Trinidad and Tobago won their first match in the Red Stripe Bowl overLeeward Islands at the Alpart Sports Club, Jamaica, but if the crowdexpected the Brian Lara brand of entertainment, they were sorelydisappointed.Leeward Islands, batting first, scored 174 for eight in fifty overs,Runako Morton top-scoring with 56. The batsmen, however, had to grindout their runs slowly as Trinidad and Tobago bowlers Mervyn Dillon andDinanath Ramnarine, who also won the toss as captain, picked up twowickets apiece.Trinidad opener Andy Jackson scored a rapid 45 off 33 balls, givinghis side such an advantage in terms of the run-rate that, when thesecond innings was adjusted according to the Duckworth-Lewis method,Trinidad found themselves comfortably placed. Needing to make only 105within 34.4 overs, the side made 145 with Richard Smith making anunbeaten 40. Lara made a patient 20 off 46 balls with a solitaryboundary, a sign that he is still rusty from his long break.

Pakistan, known to be bad chasers, proved everyone wrong byoverhauling Sri Lanka’s stiff 272 comfortably to earn amorale-boosting win by seven wickets in the dress rehearsalfor Sunday’s final of the Khaleej Times Trophy here Fridaybefore the biggest crowd of the competition at the SharjahStadium.And the men who made the task look so simple were rookieopener Naved Latif, playing his second one-dayer and thecool as cucumber customer, big man Inzamam-ul-Haq. Theyoungster was later named Man-of-the-Match.Both hammered centuries in their massive third wicket standof 219 after Pakistan had lost Shahid Afridi (11) and YousufYouhana (11) with the total 41. Naved reached his maidenhundred off 130 balls with eight fours and a six whileInzamam needed only 111 deliveries and hit 10 fours.When Naved eventually holed out to Prabath Nissanka on thedeep mid-wicket boundary Pakistan required only 12 runs foran emphatic victory. He faced 141 deliveries for his 113that contained nine fours and one six.Inzamam, during his innings, became the highest scorer atthis venue overtaking his teammate Saeed Anwar while endingup with an unbeaten 118. He slammed two sixes and ten fours.Sri Lanka sorely Muttiah Muralitharan their prime strikebowler. He might have made some difference and the islandersalso had a poor match in the field. They put down threesimple sitters which proved expensive in the end.Inzamam was dropped by Muralitharan when 69 and Naved wasmissed twice once by Russel Arnold off his own bowling andwicket keeper Kumar Sangakkara, who had replaced RomeshKaluwitharana, missed an easy catch behind the stumps.Earlier, Mahela Jayawardena’s elegant 88 off 83 balls thatcontained one six and six fours provided Sri Lankan the bigenough total Sanath Jayasuriya won the toss and elected tobat first in a match of no consequence.Given a solid start of 95 by Jayasuriya (36) and AvishkaGunawardena (57), the classy Jayawardena – certainly thebest Sri Lankan batsman – carted Pakistan’s wayward attackto all corners of the ground with a series of excitingstrokes.Jayawardena shared two profitable partnerships. First he wasinvolved in a stand worth 55 for the third wicket withGunawardena and latter 66 for the fourth with in alliancewith Russel Arnold.He was eventually got out going for a big hit in the closingovers off Shoaib Akhtar, the best of Pakistan’s modestattack minus Wasim Akram, who was given a rest. Thecontroversial pacer finished with the figures of three for45 from 10 overs.

Anyone who has been the slightest interested in Dion Nash’s Test match cricket career should not have been surprised that he should play the last, vital, hand in New Zealand achieving the follow on target against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane today.Nash went out to bat today at 243/7, knowing that whatever he did today was going to be his last contribution to the tour.Injury has struck him down again in the early stages of yet another tour. Last year it was an early return from Zimbabwe that curtailed his involvement in that tour. His troublesome back had flared up again and it seemed his career might well be over.But Nash wasn’t prepared to call it quits and after more hard work, began by returning as a batsman with Auckland, a not unproductive pastime for him as he scored 452 runs at 30.13, including a century and two 50s.He began to bowl a few towards the end of the season and took five wickets at 25.40.Then began the winter of build-up to get his worrisome back into a position where he could be a Test quality bowler again.That achieved he won selection for the one-day leg of the scheduled tour to Pakistan but missed the chance for an early try out when the tour was cancelled as the result of the war against terrorism in neighbouring Afghanistan.An abdominal strain when playing against the Queensland Academy XI saw him miss the Queensland game and on the second day in the field in the first Test he aggravated the injury necessitating his returning home at the end of this Test.It is a measure of his refusal to yield to the frustration of another early trip home from a tour that Nash had the presence of mind to battle for the side’s cause towards the end of their first innings.He and Adam Parore went through nearly an hour of playing themselves in and awaiting their opportunity against some fine fast bowling on the part of Brett Lee.They quietly worked their way through the new ball and were just starting to free up when Parore launched into a ball only to find Steve Waugh dive and pick up a hard chance to send him on his way for 11.Daniel Vettori survived a dropped chance off the first ball he faced, and then Nash took over.Rather than keep on grafting he felt confident enough to take the attack to the bowlers. He hit a four over the gully field and when Gillespie was introduced the first four balls of his over were hit for two runs each.The last of them saw the follow on passed and immediately the players were called in by Stephen Fleming.It was a great farewell present to his team-mates and encapsulated the Nash approach to cricket – and that is why he is so appreciated for the competitive attitude he brings to the team.Wicketless in this Test he remains cast on 93 wickets in Test matches but with the knowledge that it is not his back causing the problems there is every chance that Nash will be seen again this summer.But for all else that he might achieve, there may be nothing that proves more valuable than the fighting example he provided his team-mates in the heat of battle at Brisbane.

Auckland sprinted away to an eight-wicket win over Central Districts before lunch on the fourth day of the State Championship match on the Eden Park Outer Oval – a performance which should produce a couple of interesting echoes amid the New Zealanders as they prepared for tomorrow’s third Test against Australia at the WACA.The first was that Auckland’s comfortable win – after three days of uncomfortable or restricted batting from both sides – should be built round an almost faultless century by Matt Horne, the discarded New Zealand Test opening batsman.Horne’s 18th first-class century was carefully built over 272 minutes, and apart from two rather hairy strokes, did not offer the frustrated Central Districts bowlers a chance.Horne, who had earned top marks from the selector Ross Dykes during the earlier New Zealand A tour of India, looked every inch a first-rate, technically correct opening batsman – assets which seem to have slipped out of Matthew Bell’s gear-bag in Australia.The second echo was more or less caused by Stephen Fleming, scathing criticism of his bowlers, ability to bowl the right line and length in the second Test at Hobart, and his subsequent plea that Dennis Lillee should be asked for starting-from-scratch coaching advice in Perth.A very senior bowler, who shall be nameless, remarked during the first three days of the Auckland-Central Districts match that the indifferent form of the New Zealand seamers in the two Tests in Australia was merely a case of chickens come home to roost in New Zealand.He was referring to the green Eden Park pitch which for at least the first two-and-half days gave the medium-fast seam and swing bowlers extraordinary help, and which left the batsmen resigned to being inevitably undone by some mischief from the pitch.This, said the senior bowler, was the precise fault with the production of the recent crop of New Zealand team medium-fast bowlers. On pitches even half as helpful as this mettlesome Eden Park pitch, New Zealand bowlers were given extraordinary help in the matter of whipping the ball into the pads for lbw, or nicking the outside edge for the fatal catch.The early Auckland and Central seamers had only to land one or two balls an over on the right line and length and they had a fair chance of taking a wicket.As the senior bowler pointed out, in Australia two balls on target would have left four balls for the home batsmen to murder.Five or six balls was the required rate of accuracy at Test level, especially on pitches in Australia which generally favoured Australian batsmen gifted both in the arts of driving and cross-batted strokes.Last evening and this morning Horne and his undefeated partner Aaron Barnes batted with more than a hint of Australian efficiency.In contrast, the Central Districts bowlers, who had looked like demons in the first third of the match, were as nasty as new-born lambs as the Aucklanders marched away to the win with their record-breaking and unbroken stand of 151.Central Districts were hampered slightly by the loss through injury of Ewen Thompson, with his broken forearm, which left them only three seamers and Campbell Furlong’s genial off-spin.Faced by poised and patient batsmen, the Central Districts bowlers were reduced to hopeful trundlers, for the pitch had lost almost all its earlier spite.Horne nearly gave a catching chance when he was 97, and once almost had a ball from Furlong trickle into his stumps.Otherwise, he and Barnes gave the Central Districts bowlers not the slightest bit of charity, and in a game that had already had 12 lbw decisions (and sufficient roared lbw appeals to satisfy a Cossack choir), there was never even one lbw appeal from the hamstrung Central bowlers this morning.There may be problems with with the quality of New Zealand Test bowlers and batsmen on the evidence available from Australia. The solution will not be found there, even from Lillee the grand master of fast bowling. If there are answers to the puzzles they are found in the quality, or lack of it, of the pitches on which New Zealanders play their cricket.

The first Test at Mohali ended in a predictable manner with the visitors caving meekly. The middle-order batsmen were incapable of countering the guile of the spin twins, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. There was not even an iota of resistance and, considering that the pitch still played well, the visitors would not be pleased with their performance. Nasser Hussain appeared courageous in his comments after the game, but if his side can fight back in the remaining two Tests, it would be a bigger surprise for him rather than for the Indian cricketers.

The openers, Mark Butcher and Marcus Trescothick, triggered the collapse with some very poor shot selection against debutant Tinu Yohannan. The Indians have gained a promising medium-pacer in Yohannan and, though he is short on experience, he showed good temperament for a rookie. He was wayward at times, but he came back well in both innings to account for the openers. The fact that he dismissed the openers means that he has the ability to bowl well with the new ball. He can only get better, especially if he bowls in tandem with Javagal Srinath once the latter returns to the side. Iqbal Siddiqui may be enthusiastic and jovial, but it does seem that he has been given a break rather late in the day. He is not quick enough to surprise batsmen at the top level, and his control over line and length is nothing spectacular.England were looking to Graham Thorpe to rewrite the script in this match, but his stroke-filled innings proved inadequate under the circumstances. He has shown that he is capable of tackling spinners and will be a thorn in the Indian flesh. Thorpe and Hussain apart, the current English batting line-up looks too inexperienced to handle the pressures of playing under Indian conditions. They have a couple of all-rounders in the side, but they will realize soon that the Tests are a different ball game altogether from the first-class matches. Matthew Hoggard looks to be a hard-working medium-pacer, and he must be pleased with the way he bowled in this Test.The Indian spinners have ample reasons to be pleased too. Harbhajan Singh has once again got into the wicket-taking act after a very ordinary tour of South Africa. He bowls better with the ball used in Tests at home, although he believes otherwise. Kumble, the Man of the Match, is back to his tormenting best, and the Englishmen must be dreading the proposition of facing him on more helpful tracks. Kumble must have enjoyed this haul, for this spell would have gotten rid of any doubts that he had in his mind. There was talk of him being dropped in Port Elizabeth, which upset him visibly, but he is too hardened a professional to let circumstances get the better of him. He seemed a bit emotional after the match, which is very unlike him, and Sourav Ganguly can be sure of Kumble delivering in the remainder of the series.Deep Dasgupta has done a good job in this Test, and it is imperative that he keeps his fitness levels up because of his dual role. The think-tank must give a lot of thought when they decide the combination for the next match and seriously consider sending Dasgupta in to bat lower down the order. Agreed that he has a ton at the top of the order, but if at all he has to be on the field for a day and a half, it will only compound his problems. Of course, the other way of looking at it is that the performance of the English batsmen does not encourage this line of thought.

D Vinay Kumar and AT Rayudu slaughtered Goa’s bowlers to help Hyderabad notch up a massive 159-run win in their Ranji one-day match at Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.Hyderabad, winning the toss, opted to bat, but lost both both openers with only 19 on the board. But Goa’s bowlers could then not make another impact for 196 runs, as Vinay Kumar and Rayudu scored runs almost at will, hitting the ball to all parts of the park.Rayudu was the first to fall, having made 117 off 107 balls, with 10 fours and five sixes. Anirudh Singh, his replacement, did not let up on the scoring rate, making 60 off 50 balls.Vinay Kumar fell as the fourth wicket, having scored 101 off 126 balls with six fours. S Vishnuvardhan provided another late surge to take his side to 338/4 in their 50 overs.Goa simply wilted in the face of their target. Barring opener SV Kamat’s 61 off 83 balls, none of the individual scores could even come to terms with Hyderabad’s bowling. PIS Reddy took four wickets to finish off the lower middle order, bring up a Hyderabad victory by 159 runs.

In the least likely of all scenarios, South Africa and New Zealand share top spot on the VB series points table with four points apiece after two matches in the tournament. Australia, hosts, World Cup champions and outright favourites, have still to break their duck after slipping to their second defeat in three days, this time by four wickets to South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.As was the case when Australia went down to New Zealand on Friday, the home team’s batting failed to spark. On this occasion they were bowled out for 198 in 48.5 overs, a total just about big enough to keep their bowlers interested, but surely insufficient to seriously challenge a confident chasing side.But by no stretch of the imagination could South Africa be regarded as a confident team after their dismal form in the Test series. Shaun Pollock’s side desperately needed someone or something to kick-start their tour and it duly arrived in the shape of Jonty Rhodes.Rhodes missed the Test matches by his own choice, sticking to a decision to spend more time with his family. It might seem impolite to point out the obvious, but the Rhodes family’s gain was quite clearly South Africa’s loss.He started the match a little edgily, missing a square drive from Matthew Hayden early on and then dropping the left-hander at backward point off the last ball of Allan Donald’s first over. From there on in, however, he barely put a foot wrong and his contribution to the South African batting effectively won the match for his side.He has made higher scores than his 43 not out, but the great value of his innings was his reading of the situation and his calmness as the pressure gradually built on the South Africans. He shared a 65-run fourth wicket stand with Neil McKenzie (34) that prevented Australia capitalising on a mini-collapse which saw the chasers slip from 51 for none to 71 for three and stayed there until the end, the winning runs coming by way of four leg byes off his elbow.As well as Rhodes played, though, Australia will feel they didn’t do themselves anything approach justice. They lost Adam Gilchrist to the first ball of the match, rebuilt through Ricky Ponting (51) and Steve Waugh (62) and then lost their last six wickets for 34 from the 40th over onwards.South Africa, it must be said, bowled and fielded with far greater purpose and commitment than they had shown at any stage of the Test series. And again, you have to wonder whether the presence of Rhodes made the difference.Still, South Africa had to make 199 before winning and they were given a respectable start by Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten who put on 51 for the first wicket. Of course, Australia will wonder what difference Glenn McGrath might have made, but their three quick men, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Andy Bichel, all bowled decently enough.Gibbs, who made a 38 which included eight boundaries, never entirely settled, mixing carelessness with a number of handsome strokes, but it was through the McKenzie-Rhodes partnership that South Africa managed to get on top.The South Africans were watchfulness personified against Shane Warne, but Andrew Symonds had clearly been identified as the weak link in the attack and while Warne barely conceded two runs an over through his first nine-over spell, Symonds’ first six overs went at a run a ball.And then Waugh found himself having to pick between Symonds and Michael Bevan to bowl two of the final three overs; this after the 47th over had been a maiden-wicket from Lee.Ultimately Australia had given themselves too much to do and Rhodes was able to take South Africa home with more than an over to spare. What effect this win will have on the remainder of South Africa’s tour remains to be seen, but their relief at breaking a losing habit was almost palpable.

Tasmania’s finals prospects suffered a bad setback and Victoria’s hopes of even remaining in the race were just as adversely afflicted. That was the wash-up, literal and metaphorical, as poor weather caused the teams’ Pura Cup clash to end in an unfulfilling draw here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.After some sleepy cricket at times over the last four days, it was probably inevitable that rain should cut short the dreams of outright points for both sides. But it remained a bitter pill to swallow for them all the same.What was initially a sunny and humid day underwent a transformation shortly after lunch. With the match almost certainly bubbling toward a conclusion that would have delivered an outright verdict, it meant that the heavens opened at a miserable time for both teams – and a propitious one for each of the other four states in the competition.Even with the addition of further overs at the end of the day’s play, as many as 27 overs in total were still wiped out.Faced initially with the eminently reasonable victory target of 250 from a minimum 59 overs, the Tasmanians were no chance once overs began to be reduced. They found themselves courting further frustration when they slumped to be 2/4 by the time that the rains sent the players and the umpires scattering for the first time from a soon-to-be-drenched MCG.Ironically, the first interruption occurred just as the game appeared to be exploding into life after 10 straight sessions of fundamentally risk-averse cricket.Another burst of seven overs then reduced the Tigers to 3/22 before Daniel Marsh (40*) and Michael Di Venuto (38) returned – in front of a crowd optimistically numbered at 18 – to stave off any possibility of an unlikely Victorian win.Play was eventually brought to a merciful halt at 7:29 pm. But outright points were not even vaguely under threat by then, and the chances of the Tasmanians making it to the airport to catch a flight home tomorrow were probably as much in danger.It all left Tasmania in fourth place on the competition table with two rounds to be completed, equal on points with Western Australia and two behind second-placed South Australia. The Victorians, six points adrift of their southern cousins, meanwhile find themselves in fifth spot and needing a miracle to play off for the title late next month.At 1/120 overnight, and with senior batsmen Brad Hodge (109) and Matthew Elliott (72) at the crease, the Victorians had held high hopes of injecting life into the game with brisk scoring on the way to an eventual second innings declaration at 7/252.Yet, much like the pitch, the outfield and the pace of the scoring through long periods of the match, the Bushrangers’ progress was generally slow. Just 87 runs were gleaned from 31 overs in a dreary morning session before the anticipated acceleration finally arrived amid a clatter of wickets to Marsh (4/70) upon the resumption after lunch.Elliott spiced the early going with evidence of trademark cover drives and cuts but, once he edged to slip, the Bushrangers found it difficult to score quickly. Though Hodge ultimately notched his third Cup century of the summer, he attained it at a far slower clip than expected. Ian Harvey’s absence on account of a strained ligament in his back also mitigated against the Bushrangers.But there was almost a look of forlorn resignation about the Tasmanians’ pursuit even as the last innings of the match began. Under charcoal-coloured skies, the task of surviving against the lively swing and seam of debutant Will Carr (3/34) was not one to savour – and Jamie Cox (2), Scott Mason (0) and Michael Dighton (4) all underlined that problem in playing down the wrong line at the Dandenong right armer.Admittedly, Cox received his second dubious decision of the match – this one an lbw appeal that was upheld by umpire Tony Soulsby as he assessed the merits of a delivery that struck the Tasmanian captain high on the pad as it cut sharply toward leg.Mason’s dismissal, which arrived as he speared a full outswinger off the edge to third slip, was less contentious and even more exultantly greeted by the Bushrangers.And first innings century maker Dighton, dropped three times on the way to that score, was snapped up at the first bite this time when he brushed at a ball well away from his body to hit a catch to Elliott at second slip.Yet the home team’s fifth dropped catch of the game – this one a caught and bowled offering to Mick Lewis (0/30) as Di Venuto, on 30, spooned back a drive – soon arbitrated against any lingering idea that something, anything even, might be extracted from the ruin.

Released on behalf of the International Cricket Council’sEngland fast bowler Andrew Caddick has been charged with a Level 1 offence under the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Code of Conduct.The charge relates to point 1.4 which sites as a punishable offence: “Using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting and/or the making of an obscene gesture.”The incident under investigation took place during the 14th over of the second day’s play of the fourth Orange Test match against Australia when Caddick allegedly made a gesture.The hearing will take place on Saturday with a statement to follow.A Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct carries with it a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of a fine of 50 percent of a player or official’s match fee.

Stuart MacGill will have what might well be his only bowl on South African soil this weekend when Steve Waugh’s Australians meet a South Africa `A’ team in a four-day match at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth starting on Friday.The Australians have rested Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Damien Martyn and Matthew Hayden for this match on the unsurprising premise that all four had outstanding matches during the Wanderers Test.Working on the assumption that it would be unlikely for Australia to feel the need to change a team that has just won its last match by an innings and 360 runs, this weekend’s game should provide MacGill, along with Andy Bichel, Darren Lehmann and Shane Watson, with their first outing of the tour.From a South African point of view, the match will provide players like captain Daryll Cullinan, left-arm spinner Gulam Bodi and Western Province left-arm seamer Charl Willoughby to press for inclusion in the side for the second Test match at Newlands next weekend.The South African side for the second Test is expected to be named on Monday.TeamsSA `A’ team: Jacques Rudolph (Northerns), Graeme Smith (WP), Martin van Jaarsveld (Northerns), Daryll Cullinan (Capt, Gauteng), Hashim Amla (KZN), Justin Kemp (EP), Robin Peterson (EP), Gulam Bodi (KZN), Thami Tsolekile (WP), Dewald Pretorius (FS), Charl Willoughby (WP). Twelfth man: Garnett Kruger (EP).Australia: Steve Waugh (capt), Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Darren Lehmann, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee.