lbw by Daryl Harper. Flintoff nipped one back off the seam and hit Boucher on the back pad for a dogged and effective 48 (284 for 7).Cue Pollock. He strode out with a purpose and batted with one. He played his shots from the off, carting Anderson through the covers and spanking Flintoff past midwicket among his nine boundaries. He’s in good form and he played a crucial cameo for South Africa, guiding them under the 100-deficit mark and frustrating England’s progress.Pollock received handy support from the tail as well. Andrew Hall was beginning to fire until Anderson squeezed one through his defence for 15 (309 for 8). Paul Adams then hung around for a niggly 13 and put on 28 with Pollock before his stumps were shattered by an Anderson offcutter (337 for 9). Pollock was eventually out for 62 when he lofted Anderson (5 for 102) to Kirtley at mid-on, but those 62 runs could be vital come the end of the match.But don’t forget McKenzie. He may have a bad back, but he was the backbone of the innings and was their one shining light in their bleak morning, in which England made an explosive start. Kirtley took his first Test wicket, and his second the very next ball, as South Africa struggled to come to terms on a pitch of increasingly uneven bounce. Jacques Rudolph thick-edged an off-stump delivery to Alec Stewart for 15 (88 for 3). Boeta Dippenaar then fell to a big inducker that rapped him on the pads plumb in front of middle (88 for 4).Jacques Kallis was never comfortable and he played a miscalculated leave to Anderson as the ball crashed in to his off stump.South Africa were reeling at 132 for 5 at that stage, but McKenzie and Pollock battled hard to leave the match finely balanced. And this evening, South Africa will feel things have swung right back their way after Harper incorrectly adjudged that Trescothick gloved Pollock to Adams at short leg. It was the first ball of England’s second innings, and the last of an intriguing day’s play.Click here for the Wisden VerdictClick here for yesterday’s bulletin

Hampshire have arranged a week of pre-season friendly/trial matches starting next Monday 7th April with 3 days against Somerset, followed by 2 days v Surrey. All 5 days of cricket with be held at the Rose Bowl.Due to work on tarmacking at the Rose Bowl, any spectators coming to see these matches must be aware that parking is restricted, and that they must stay well away from the work site.

DURBAN, South Africa, March 15 AAP – Overlooking his own players, Ricky Ponting has rated Sachin Tendulkar the best batsmen of his generation as Australia and India head towards the World Cup final at Johannesburg on Sunday.The Australian captain is less certain about who’s the better allrounder out of Andrew Symonds and Ian Harvey.Placing Tendulkar higher on the pecking order than the likes of Matthew Hayden and the Waugh twins, Ponting admitted the diminutive 29-year-old from Bombay had the ability to win any match off his own bat, including the decider.”I’ve always thought he’s the best batsman I’ve seen or played against,” said Ponting.”Looking at the way he’s played of late I think he’s getting somewhere back to his best again.”We’re going to have to come up with some plans and bowl very well if we come across him to make sure he doesn’t get away.”As we’ve seen in the past, he’s actually won games against us single-handedly on occasions. We’re going to have to come up with some good plans if we play against them.”Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer at the Cup with 586 at an average of 65.11.His strike rate per 100 balls is 90.43.Australia’s best so far has been opener Adam Gilchrist with 329 runs at 41.12 and 102.81.Tendulkar’s overall one-day record is awesome: 312 matches for 12,132 runs at 44.43, with 34 centuries and 61 half-centuries.India has not been a one-man side, though, while suffering only one loss at the Cup – to Australia by nine wickets, back in early February.Captain Sourav Ganguly has made 330 runs and three seam bowlers have been a revelation.Left-armer Zaheer Khan and veteran Javagal Srinath have 15 wickets apiece, two more than Ashish Nehra.India’s weakness when the limited overs carnival began was supposed to be its bowling but that hasn’t turned out to be the case.”They do seem to be playing some pretty good cricket,” said Ponting.”Their bowlers are doing a fantastic job for them. Khan and Nehra are the standouts for them at the moment.”They’ve been taking early wickets for them and setting games up for them. The little bloke opening the batting is not doing a bad job for them, either.”We’re playing well, they’re playing well. We’ll see what happens in a few days’ time.”Australia has the tougher semifinal on paper against Sri Lanka at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth, on Tuesday before India takes on Kenya at Durban’s Kingsmead ground on Thursday.Meanwhile, Australia’s selection debate between Symonds and Harvey was no closer to being resolved after the five-wicket win over Kenya.Symonds made 33 not out, while Harvey put together 28 not out and 0-23 from seven tidy overs of medium pace.One of them will be dropped when Michael Bevan returns against Sri Lanka.”We’ll have to speak about that pretty intensely over the next couple of days,” said Ponting.”It has and will create a bit of a problem going into that next game.”Harvey has done nothing wrong with the ball and he batted well in this game.”Andrew Symonds has done nothing wrong with the bat.”It’s going to be a tough one.”Australia’s XI won’t be finalised until Tuesday morning.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has named a thirteen-man squad for the ING Cup clash against the Tasmanian Tigers to be played in Hobart on January 26.The team sees Darren Lehmann return to the captaincy and the inclusion of fast-bowler Jason Gillespie, who returns from injury.Gillespie’s selection is subject to a final fitness test.The game also sees the return of batting all-rounder Mark Higgs, in his first game since injuring his hip at Redbacks training last week.The Redbacks squad to play the Tigers is:

Darren Lehmann (c)
Greg Blewett (vc)
Nathan Adcock
Mark Cleary
Mark Cosgrove
David Fitzgerald
Jason Gillespie
Mark Harrity
Mark Higgs
Ben Johnson
Graham Manou
Paul Rofe
Shaun Tait

Selection in the provisional squad gives Shaun Tait the opportunity to make his one-day debut for South Australia.Providing Gillespie travels with the side, a thirteenth man will be named on the morning of the game.

XXXX Queensland Bulls squad member Brendan Nash will captain theQueensland Academy of Sport team that embarks on a mini-tour of NewZealand next week.Fellow Bulls squad members Matthew Anderson, Chris Hartley and ScottO’Leary will join Nash in the QAS team that will spend a week in NewZealand, playing a four-day match in Christchurch against the NZAcademy.Those four players, as well as Souths left-hander Lance Kahler, have allplayed first class cricket.QAS coach Richard Done said the match would continue an excellentlearning curve for many of the players.”The majority of the team have played in the tour games against NewZealand in the past fortnight where they have been opposed to some topclass international players,” he said.”Now they have the chance to experience different internationalconditions against another quality opponent. It is only a short tour butit will provide great opportunities for the QAS players who are thefuture of Queensland Cricket,” Done said.QAS touring squad to NZ from November 4-9: Brendan Nash (C), MatthewAnderson, Chris Hartley, Lance Kahler, Damien Mackenzie, Steve Magoffin,Scott O’Leary, Daniel Payne, Craig Philipson, Allan Rowe, Chris Simpson,Boyd Williams. Coach: Richard Done.

The Pakistan cricket selectors retained controversial fastbowler Shoaib Akhtar and recalled forgotten man Shadab Kabirin the 16-man squad for Bangladesh tour starting Jan 2.Shoaib has been named after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)rejected International Cricket Council’s offer to utilizethe services of West Indian Michael Holding.Shoaib, currently in Stage 2 after being reported twice thisyear, will be banned for a year if he gets on the wrong sideof the umpires and match referee again in Bangladesh.Shoaib is presently playing club cricket in Australia andhas been given a clean sheet by Western Australia Universitywhich also cleared Sri Lankan spinner Muthiah Muralitharan.The PCB has urged the ICC to consider Shoaib as a specialcase and constitute a medical board to examine the findingsof the Perth institution.The squad includes no surprises and all the players, more orless, select themselves.Shadab has earned the selectors nod after averaging 48.57 inthe Patron’s Trophy. He edges out fellow left-hander ImranFarhat who accumulated 733 runs and averaged 56.38.Shadab last played for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in 1996-97after making his debut on the 1996 tour to England withWasim Akram’s squad.Taufiq Umer, who slammed a century on debut againstBangladesh at Multan, was included in the side after hepassed a fitness test for a suspected injured knee.The selectors also decided to make three changes for theone-day squad.Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Azhar Mahmood will bolsterthe team for the shorter version. They will replace FaisalIqbal, Danish Kaneria and Mohammad Sami although Faisal mayfind himself a bit unlucky to be branded only a Test player.Faisal is an excellent fielder besides being an improvizer.He could have made a one-day player. With Saeed Anwar,Shadab and Taufiq picked as openers and Naved Latif alsoscoring a century at the top of the order, either of thefour could have been dropped to accommodate Faisal.On the domestic front, wrist spinner Mushtaq Ahmad (39wickets) and paceman Waqar Ahmad (51 wickets) and Abdur Rauf(50 wickets) might consider themselves unlucky not to earnplaces. But fact of the matter is that they are tied withDanish Kaneria and a battery of experienced fast bowlers.Danish captured 12 wickets against Bangladesh at Multanwhereas Wasim has 414 Test wickets, Waqar Younis is thecaptain and Sami and Shoaib are promising future quickies.Squad: Saeed Anwar, Taufiq Umar, Faisal Iqbal,Inzamamul Haq (vice-captain), Yousuf Youhana, Naved Latif,Younis Khan, Rashid Latif, Saqlain Mushtaq, Danish Kaneria,Waqar Younis (captain), Wasim Akram, Mohammad Sami, AbdurRazzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Shadab Kabir.Manager: Yawar Saeed.Coach: Mudassar Nazar.

In a match that was delayed by two hours due to wet conditions from overnight rains, Hrishikesh Kanitkar struck an unbeaten 79 to guide West Zone to a comfortable three-wicket win over East Zone at Delhi on Tuesday.When the match finally got under way, West Zone won the toss and opted to field first, hoping to use the conditions for some early swing and seam. Opener Debang Gandhi fell early, but a 97-run partnership between Rajiv Kumar and Pravanjan Mullick followed.Mullick got to 50 off 71 balls and promptly gave RF Morris a return catch to end his innings on that score. Rajiv Kumar brought up his 50 and did the same, falling on that very score.Thereafter it was all Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who hit a blazing 64 off just 30 balls before falling as the sixth wicket with the score on 200. Shukla hit nine fours and two sixes in his knock. West Zone did not take too much longer to mop up the tail, and East Zone were dismissed for 211 in 40 overs, 10 overs remaining unused.In such a situation, all West needed was one batsman to stand his ground and play a sensible innings. Vinod Kambli looked to be the one, but he made only 48 off 45 balls, with seven fours and one six, before falling to Utpal Chatterjee. West then found its responsible man in Kanitkar, whose 79 was a sedately paced knock featuring five fours and one six.West Zone brought up the target in only 38 overs, surviving an anxious situation of being 170/7 when Sairaj Bahutule fell.

Halfway down the pitch towards the right-hander, the delivery seemed innocuous. Delivered left-arm from round the wicket by Wasim Akram, it had the usual slithery speed, and was up there in length – an attempted yorker probably, but too full. It began to angle down the leg side, a low full-toss just ripe for Robert Croft, the England offspinner, to flick away to fine leg for an easy boundary. Croft planted his front foot and began the process of turning the ball away. He missed, the ball thudded into his pad, and Wasim roared his appeal. Negative, said the umpire, and we in the press box nodded knowingly: missing leg by miles.Then came the replay, in super slow motion, and it was so astounding it left mouths gaping. For in the last 10 feet or so, the ball ceased angling down the leg side and instead swung back the other way, eluding Croft’s bat by six inches. Unquestionably it would have hit middle stump, but it all happened so fast and late that it deceived the eye of everyone, not least the umpire. The single most astonishing delivery that I have witnessed failed to produce a wicket.For nigh on two decades, Wasim Akram has been a magician with the ball. Left-arm pace bowlers have been a rarity in the game, and good ones even more so: Alan Davidson, Garry Sobers, Bill Voce maybe. But none of them, not even Sobers, could manipulate the ball with the dexterity of Wasim. That ball to Croft may have been exceptional, but it would not have been unique in his career for it seemed he could do it all the time. One such, delivered in an adrenal lime-green fury under the lights in Melbourne, ripped past the outside edge of Allan Lamb’s bat and clipped his off stump – the defining moment, perhaps, of the 1992 World Cup final.This now is his World Cup swansong, for age catches all. It is time to go. Against Australia at the Wanderers in Pakistan’s 2003 World Cup opener, the flame briefly was rekindled as he sneaked an inswinger through the tentative first-ball prod of Damien Martyn, leaving himself on a hat-trick. But later, the instinct and skill that allowed him to spear his reverse-swung yorkers in deserted him. It was not, nor could we expect it to be, the Wasim of old.But he will leave a legacy after almost an entire year of his life playing one-day internationals. Through expedience, Pakistan pace bowlers redefined what was possible, and none more so than Wasim. The memory will linger, of the bright lights, garish uniforms, and Wasim in his pumped up pomp, gold chain swinging, pit-pattering his way to the crease and letting rip. Along with Joel Garner and Shane Warne he has set the benchmark for bowling in one-day cricket. I cannot help it: he remains, through all the allegations of match-fixing and ball tampering, my favourite cricketer. I named my first dog after him and believe me it doesn’t get higher than that.Wisden Asia Cricket

It has been a year now since John Wright took over as the Indiancricket coach, and this is as good a time as any to look back on whathas been an eventful year for Indian cricket. It would be worthwhileto examine Wright’s personal contribution to a rather dramatic phasein which the Indian team has had its fair share of ups and downs.It must be recalled that Wright took over the position at a verycritical juncture. Kapil Dev, his predecessor, resigned midway throughhis two-year term after playing a cat-and-mouse game with the Board ofControl for Cricket in India in the wake of the match-fixingallegations hurled at him. Secondly, it was not smooth sailing even asWright was appointed. No one doubted his credentials as a player,captain and coach, but criticism centered around whether a foreigncoach was the panacea to the ills plaguing the Indian team. Many feltthat there were enough former Indian players with the necessaryqualifications. Thirdly, Wright himself had to fend off thecandidatures of Greg Chappell and Geoff Marsh to get the job. But hedid have the backing of former Australian captain Bobby Simpson, whohad served in the capacity of advisor for some time, and Rahul Dravid,who already seen at close quarters Wright’s style of functioning whilefulfilling his contract with Kent last summer.

Wright’s professionalism was seen immediately in the use of thelatest computer technology to formulate crucial strategies. This wasan aspect that no Indian coach had covered. On landing in India, hewent straight to Bangalore to purchase the right software.

The victorious series against Zimbabwe last November was the firstwith Wright in charge. There was certainly no overnight transformationin Indian cricket, but, over the past year, there is little doubt thatthere has been a certain professionalism in the approach. Greateremphasis has been laid on matters of fielding and physical fitness,and, while he has also touched upon some of the basics, aspects likerunning between the wickets remain a problem. But he has definitelybeen responsible for making the players mentally tougher, not sparinganyone, and his frank appraisals have gone down well. His honesty ispatent, and his observations are analytical and to the point.At the time he took over, Wright said “discipline and team effort”were the two aspects on which he would concentrate. In an interview,he said, “I believe in discipline and team effort. Individualachievements are not all that important. I want all the 11 players inthe team to function as a unit.” It was just as well, for a commoncomplaint was that the Indians looked strong as individuals but weakas a team. He also made it clear that his main target was the WorldCup in South Africa. “I will be building up the team keeping in mindthe 2003 World Cup. I firmly believe that India has the talent tomatch any other side in international cricket,” he said.There was another positive aspect to Wright’s appointment. Boardcircles felt that he would not be biased towards any of the factionsthat normally exist in the Indian set-up. From this viewpoint, it hasbeen a healthy sign since the players have been encouraged to performbetter and not expect any favouritism whatsoever from the coach. Butthen, in all his roles, Wright has been a quiet achiever. Never onefor the grandiose stance or plans, his motto has been simple andstraightforward – knuckle down and do your job well.Wright’s professionalism was seen immediately in the use of the latestcomputer technology to formulate crucial strategies. This was anaspect that no Indian coach had covered. On landing in India, he wentstraight to Bangalore to purchase the right software. He also insistedthat instilling the pride of playing for the country would be thetopmost priority, a happy theory, for what is a coach if not amotivator?By having the knack of saying the right thing at the right time, therewere indications that he was the right man for Indian cricket. Overthe past year, he has developed a close rapport with the captain, theplayers and the physio. And, even if the results have not exactly beenspectacular, they have not been poor either. Far from it, in fact. Anybalance sheet that displays arguably the greatest series triumph athome has to have a healthy, if not opulent, overall look.Indian cricket followers have always been impatient. Expecting fastresults, we are too quick to hire and fire, when what is really neededis understanding, patience and perseverance. There are certaininherent weaknesses in Indian cricket that Wright is working on. Thesewill not go away overnight. He himself made it clear at the beginningof his tenure that he was building a team for the 2003 World Cup. Letus give him time till then.

Somerset Under 11’s and Under 13’s teams have both got off to a flying start this season.In the Four Counties Cricket Festival 2001 Somerset Under11’s were unbeaten in their four matches, and were the eventual winners of the tournament, which involved teams from Devon, Gwent and Cardiff and the Vales.On June 10th at Millfield Prep School they were victorious against Gewnt by 168 runs. Batting first Somerset amassed 238 for 7 dec off 45 overs,Jos Butler top scoring with 56, Jon Lodwick making 32 and Sam Dewes 31.In reply Gwent were dismissed for 70 , with Calum Haggett taking 2 wickets for 1 run, Nick Gibbens 2 for 2 and Dan Lazrides 1 for 1.On June 24th Somerset Under 11’s drew with Dorset at Canford School.Somerset scored 254 for 8 in 45 overs with Tom Vickery making 54, Nick Gibbens 43 and Jos Butler 35. In reply Dorset hung on for the draw scoring 97 for 8, with Jon Lodwick taking 3 for 11, and Jon Mould 3 for 24.On July 1st the Under 11’s beat Devon at West Buckland by 86 runs. Somerset were all out for 165, Sam Dewes top scoring with 46, James Kohn making 37 and Jos Butler 32. When Devon batted they were all out for 79, with Jon Lodwick taking 5 for 17, and Mick le Mare 3 for 23.On Sunday July 1st the Somerset Under 13’s were victorious in their opening match of the season.Batting first at Millfield , Gwent were all out for 94 in 37overs. In reply Somerset scored the required runs for the loss of one wicket in 18.2 overs, with James Fear ending 44 not out.