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Islamabad Leopards and Lahore Lions were declared joint-winners of the Silver League in the ABN-AMRO Cup, as overnight showers prevented the final scheduled to be played at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad on Sunday.Akbar Khan and Rasheed Bhatti, the umpires, and Khatib Rizwan, the match referee, inspected the pitch several times and waited till 2:00 pm before announcing that play was not possible. The ground staff did their best but the water had made the track a little spongy, and thus unplayable.Islamabad’s Ashar Zaidi and Lahore’s Taufeeq Umar received the trophy from the chief guest, Syed Anwar Mehmood. The best batsman award went to Adnan Raza of Lahore while the best bowler award went to Mohammad Hussain, also of Lahore Lions.Shakeel Shaikh, President of the Islamabad Cricket Association (ICA), gave away to Raja Kashif of Islamabad Leopards won the the best wicketkeeper award and the joint best fielder award went to Zaidi of Islamabad and Hameedullah Khan of Quetta Bears.Asad Ali, the paceman, snapped up four crucial wickets to bowl Faisalabad Wolves into the finals of the ABN-AMRO Cup Gold League, beating Sialkot Stallions by six wickets at Karachi.Faisalabad reached the modest target of 215 for the loss of four wickets in 46.2 overs with opener Mohammad Hafeez striking 10 boundaries in his 58. Faisalabad have thus maintained their top slot in the seven-team Gold League with 20 points with five straight victories.Sent in to bat, Sialkot were dismissed for 214 with Asad Ali returning with figures of 4 for 42 and Saeed Ajmal, the off-break bowler taking 3 for 30 in nine overs. The talented Shahid Yousuf, who made a superb hundred in the previous match, again emerged as Sialkot’s top scorer with 62. They made a great recovery after Asad Ali removed Atiq-ur-Rehman (1), Tahir Mughal (4) and Sarfraz Ahmed (4) in his opening burst.Peshawar Panthers beat Rawalpindi Rams by 17 runs in an ABN-AMRO Cup league match, at Karachi on Sunday.Peshawar scored 278 for 7 and later bowled out Rawalpindi for 261 in 49.2 overs. The latter lost six wickets with only 121 runs on the board after 23 overs before the lower-order batsmen started the recovery, but eventually, the target proved to be elusive. Sajid Mahmood top-scored with 62. Three Peshawar batsmen contributed half-centuries. Mohammad Fayyaz scored 53, newcomer Mahfooz Sabri hammered 66 off 64 balls and Taimur Khan took only 47 deliveries for his unbeaten 55 that included five fours.Lahore Eagles beat Multan Tigers by six wickets at Karachi on Sunday, and now have a chance of meeting Faisalabad Wolves in next Thursday’s Gold League final.They have their last match coming up in the seventh round against bottom-placed Karachi Zebras at the National Stadium on Tuesday. At the same time, they would be hoping that Sialkot Stallions are beaten by Multan Tigers on the same day. The Eagles and Stallions currently have a points tally of 12 each with one match in hand. Peshawar Panthers have completed all their six and ended up with the same total.Sent in to bat, Multan were bowled out for 179 to which the Eagles replied with 180 for 4 in a mere 35.3 overs. Multan had earlier crashed to 28 for 5 in 14 overs before being lifted by Kamran Hussain (82), and later by Mohammad Irshad, who hit 32 runs off 28 balls at number 10. Mohammad Khalil, the left-arm fast-medium bowler was responsible for Multan’s early debacle, as he took three of the first five wickets. He eventually finished with figures of 4 for 29 off 9.2 overs.Lahore too lost some early wickets. The fifth-wicket pair, however, put on 94 and took their team to a comfortable win. Aamer Sajjad hit 43 not out while Sohail Ahmed remained unbeaten with 46.

ScorecardMansoor Amjad, the 19-year-old legspinner, ran through Zimbabwe A on the first day of their match against Pakistan A at the Country Club in Harare. After winning the toss and putting Zimbabwe in, Pakistan bowled them out for 191. Amjad, who took 6 for 69, was simply too good for the Zimbabweans. Only Neil Ferrera and Mark Verrmeulen resisted, scoring half-centuries at the top of the order. Then Pakistan replied with 73 for 3, and ended the first day of this four-day match in control of things.

The ECB has delayed making a decision on whether to tour Zimbabwe next October until the end of February. It had hoped to decide this week, but a lack of any definite instruction from the British government and continuing pressure from the ICC has led to the postponement.Last Wednesday, the board announced that the management meeting this coming Thursday would provide a once-and-for-all ruling. But this was done in the belief that no financial penalties would result from the decision. The ICC, in the form of Ehsan Mani, its president, have been at pains to point out that this is not the case. Mani has repeatedly insisted that the only circumstances under which tours could be cancelled was if a government specifically banned a team from travelling.Speaking on BBC television yesterday, Tim Lamb, the ECB’s chief executive, implied that the government’s letter last Friday was as close to an instruction not to tour as is possible without actually saying so. That does not appear to wash with the ICC, but there will be many discussions in the coming weeks, and ultimately it will come down to the detailed interpretation of the letter.Wisden Comment by Martin Williamson
The ECB’s desire to avoid the last-minute shambles which occurred during the World Cup is admirable, but it reckoned without the intransigence of the ICC. One of the issues is cash, the other is a cultural difference.Many of the powerbrokers in the ICC are from backgrounds where the state and the cricket boards are intertwined. In Pakistan, Mani’s homeland, the board are effectively appointed and operate at the behest of the country’s president. There, and in several other countries, the whims of the government and their boards are one and the same. In England it is not so straightforward.In the kind of democracy operating in Britain, the government does not ban people – sportsmen, businessmen, whoever – from visiting countries. But that appears to be beyond the understanding of the ICC, and will probably lead to stalemate.

This was a day of Test cricket neither New Zealand nor India will want to remember, but tomorrow, around lunchtime, it is a match one team will struggle to forget.After 22 wickets fell in the 105 overs bowled, and a part of all four innings featured, New Zealand were left needing 136 runs with 10 wickets in hand to secure a victory while India know there is still a chance for them to draw the National Bank Series if they can create the mayhem they did today when bowling New Zealand out for 94.New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said yesterday it would be the team that wanted to win the match most that would take it – and that is the challenge ahead of both teams tomorrow.The remarkable first innings which saw India out for 99 and New Zealand for five runs less is the lowest innings total from which the team batting first has secured a first innings lead.Whatever else the record books may say, and the 94 was New Zealand’s lowest score in a Test against India, surpassing the 100 scored at Wellington in 1980/81, a match they went on to win, the day itself is unprecedented in New Zealand cricket history.As disappointing as New Zealand’s failure to build a significant first innings advantage, so too, was India’s inability to score more than 154 in their second innings.Traditionalists might wonder whatever happened to good, old-fashioned technique? It was nowhere in evidence on either side, no matter what the reputations of the players concerned.Conditions were difficult, just as they were for India on the second day, but the New Zealanders knew that.However, that didn’t stop the New Zealanders playing some shots that defied the logic of the situation facing them. India in their second innings capitulated as badly as they have in each of their Test innings in the series.Was New Zealand’s batting in the first innings the result of being 1-0 up in a two-Test series? Or was it a hint that Mark Richardson was more of New Zealand’s saviour in the first Test than was earlier appreciated?The batting is not in good shape, and given a seven-match one-day series is next on the menu, there is plenty of cause for concern.Lou Vincent sent a regulation catch for first slip Rahul Dravid off Zaheer Khan.Richardson was leg before wicket to Khan, although it had to be wondered why, if Richardson was out why Fleming who was even more in line when he was struck an over earlier wasn’t out?Craig McMillan spent 28 minutes over an unconvincing four before going in similar fashion to Vincent.Nathan Astle launched into a cut in the direction of backward point off the second ball he faced but found Harbhajan Singh waiting to accept a not-too-difficult chance.Fleming was upset by movement around the sightscreen for a long period and then once it was sorted offered a straightforward return catch to Khan.Jacob Oram had a rush of blood and failed to apply full power to his attempted drive after going down the wicket to Harbhajan, generally fatal and no different in this case.Styris then fell leg before wicket to Harbhajan, to be followed by Robbie Hart who went leg before wicket to Khan, both of them being reasonable shouts.Daryl Tuffey played some of the best strokes of the innings but wasn’t able to turn quickly enough after being sent back by Daniel Vettori and was run out on the third umpire’s call and he was followed by Vettori who edged Khan to V V S Laxman at second slip.India’s second innings was fortified largely by an innings of hope from Sachin Tendulkar worth 32 and another innings in miniature from Dravid who was out for 39. Tendulkar played on a ball from Tuffey while Dravid opened up to a wider ball from Oram and cut it to substitute fieldsman Michael Mason at point.Virender Sehwag, dropped down the order to allow the opportunity to play more of his shots, confirmed the worth of that theory by lashing 25 runs off 18 balls, being especially severe on fast man Shane Bond. However, Bond had him out in an over in which he had taken 14 runs from Bond, when an off drive was well taken by Tuffey at mid-off diving forward to snare a rocket-like shot.And at the end Harbhajan contained his natural bent long enough to accumulate 18 runs before edging a ball to Hart.But it was controlled spells of bowling from Oram and Tuffey, who each took four for 41 that got New Zealand back in the match, and the opportunity to take a 2-0 scoreline from the series, something few anticipated before the series started.Khan and Harbhajan appeal as the biggest hurdles New Zealand will have to overcome.

Pakistan have won the toss and chosen to bat in the first match of theNatWest Series at Edgbaston amid cacophonous support for both sides.Alec Stewart admitted that England started this series as “third favourites”after the two finalists of the last World Cup; Australia and Pakistan. Thenews that Graham Thorpe has had to pull out of this match injured with acalf problem will do nothing to shorten their odds.For England Hoggard comes in for the injured Caddick and there is a debutfor Paul Collingwood on the ground where he hit his career best score just afew weeks ago. The omens are good for the Durham all-rounder: on hisfirst-class debut he took a wicket with his first ball and then struck 91.England would be grateful for a similar start today.In the absence of White and Flintoff, Ben Hollioake has a fresh chance tofulfil the promise of his international debut four years ago. Ealham andMullally also return for the hosts, while Cork is retained in preference tothe spinner, Croft.Pakistan have planning of their own to do for the 2003 World Cup in SouthAfrica. Sami and Shoaib show immense promise, but are still some way fromamply replacing the ageing Waqar and Wasim. The only change in their teamtoday from the Old Trafford Test is the return of Shahid Afridi at the topof the order for Faisal Iqbal.Hail and heavy rainfall in the morning have done nothing to dampen thespirits of a capacity crowd. A strong wind may keep the rain away, but withdew expected later it was probably a good toss for Waqar to win. The pitchis dry though and thought likely to take spin.

With Jacques Kallis pacing his innings to perfection and Jonty Rhodes scampering hither and thither, South Africa made tracking down Sri Lanka’s best score of the series seem pretty much routine as they won the third Standard Bank one-day international at Boland Park by eight wickets on Tuesday.

It was never quite as easy as that and it was by no means South Africa’s most polished performance in the field, but with Kallis and Rhodes apparently nerveless, Sri Lanka were again unable to check the onward surge of a supremely confident home team.Sri Lanka’s tour is not over, not just yet. By winning the next three one-dayers and the third Test they could square both series. But it takes some leap of faith to believe that Sanath Jayasuriya’s tourists still have something in reserve to draw upon.For once the Sri Lankan top three fired. Romesh Kaluwitharana made 83 and Jayasuriya 66 as they put on 110 for the first wicket and with Marvan Atapattu adding an unbeaten 51, they managed to post 247 for four. It seemed a decent enough total, if 10 or 15 short of what they really needed, but South Africa still had to get them.There were a number of uncharacteristic lapses in the field from the South Africans, six or seven dropped catches depending on the harshness of the judge. The worst of them came from Alan Dawson, who missed Kaluwitharana at long on, and Makhaya Ntini, who dropped Mahela Jayawardene coming in from the cover boundary.And Herschelle Gibbs managed to get himself trapped leg before off the second ball he faced to give the Sri Lankans an early lift in the field. Gibbs was also out second ball in the Newlands Test match and the debate about his selection has shifted from the morality of it all to if and when he’s going to get going again.Gibbs displaced Boeta Dippenaar at Newlands, but a hand injury to Gary Kirsten opened the door for the Free Stater on Tuesday, and a polished 65 has ensured that Dippenaar has still a strong claim to a more permanent place.As well as Dippenaar played, though, Kallis and Rhodes were quite outstanding. Kallis reached his 100 with what proved to be the last ball of the game – a pull through midwicket to take South Africa to victory.It was just as well for him that he reached the boundary. Rhodes was also still around, unbeaten on 75 off 59 balls and it seems certain that had Kallis not made his century, the man of the match award would have gone to the Natalian.They each played their hands quite beautifully, Kallis all controlled power and assurance while Rhodes dashed up and down, improvising at each and every turn. Rhodes produced the shot of the match, a reverse sweep off Muttiah Muralitharan which dropped just inches inside the point boundary rope.It was a stroke that said a fair deal about South Africa’s view of Muralitharan. They believe he will always take wickets in Test matches, but they do not fear him and the hold he had over them just six months ago on his home soil has been broken.Despite losing by eight wickets, Sri Lanka played well on Tuesday. Their batsmen produced, they hustled on the field, but on a good batting wicket they just didn’t have anyone to take wickets at important stages and the South Africans were able to build match-winning partnerships.It ended with seven balls to spare, but South Africa’s victory suggested that the home team always had a bit in hand. Can Sri Lanka now win three ODIs and a Test match straight off? You wouldn’t want to put your house on it.

The way young cricketers come through the ranks in Indian cricket is set to undergo a radical change with the Junior Cricket Committee making some strong recommendations that will put India more in line with the Australian way of running their feeder tournaments. The primary aim is to reduce the quantity of cricket played and put the accent on quality. The under-15 and under-17 grades of cricket will be done away with and a new under-16 age competition will be created. Further the under-22 concept will be done away with, and the team will play as an A side.”The honorary secretary was of the opinion that the accent in age-group cricket was on quantity and as a result quality was suffering,” a Board of Control for Cricket in India source revealed. “The total number of matches played in junior tournaments is very large and now with the addition of women’s cricket there is over pressure on the grounds and wickets resulting in sub-standard playing conditions,” the junior cricket committee concluded in its last meeting in Mumbai on December 24.One of the primary concerns revolved around the utilisation of resources in each situation. With increasing pressure junior cricketers were not in a position to benefit from the facilities and infrastructure that was intended for them.Keeping in mind these conditions the committee, after discussing “the matter threadbare,” decided that state and national tournaments will be played at the under-16 level only. Matches within each zone will be played on a league basis and the top two teams will contest a knock-out tournament at the national level.The age-group that remains untouched is the under-19, thanks primarily to the Cooch Behar Trophy, which remains a flagship competition. However, even this is set for a revamp. Currently, matches are allotted to a single venue in a zone and all states from that zone compete to make it to the next round. It has been decided that this tournament will be played on a home and away basis. Even when it comes to the under-19 limited overs tournaments the BCCI has decided that matches will be taken to different venues within a state rather than being restricted to the one big venue.The under-22 inter state tournament will be converted to an A team format where each state can only field a maximum of three of its Ranji players in the side. This means that each state will be forced to use the under-22, or A competition to give young players coming through the ranks a chance to play competitive cricket at a level where the junior or national selectors are in attendance.The other item the committee took up in earnest was the revival of inter-school cricket at the national level. At the moment the School Games Federation of India is in charge of conducting the state, zonal and nation schools tournaments. However they lack both the expertise and the financial clout to conduct the cricket tournament in a manner befitting the interest levels that the sport generates. Therefore it was decided that the BCCI would become actively involved in the running of a national schools tournament.Two proposals were submitted in this regard. The first model suggested that each state “hold their inter-school tournament comprising a minimum of eight school teams. The top two teams from the zone would automatically qualify to play the all India knock-out tournament.”The second model proposes that each state pick a team of schoolboys, from various schools, to represent them. Each of these states will then play in an inter-zonal tournament and once more the top two sides from each zone will play in the national tournament. However, after discussion that focused mostly around how the states would actually pick the schoolboys team to represent them, this model was discarded. It was decided that the first model be adopted.What this will do is ensure that each school had a sense of pride in its team and it will be possible to eventually identify a “National Cricket Champion School.”

Allan Border said it was “totally inappropriate” and “plain wrong” for Sunil Gavaskar to link the death of David Hookes to the conduct of Australian cricketers on the field. Border said Gavaskar had missed the point and did not seem to appreciate that different behaviour was acceptable in different cultures.”I consider Sunny a friend, but what he said about David Hookes and the behaviour of Australian cricketers was totally uncalled for,” Border told . “What Sunny said on television was totally inappropriate.”Gavaskar suggested on the Australian players might get physically attacked if they used similar language in a bar as they use on the field. “There’s the example of the late David Hookes,” Gavaskar said. “Would they get away with it? Would they have a fist coming at their face or not?”Border said there was no need to mention Hookes, who died after an altercation outside a Melbourne nightclub in 2004. “For [Gavaskar] to link David’s death to players allegedly misbehaving on a cricket field is plain wrong,” Border said. He argued that Gavaskar was misinterpreting Australia’s aggressive brand of play.”Where Australia may be seen to be playing the game hard and tough could be misconstrued on the subcontinent,” Border said. “Similarly, the way India plays the game at times may not be to the liking of every Australian. Cricket is a global sport in which different cultures lock horns out in the middle. Only the nuances of the game may vary from country to country.”While a cricketer on the subcontinent or the West Indies may find an Australian bowler’s remark to a particular batsman of ‘you lucky b——‘ offensive, to players in other teams it’s not. Sunny has missed the point here badly. He’s clearly overlooked the fact there are different cultures at work.Darren Lehmann, a close friend of Hookes, backed Border’s reaction. “I’m pretty disappointed with Gavaskar,” Lehmann said. “His remarks only hurt David Hookes’ family and friends, and tarnish Hookesy’s memory. A man of Gavaskar’s stature in the game of cricket should know better.”Lehamnn said Gavaskar’s outburst was “in bad taste” and he had ignored the fact that umpires and match referees had the power to take action if players’ behaviour on the field was inappropriate. “I came into the international arena a few years after he had retired,” Lehmann said. “He was a player I admired. Not any more.”

Rajshahi 106 for 5 (Jahurul Islam 58*) beat Sylhet 103 (Shafaq Al Zabir 3-19, Suhrawadi Shuvo 3-9) by five wickets
Scorecard
Points tableRajshahi retained their National Cricket League one-day crown with two rounds remaining when they secured a five-wicket win against Sylhet at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium.Shafaq Al Jabir and Mushfiqur Rahman’s opening burst reduced Sylhet to 42 for 5 and although they recovered slightly, their score of 103 was never enough. Rajshahi suffered early setbacks, but Jahurul Islam, the Man of the Match, played an anchor innings of 58 off 98 balls to guide his side home with 20 overs to spare.Rajshahi, with a 100 per cent record and 16 points, are clear of Chittagong, who caught up with Dhaka after a 29-run victory over them. Bottom placed Barisal moved up the table with an impressive six-wicket win over Khulna

Eagles 318 for 8 (Bosman 74, Deacon 52*) v Dolphins
ScorecardThe Eagles’ lower order recovered well on the first day of the SuperSport Series final at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein, hauling themselves back from 163 for 5 to 318 for 8 after the Dolphins had threatened to take early control of the match.After the Eagles had won the toss and batted first, Lady Luck smiled on the their opening pair of Davey Jacobs and Jonathan Beukes, as edges flew past and over the Dolphin slip cordon. Lance Klusener was especially unlucky as 12 boundaries were notched up in the opening 10 overs.At 60 for 0 the Eagles seemed set for a big score but a change in fortunes came when Jacobs was well caught in the slips by Russell Symcox. A second good catch by Symcox brought an end to Beukes’ innings, while Klusener trapped both Boeta Dippenaar (20) and Morne van Wyk (11) lbw. When Ryan Bailey was caught behind off Symcox, the Eagles slumped to 163 for 5.With wickets falling all around, only Loots Bosman retained his composure. He scored 45 in a 57-run partnership with van Wyk and then began to rein himself in, but he was unluckily caught down the leg side off Dale Benkenstein. His 74 included 11 fours, and involved a half-century stand with Ryan McLaren. A patient 30 from McLaren, caught behind off Symcox, brought Cliff Deacon and Dillon du Preez together at 226 for 7.A frustrating two hours followed for the Dolphins as their partnership grew to 69, but the new ball eventually made the breakthrough with du Preez edging Kent to slip for 31. Deacon went to an excellent fifty, his third, finishing not out on 52 at the end of the 90 overs with the Eagles 318 for 8.