The Sri Lankans maintained their winning streak, when they brushedaside the fragile challenge from Nepal at Moratuwa on Thursday.Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first against a strong SriLankan bowling attack – a decision they were soon to regret. Shah andChaudhary made 20 runs each, but no one else made a sizablecontribution. Akhtar with 12 was the only other person to reach doubledigits. Not surprisingly, extras top scored with 21. Even lesssurprisingly, Nepal was bowled out for a paltry 89 in 34.2 overs.The Lankans have a good all round side, stacked with all rounders andutility cricketers. They lost just one wicket in knocking off therequired runs with over 30 overs to spare. Daniels with 44 not out wasonce again the batting star for Sri Lanka. Mubarak helped himself to31 runs and the game was easily won.Sri Lanka now march ahead without losing a single game in thetournament upto this point. If they keep up this form, they lookstrong contenders for the title.

beat Middlesex convincinglyHaving begun the season with high hopes after their overseas signing, thehighest paid player on the county circuit, Shane Warne, and acquiring theservices of Allan Mullally from Leicestershire, Hampshire would now have faced the possibility of ending the season with no significant achievement if they had made their exit from this quarter-final of the NatWest Trophy.Now having despatched Middlesex so convincingly, by seven wickets, they stand just one step away from a place in a showpiece final.The visitors looked in control of this match all the way through except,perhaps, for a brief moment when their second and third wickets fell in a space of eleven runs: even then they were nearly two-thirds of the way towards theirvictory target of 128.Top-scorer of their innings, John Stephenson, 35, had given them a solidenough foundation in a low scoring game, putting on fifty for the first wicket with Giles White who was dismissed for 18, followed by Warne, promoted up the order and responding with a quick twenty from 19 balls.After Keith Dutch, with his off-spin had taken his second wicket, that ofStephenson, Jason Laney and Will Kendall saw their side home, putting on forty in nine overs during their unbroken fourth wicket stand in an innings of only 34.5 overs.Hampshire will, no doubt, be more than a little concerned about the absence of Warne from the semi-final as the Australian leg-spinner returns home in afortnight owing to commitments with his national team.Hampshire look to NatWest Trophy semi-final for consolation for the seasonStruggling at the bottom of Division One in the county championship andoccupying only a second division position in the National League, Hampshiremust look to their semi-final as a vitally important fixture to have thepossibility of showing a trophy for their season’s work.Having been asked to bat first, Middlesex could have had very little excusefor an utterly inept batting, even allowing for the slowness of the pitchand the heavy overcast conditions.They would have been grateful to the lower order of their line-up whichprovided valuable contribution to the 127-run total ( in 44 overs ) as noless than 54 of those runs were accounted for by the last two wickets.Hosts struggle against accurate bowlingWith just three batsmen managing double figures, one of whom was a numberten, it gave a fair indication of Middlesex’s struggle against accuratebowling.Hampshire’s bowlers struck early and having got the stranglehold on theinnings, refused to loosen the grip. Dimitri Mascarenhas led the attackclaiming his first two wickets in successive overs.He hit Michael Roseberry’s leg stump in his third over and in the next one,with a slight change of pace, a slower ball, he had David Alleyne mis-timehis lofted drive to be caught at mid-off. It was two down for seventeen andthe plight continued.And worse was to comeMark Ramprakash was trapped leg-before-wicket with the total on 41 and a runlater Allan Mullally, coming in as second change, held a return catch todismiss Andrew Strauss for 24. But worse was to come for Middlesex withtheir fifth and sixth wickets falling on 57. Two batsmen who were much among theruns in the two previous rounds, both failed.Justin Langer, who had hit a century in the third round became man-of-matchMascarenhas’ fourth victim and Paul Weekes, unbeaten with 71 in the lastround, fell for six.Shane Warne found considerable turn on this pitch and had two for fivebefore Richard Johnson took the long handle to him and distorted his figures alittle with four boundaries. There seemed nothing left of the Middlesexinnings on 73 for eight, but then came that late flourish.

Notwithstanding the late surrender of its first two second innings wickets,Northamptonshire has continued to defy its underdog status on day two of anabsorbing County Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.Buoyed by an inspired display of off spin bowling from Jason Brown andGraeme Swann, the visitors had forged their way to an overall lead of 126by the time that stumps were drawn.It was Brown and Swann’s effort in snaring nine Warwickshire wicketsbetween them – around an innings of steely resolve from Dominic Ostler -which was the main story of another day of fluctuating fortunes. On a drypitch, the spin twins initiated a mid-afternoon collapse which saw theiropponents lose their last seven wickets for a mere sixty-eight runs andplunge to an eighty-two run first innings deficit in the process. Brownclaimed 5/88 in what is only his fifth game since returning to the teamlast month while Swann added lustre to what has already become another fineall-round game for him with a return of 4/74. Both gained appreciable turnfrom the wicket and neither was especially afraid to flight the ball.Only Ostler’s fine 88 held the innings together in retrospect. The youngopener, whose 818 runs make him easily Warwickshire’s most productive firstclass scorer to this stage of the season, had enjoyed himself yesterday byholding four catches at slip to help Ashley Giles on his way to a haul of6/118. But he must have pushed the boundaries of his delight even furthertoday with his enterprising innings. He indulged himself early on withsome beautifully timed drives through the off side before raising the tempoeven further with some punishing attacking shots through the middle stagesof his 192-ball stay. It was a measure of his centrality to his team’scause that its innings subsided almost completely once he once he wascaught by Adrian Rollins at short-leg off Brown with the score at 188.On its return to the crease, Northamptonshire purposefully set aboutextending the lead with openers Rollins (8) and skipper Matthew Hayden(35*) taking the score swiftly to 43. But that was before the ball showedsigns of turning sharply again. In this latter sense, it was not asurprising development that Rollins and night-watchman Paul Taylor (0) fellin quick succession as Giles (whose seven wickets already in the match mustsurely provide more food for thought for England’s selectors) and NeilSmith sent the match hurtling back toward a position of parity once more.

It’s just seventeen days until Bangladesh step out to play their first Testmatch. But as the momentous day approaches, it seems nothing is going right.Bangladesh just completed a demoralising three-game one-day series against aSouth African Invitational squad.A short two-week tour of South Africa intended to give the Bangladesh teamvaluable match practice prior to their inaugural Test has ended up assomething of a nightmare. The Test debutants suffered crushing defeats inback-to-back one-day games in the past two days.On Sunday at Pietermaritzburg, the Bangladesh side were dismissed for 51,losing by ten wickets in a match which was all over before lunch. Last nightat Kingsmead, Durban, they were bundled out for 57, losing by 202 runs.Last week, Bangladesh were beaten, though not humiliated, by Griqualand Westin the only first-class match of the tour, and their only multi-day game ofcompetitive cricket as a team since January. On Wednesday, they went down byseven wickets to the SA Invitational team in the first of the three-matchseries.With only two of the invitational squad having full international experiencefor South Africa – namely Dale Benkenstein and Nic Pothas – it was 25 yearold Boland seamer Charl Langeveldt who did the damage on Sunday, taking 5/7in four overs as Bangladesh collapsed in 18.3 overs. Mark Bruyns (18*) andGraeme Smith (28*) scored the required runs without the loss of a wicket, andthe game at Pietermaritzburg was all done in less than forty overs.Yesterday’s day-night encounter at Kingsmead lasted longer simply because theSouth Africans batted first, sent into bat by Naimur Rahman. The Invitationeleven made 259 for 5 in their fifty overs, with half-centuries to Smith(56), Ahmed Amla (68) and Martin van Jaarsveld (62). The Bangladesh bowlingwwas by no means disgraced. Left-arm spinner Naimur Rahman, probably the bestbowler on the tour, took 3/45 from nine overs, while Hasibul Hussain claimed2/33 from eight overs.The Bangladesh batting had no answer against the seam attack of CharlWilloughby and Mfuneko Ngam and slumped to 27 for 7 in the fourteenth overbefore reaching 57 after 27.2. Akram Khan batted for ninety minutes to remain10 not out in an attempt to preserve some dignity in proceedings, but thesupport was not there. Ngam finished with 4/20 from eight overs andWilloughby 3/9 from his eight.With no further competitive cricket until the historic opening day of theTest against India on November 10, the current slump could not have come at aworse time. A team that has never played so much as a single five-day matchhas been dismissed twice in two days in a total of 46 overs.Nonetheless, the Bangladesh Cricket Board are already planning ahead to theirnext Test opponents after India. BCB secretary Syed Ashraful Haq is reportedin today’s “Independent” (Dhaka) as saying that plans are afoot for a two-Test series against Pakistan in January if India’s tour of Pakistan iscancelled.There will be a problem, however… Bangabandhu National Stadium, the venuefor next month’s game against India, will almost certainly be unavailable, asit will be heavily in use for football once that Test is over. Alternativevenues, possibly the BKSP ground outside of Dhaka, or grounds at Rajshahi orChittagong, may come into play.The Bangladesh team are scheduled to enter a training camp at the BKSP groundwhen they return from South Africa this week, to begin their finalpreparations for their historic meeting with India. Judging from theirperformances over the past fortnight, they will need all the help they canget.

A couple of fine performances by Services playerscould not prevent their team going down to a 29-run defeat at the hands of Jammu & Kashmir in theNorth Zone Ranji Trophy one day encounter at theHarbax Singh stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.Put in to bat, J & K were restricted to 175 fornine in 50 overs. Wickets fell at regularintervals with SV Ghag (3 for 30) and Arun Sharma(3 for 31) doing most of the damage. But perhapsthe most impressive performance came fromwicketkeeper Sarabjit Singh who brought off twocatches and two stumpings.Services too found runs hard to come by and theywere ultimately bowled out for 146 in 46.1 overs.The only batsman to put up a semblance of a fightwas SD Nadkarni. Going in at 40 for one in the15th over, Nadkarni scored a valiant 51 before hewas ninth out at 133 in the 44th over. Nadkarnifaced 80 balls and hit just one boundary. But hereceived very little support and the result wasthat J & K were able to pull off a creditablevictory.

Damien Martyn is prepared to bide his time and wait for his Test chance to come along.On the fringe of the Australian Test side, Martyn scored a century in the opening tour game at Worcester and knows that he must keep making runs to remind the selectors of his value.The 29-year-old endured a six-year exile from Test cricket before regaining his spot briefly against New Zealand 14 months ago and then for one Test against the West Indies on their recent tour.Martyn said: “I’m the fringe player in the sense of being the sparebatsman for the Test side. It’s a very important tour and I want to do well andkeep my name up there in front of the selectors.”Nowadays it sits all right with me. In days gone by, perhaps, it didn’t sit sowell and you can get frustrated.”You are making runs and you want to get back in there but it sits well now.I’ve been given a second chance. I’m back in the squad.”I’ve just got to keep making runs. We been lucky that we have had Steve andMark Waugh, Mark Taylor and David Boon – guys who played a big amount of cricketover the last 15 years.”I missed the 1997 Ashes tour and I’d love to be out there playing in a Testmatch but if I’ve got to wait then I will.”After being out of it so long, then I’m just happy to be back amongst it anda five-Test series is better for me in terms of having a chance.”Martyn made 108 out of the Australians’ 351 all out on the first day of the match at New Road but he is not exactly classing the innings amongst his top knocks.”It wasn’t that great,” he said. “It was scratchy at times. We’ve only had acouple of nets. I was just really trying to stay out there as long as I could.”I know that hours you spend at the crease now mean a lot later on in thetour so that was my main goal today.”It’s been good. We have only been here a couple of days and we’re all a bitrusty still so just to have time in the middle was good.”I think as batsman that was our goal in this game. That’s what Steve (Waugh)and the coach wanted us to do leading up to the One-Day Internationals startingnext week. They wanted us to practise the basics and do them well.”Our main goal was to try and bat all day and use it for the practice it is – the sort of practice you can’t beat.”The wicket was slow coming from India where the wickets were flat. It’sabout adjustment to everything — conditions, the weather etc. When we do thatyou’ll see the guys hitting their straps.”It was hard to get in on that wicket but once you got in it got easier asthe day went on and there were some short boundaries.”

Pakistan A earned a thrilling draw after 27-year-old right-handerMisbah-ul-Haq of Sargodha rescued his team with a defiant knock of 91 onthe fourth and final day of the First ‘Test’ against Sri Lanka A at theRangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Saturday.Pakistan A, chasing 214 for victory off a minimum of 69 overs, looked indanger of defeat at 98 for seven, 12 minutes before the tea break. ButMisbah, with excellent support from the tail, thwarted all attempts by SriLanka A skipper Tilan Samaraweera to capture the remaining three wickets.Pakistan eventually finished on 185 for nine wickets after facing 70 overs.The injured Shabbir Ahmed, batting with a runner, helped Misbah, who hasmade only a solitary Test appearance against New Zealand early this year,add 36 for the eighth wicket. Then Irfan Fazil, the No 10, frustratedSri Lanka A further by adding 48 runs for the ninth wicket in 91 minutes.Misbah’s defiant innings was ended at 182 in the 68th over, when he edged adelivery from left-arm spinner Sajeeva Weerakoon to Samaraweera at slip. Hebatted for 203 minutes and faced 188 balls, hitting one six and 13 fours.Irfan and last man Danish Kaneria played out the last few overs amid hightension to earn their side an honourable draw.Irfan’s contribution was only six not out, but he occupied the crease for98 minutes and faced 82 balls to defy the Sri Lankan bowlers.Misbah’s fine innings upstaged a good bowling performance from Samaraweerawho finished the match with a bag of ten wickets for 102. He took sixwickets for 55 runs in the second innings to equal his previous career-bestfigures for SSC v Singha SC at Maitland Place early this year.Pakistan coach-cum-manager Mudassar Nazar said a defensive move by the SriLanka captain probably cost them the match.”He pushed all the fielders back for Misbah and I think in the end it iswhat probably cost him the game. He should have attacked Misbah a bit morebecause the the ball was turning. Then he stood a better chance of winningthe match.”Misbah had to be the principal scorer and when he couldn’t scoreboundaries we decided to shut up shop at that stage,” said Mudassar.”It was a wonderful knock by Misbah. He has scored a lot of runs indomestic cricket, but some of the senior players have said that histechnique was flawed. He has given ample example in this innings,” saidMudassar.”It was very exciting game and it was a low-scoring affair where Sri Lankacame up trumps with their spin bowlers, their captain in particular,” hesaid.On a turning pitch Pakistan A batsmen found it difficult to cope with thespin of Samarawera who bowled craftily with intelligent field placings asone by one the batsmen were lured into his trap.Samaraweera, bringing himself on in the fourth over of the innings, achievedthe initial breakthrough with his third ball when he had Toufiq Umermis-hitting a drive to mid-on. He also picked up the wickets of Imran Farhatand Qaiser Abbas before taking himself off after an initial spell of sixovers for eight runs.Then, switching ends, he ended a threatening fifth-wicket partnership of 43in 49 minutes by taking the prize wicket of his opposite number Hasan Raza for 21.The obdurate Raza, a century-maker in the first innings with 107, was takenat slip by Upekha Fernando as the ball spun off the face of his bat. Raza’sdismisssal made Pakistan’s plight still worse. In the first innings he hadrescued his side from being 35 for four to 223 all out.Misbah, who partnered Raza in a fifth-wicket stand of 43, once againprovided resistance as Samaraweera went on to consume Humayun Farhat andYasir Arafat within nine runs of each other as Pakistan A slid to 104 for7 at tea.Misbah batted positively and reached his half-century off 92 balls in 95minutes with eight fours. He found an able partner in the injured ShabbirAhmed. The pair raised the total by a further 36 runs before Shabbir,batting with the aid of a runner due to a groin strain, edged a deliveryfrom leg-spinner Chandana Samarasinghe to Samaraweera at slip. He made 21with three fours.Misbah, mixing aggression with caution, continued to thwart the Sri Lankanbowling to make a top score of 91.Sri Lanka were left to rue a dropped catch at seven offered by Misbah whenhe edged Sajika Weerakoon behind the wicket to Sangakkara who failed tohold it despite making a valiant attempt.Sri Lanka A added a further 40 runs in 81 minutes to their overnighttotal of 176 forsix6 before being dismissed for 216, leaving Samaraweeraundefeated on 20 made in 122 minutes.Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria took two of the four wickets to fall today, toend with figures of four for 64 and match figures of seven for 133. Fastbowler Yasir Arafat took three wickets to finish the match with six wickets.The second four-day unofficial Test commences at the NCC grounds on Tuesday.

In his latest diary entry for CricInfo, England captain Alec Stewart reflects on a difficult period on the field in the NatWest Triangular Series, and the fresh exchanges with Sir Paul Condon behind the scenes.What a quiet week that was! After all the disappointment regarding England’s performance in the NatWest Series and then the much-publicised exchanges through the press concerning Sir Paul Condon, I then had to go down as the first captain in international cricket history to concede the NatWest match at Headingley.I am afraid that it had to be done – purely on the grounds of player and umpire safety. We spoke during and after the Edgbaston game when similar problems arose and everyone agreed that player and umpire safety was paramount. Unfortunately, those scenes were repeated. We were not winning the game and for the sake of the players and umpires it was the only decision I felt I could take.Hopefully it will mean that we do not see scenes like that again and the authorities, whether in this country or other countries, and probably the ICC, will now take very, very strong measures to prevent such things happening again.My concern is player safety and Steve Waugh made comments on the subject when he was here for the World Cup a couple of years ago, and made similar comments at the start of this tournament. I spoke with him during this series and we asked the question whether enough was being done for players with respect to safety. Having seen what happened to the poor steward who was taken to hospital at Headingley, I would suggest that player safety cannot be guaranteed.Although some people have been saying that conceding the game sent out the wrong signals with regard to future incidents, I just hope that the authorities take strong enough measures to ensure that there are not similar incidents in the future. I do not think that captains should have to concede games. Perhaps a team or their fans should be penalised for such unacceptable behaviour. I have said before that in Australia they slap a considerable fine on anyone going on to the field of play. Perhaps that sort of measure should be taken in England.It might be said that it was a brave decision to concede the match, but I think it was a sad decision for English cricket. However, it was a decision that I felt was right for the long term good of the game.

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.

A magnificent century partnership by inform Northants duo Mal Loye (70) and Mike Hussey (96) gave the Steelbacks a rare victory in their NUL bottom of the table clash against Surrey at Guildford.Northants move up from the foot of division one, thanks to their easy eight-wicket win. Surrey remain relegation favourites.Defending a modest 195 all out, the Lions reduced the away team to 6-2 in the fourth over, before the vital third wicket stand.Characterised by careful placement and daring running between the wickets, Loye and Hussey eventually reached an unbroken 170 in their third century stand of the season.Hussey reached his third NUL half-century in 49 balls with a seventh boundary in an Adam Hollioake over that cost 14 runs.Loye passed 50 in 55 balls in the over after his left-handed partner, with a pulled six off Alex Tudor, and four fours. Only a Loye edge when on 33, that fell just short of Martin Bicknell at slip, threatened to split the pair.Bicknell celebrated his daughter’s fifth birthday with seven over, two for 15, but the support bowlers rarely troubled Hussey and Loye.The players were forced off by drizzle for five overs, leaving a revised target of 176 off 37 overs.A clipped six by Hussey, that landed in Woodbridge Road, took the Steelbacks to within two of victory, which was achieved with 6.4 overs to spare.Hussey told CricInfo: “Me and Mal quite enjoy batting together. We push each other along.”The record partnership in the competition between the sides remains Lamb and Larkins’ 176 for the second wicket, also at Guildford, in 1985.Western Australian Hussey concluded: “The feeling was great. We were very relieved as we’re in need of a few wins.”Earlier Hollioake has set up his team with a 52-ball first one-day half-century of the season.On a hazy afternoon, Surrey, missing Ben Hollioake (wrist) and Ali Brown (thumb) as well as five English batsmen, were guided to 185-6 in 39 overs by the strokeplay of the elder Hollioake. He figured in stands of 43 with well organised debutant Joe Porter and 40 with big-hitting Alex Tudor.Then Mike Strong found his line and clean-bowled three Lions in seven balls. This gives the 27-year-old 11 wickets in his last three NUL appearances.Northants had Paul Taylor, who bowled straight through to take 2-28, to thank for restricting Surrey early on.