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Hawke’s Bay batsman Jesse Ryder gave another demonstration of his batting worth when scoring 181 for the New Zealand Academy on day two of their three-day match with the Australian Academy at Townsville yesterday.Academies from the two countries and South Africa are taking part in a special series of games over the next fortnight.Ryder, a key member of the New Zealand Under-19 team at the ICC Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, played a much more sedate role than the hard-hitting demonstrations he gave then.He faced 299 balls during his innings and hit 27 fours and one six.Australia batted first and lost three wickets quickly. Kyle Mills had an especially welcome return when taking a wicket with his first ball, courtesy of a leg before wicket decision. Australia were 56/4.Australia’s response was led by Liam Buchanan, who took 16 from off-spinner Jeetan Patel’s first three deliveries and by lunch they were 70/4 off 23 overs.Buchanan and Mark Cosgrove increased the momentum of the innings with Buchanan’s half century coming off 43 balls. He added 102 runs with Cosgrove and went on to score his century off only 92 balls with some fine shots in front of the wicket and some severe pull shots.However, when on 109 he chased a wider ball from Joseph Yovich and edged it to Ryder in the slips.Patel came back into his own once Buchanan was out and had the wicket of Beau Casson for 12. Australia eventually declared at 325/8.James McMillan took three for 74, and Mills two for 58. New Zealand’s over rate was very slow and there were problems with no-balling.New Zealand suffered a setback when Shanan Stewart was dismissed off the first ball of the innings and when play was abandoned early due to shadows on the pitch, New Zealand were 15/1.Due to the slow over rate of the first day, play started 30 minutes early on the second day. Jordan Sheed was the first wicket to fall when the score was 57. However, opener Ryder contained his usual aggression and produced an outstanding display of his potential. His 50 came up in 129 minutes off 105 balls. As he and Rob Nicol combined in a fine second wicket stand of 190, they took full toll of the tiring Australian attack.Ryder’s century was scored in 246 minutes off 199 balls while Nicol’s half-century took 114 minutes off 101 balls. Nicol was first out for 78 just before the tea break.However, while Ryder continued to build his innings, the incoming batsmen were too keen to get on with the job and when play finished on the day New Zealand were 348/7. Brett Geeves took three for 55 and Aaron Bird three for 29 for Australia.

England’s hopes of getting the winning result out of the first National Bank Test against New Zealand in Christchurch largely depend on how they do tomorrow.Dismissed for 228 by New Zealand on the first day, but with the pitch still offering some encouragement to the bowlers, England have to make the most of it to put the pressure back on New Zealand.

And already the home team is without opener Mark Richardson who was out leg before wicket for two, as New Zealand ended the day on nine for one.That England scored so many was attributable to the innings played by captain Nasser Hussain. His 106 gave the innings substance.The top order had been ripped out by Chris Cairns when he took Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher in his first over and then picked up Michael Vaughan later.Hussain came to the wicket before a run had been scored and departed, the last man out for his 10th Test century. It could best be described as a functional innings scored in testing circumstances as the New Zealanders made good use of the sporting conditions.He took 307 minutes to reach the mark and his total innings time was 323 minutes. His 50 was scored off 113 balls, although he waited 19 balls on 49 to reach that mark.He did have a life when on 52, when a straightforward chance was put down by New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming at first slip. But for the main part he showed a degree of resourcefulness aptly suited to the match situation.It was a classic example of a captain leading the way and showing the sort of application that the less experienced batsmen in the side needed.”There were a large percentage of unplayable balls,” he said.The ball was still leaving little green marks in the pitch and that offered hope there would still be life tomorrow when play resumes. There is also the prospect of rain overnight.”I knew it might zip around a little but the ball does go off for four very quickly. It is by no means impossible but it was a bowler-friendly wicket,” he said.”You were never fully in on it, but you had to have positive intent. It was nice getting a hundred and to carry your team as captain but we were 20-30 runs short.”It was important that I got a hundred. I have had a lot of scores between 30 and 80 but today I was determined. I saw Ricky Ponting on television this morning score his 10th century and I said to myself it was about time I scored a century,” he said.”At the moment we are in the game,” he said.Ten Test centuries was a goal he had set himself some years ago and he had wanted to do it in Mohali, in India, for different reasons last year but he was happy to get one in New Zealand.”I can’t emphasise just how important tomorrow is,” he said.Two bad umpiring decisions did nothing to aid the England cause.The first was suffered by Mark Ramprakash when umpire Asoka de Silva, named yesterday on the elite ICC panel of eight umpires, gave Ramprakash out to a ball that was never near his bat and, in fact, came off the top of his pad to be taken by wicket-keeper Adam Parore.He was out for 31 having helped Hussain add 56 runs for the fifth wicket at a vital stage of the innings.Later, Andy Caddick was given out, leg before wicket, by Brent Bowden from an inswinging yorker bowled by fast man Ian Butler, when the ball looked to be heading down the leg side. He was out for a duck.Hussain was last man out, leg before wicket for 106 off Chris Drum’s bowling. He clearly wasn’t happy with de Silva’s decision but on the replay he wasn’t as harshly done by as Caddick.Cairns’ opening burst was a triumph of experience over enthusiasm as affected Drum and Butler during the first stages of their spells. He had three for 32 after his first seven overs, eight of them from deliberate slashes over the gully area for boundaries.By the end of the innings he had three for 58.Drum, who gained the valuable wicket of Graham Thorpe for 17, courtesy of a slip catch by Fleming, maintained the remarkably low bowling average he has enjoyed in domestic cricket this summer by taking three for 36 from his 20.2 overs.Matthew Hoggard did give England something to cheer about however, when removing the dangerous New Zealand opener Richardson for two with a fine ball that left no doubt about his fate.

India’s newly-appointed national selectors, the first set to be paid by the BCCI, will be on a four-year contract which will be reviewed annually, according to Shashank Manohar, the board’s new president. Manohar was confirmed as Sharad Pawar’s successor at the annual general meeting in Mumbai, while Kris Srikkanth was appointed the new chairman of the selection panel.The BCCI unveiled its new list of office-bearers at the meeting, and declared revenues of Rs 1000.14 crore (approximately US$215 million) for the previous year, with Rs 559.31 crore coming from media rights alone. While the board’s revenues have jumped by 36% from the previous year, according to its annual report, its profit for 2007-2008 is Rs 303.15 crore.The BCCI also approved the increased payments for domestic players, and has decided to set up an exclusive sports medicine centre.While those were the major announcements, the handover was smooth and underlined the fact that the reshuffle was essentially a result of an arrangement that will continue to see Pawar, who is the ICC vice-president, remain firmly in control of Indian cricket, albeit in an advisory capacity. Manohar, said to be a hardliner, is a staunch loyalist of the federal minister.In fact, the new arrangements that were formalised today resembled a game of musical chairs among administrators of the ruling group. N Srinivasan, the previous BCCI treasurer, is now its secretary, and takes over from Niranjan Shah, who has been accommodated as IPL vice-chairman. Sanjay Jagdale, the former selector, takes over from MP Pandove as the board’s joint secretary; Pandove is now the treasurer.Among other significant appointments, Lalit Modi, who heads the IPL and Champions League, will now also head the BCCI’s influential fixtures committee that decides on venues and dates for international matches in India. Modi remains on the marketing committee, which is headed by Pawar.Besides Srikkanth, the other national selectors are Yashpal Sharma (North Zone), Raja Venkat (East), Surendra Bhave (West) and Narendra Hirwani (Central). N Srinivasan, who takes over as secretary from Niranjan Shah, will be the convenor of the selection panel. MP Pandove replaces Srinivasan as treasurer while Jagdale is the new joint secretary. The five vice-presidents are Arun Jaitley (North Zone), Shivlal Yadav (South), Arindam Ganguly (East), Chirayu Amin (West), and Lalit Modi (Central).The BCCI also named its junior selection committee, which will be chaired by Abey Kuruvilla, the former India bowler, and also includes Sanjeev Sharma, Sanjay Desai, Rajesh Bohra and Rajendra Singh Hans. The panel will be convened by Jagdale.Shah has been appointed to a new post – the vice-chairman of the council. The governing council also includes Chirayu Amin, Farooq Abdulla, Rajeev Shukla, IS Bindra, Arun Jaitley, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and the Nawab of Pataudi.The BCCI announced that cricketers who played the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy will earn Rs 37,000 per match day, up from Rs 25,000-26,000 in 2006-07. They also nominated umpires Amiesh Saheba and Suresh Shastri to the ICC panel.The Indian board granted Affiliate Memberships to the Meghalaya Cricket Association, Nagaland Cricket Association, and Arunachal Cricket Association while Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association and Bihar Cricket Association were given Associate Membership.For a full list of the BCCI appointments click here.

The South African National selectors have shown faith in the squad that did duty against Sri Lanka by naming an unchanged 15 for the first two Standard Bank One-Day Internationals starting in Durban on Sunday 8 November.The selection of Monde Zondeki, who took a wicket with the first ball he bowled in an ODI, will give the South African coaching staff additional time to work with young pace bowler’s run-up and action.With the top order still causing some concerns, places for the final World Cup 15 are up for grabs. Now is the time for players like Graeme Smith, Boeta Dippenaar and Neil Mckenzie to put their hands and grasp their ticket to their dreams.Pakistan, with a fearsome pace attack, is going to put the South African batsmen to the test and will create far more pressure than what they have had in the past two series. Those that withstand this pressure will find themselves lining up in Cape Town come February 8th.The full squad is:Shaun Pollock – Captain, Mark Boucher – Vice-Captain, Boeta Dippenaar, Nicky Boje, Allan Donald, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Neil McKenzie, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith, Monde Zondeki.

Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister, has urged the BBC to reconsider its decision not to cover the first-ever ODI between Scotland and England at the Grange in August.Salmond is a cricket fan and believes that the BBC does not do enough to cover sport outside major events such as rugby’s Six Nations Championships, football’s European Championships and Wimbledon. He said it was “hugely disappointing” that the BBC had chosen to snub the historic cricketing contest in Scotland on August 18, which is likely to feature stars such as Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and possibly Andrew Flintoff.It is, according to the Cricket Scotland chief executive, Roddy Smith “the biggest match we have ever staged” and is expected to draw a capacity crowd of 6000.Salmond will be there in person, but intends to raise the matter at Holyrood this week and has the support of Margo MacDonald, the chairperson of the parliament’s Cross-Party Sports group.”This is an important sporting event in Scotland and television and radio should be rising to the occasion,” said Salmond. “It would be hugely disappointing if it came and went without being broadcast and it should certainly be shown, given the widespread and growing interest in the game throughout Scotland.”MacDonald, who is the honorary patron of Edinburgh CC has already written to the BBC to express her dismay at the decision. Cricinfo has a copy of her letter, which spells out her belief that BBC Scotland should stop obsessing over football and provide a better service to licence payers.”Whilst appreciating the massive commitment to the Olympic Games, I still think that BBC Scotland has a duty to cover important sporting events in their own country,” said MacDonald. “This cricket match, I believe, could act as an effective catalyst in persuading youngsters in particular to engage in a sport in which Scotland is growing its own heroes and role models.”It seems strange, to say the least, that the BBC should not deem this one-day event worthy of coverage. This is a historic, ground-breaking occasion, and I intend to fight this decision.”The BBC has been widely criticised for its failure to cover the recent Scotland rugby tour of Argentina, where they beat the Pumas for the first time since 1990. Salmond and MacDonald have no intention of allowing the Corporation to show a similar lack of interest in the cricket.

BRISBANE, Oct 17 AAP – Left-hander Lee Carseldine posted his maiden first-class century as Queensland piled on the runs against NSW on the second day of the Pura Cup cricket match at the Gabba.At tea, the Bulls were 5-480 with Carseldine (110 not out) taking over from Brendan Nash (176) to make the Blues sweat through a Brisbane day reaching temperatures of 33 degrees.Wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe joined in the runs with 43 not out as Queensland batted itself towards an unbeatable position against a NSW team which improved its bowling today without achieving results.But the Blues needed more luck, watching Carseldine reach his century with an edge between wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and floating slip Michael Clarke.Carseldine had survived 240 balls, batting for almost five hours to give Queensland an imposing total.Stuart MacGill (2-143) extended his workload to 46 overs, taking the only wicket today when he had Nash caught behind by Brad Haddin.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body for cricket from playground to Test arena. Its Performance Department is responsible for identifying and developing the most talented young cricketers in the country, and the development and implementation of national development and coaching programmes.In order to continue the substantial progress made to date, the ECB, with support from Sport England, has offered licences to seven First Class Counties to establish the foundations of a new national network of ECB County Cricket Academies. The aim of each County Academy is to identify cricketers who have the potential of playing at the highest level of the game, and provide them with the opportunity of fulfilling their potential.The Academy Director will be responsible for co-ordinating and delivering cricket programmes for the County Academy to accelerate and concentrate the cricket education of identified potential County and International cricketers. You will need an ECB Level III coaching award or international equivalent and experience as a County player (or extensive knowledge of First Class County Cricket). You must have a minimum of 3 years experience of coaching talented cricketers within the County of National Development of Excellence programmes. You will also possess excellent communication and organisational skills.The project will be centrally driven by the ECB but locally delivered. The Academy Director and support staff will be employed by the County Academy and applications for these posts will be passed on to the relevant County.Please telephone or write requesting an information pack to:Natasha Mason, ECB, Lord’s Cricket Ground, London NW8 8QZ.Email: [email protected] or telephone 020 7432 1171.Closing date for applications is Friday 6 December 2002.

CHELTENHAM & GLOUCESTER TROPHY
SEMI-FINALSOMERSET V KENTAT THE COUNTY GROUND, TAUNTON1 AUGUST 2002
(RESERVE DAY 2 AUGUST)Gates open 8.30 a.m.
Play starts 10.30 a.m.Somerset County Cricket Club announce that there are only 1,000 tickets left to be sold. There will be no tickets available on the day.Ticket prices for the above match are as follows:

Adult £18.00

Junior (under 16) £13.00

Tickets can be purchased in person from the main office at the County Ground or by post (all applications must be accompanied by a SAE) or by telephone using a credit / debit card (handling charge of £1.50 per application will be added). For telephone orders please call 01823 272946.During the Tourist Match v West Indies ‘A’ on Friday, non-members can purchase tickets from the turnstile on St James Street Gate (cash and cheque only no debit / credit cards).Providing there are tickets still available, the Club Office will be open on Saturday 27th 10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.The last day for buying tickets will be Monday 29th July at 5.00 p.m.

Glamorgan Dragons have put themselves into a strong position in the race for the NUL title with a 103-run victory over Worcestershire Royals under lights at Sophia Gardens.The Dragons now have a six-point lead over Royals with only two games to come, but can take nothing for granted with tough encounters with Warwickshire Bears and Kent Spitfires to come.Royals could manage just 177 in pursuit of the Dragons 280-8, with none of their ‘big three’ of Solanki, Hick or Ben Smith able to make any impression against a disciplined Dragons bowling attack, well supported by excellent fielding.Royals, desperate for a good start as they began their testing chase, soon lost Anurag Singh, driving at Andrew Davies, while David Pipe followed attempting to pull a ball far too close to him from Kasprowicz.That brought Hick in to partner Solanki. The pair could make little headway against some tight bowling, however, and Solanki perished trying to make room for an expansive off-drive against Adrian Dale.With the pressure of a run-rate pushing up beyond eight an over, the vital wicket of Hick came when the former England star drove young David Harrison to mid-on. Smith followed, attempting the sharpest of singles, but failing to beat Robert Croft’s underarm throwLeatherdale struck a defiant 53 from 44 balls, including a driven six off Croft, but he found little support, and Royals last four wickets fell for just two runs.Earlier a fine partnership between Mike Powell and Matt Maynard was the basis of a formidable Dragons total. Initially Royals had seized the initiative through Alamgir Sheriyar. The left-arm seamer trapped Croft lbw in the first over, before the in-form Ian Thomas skied a leading edge to Batty off the same bowler.But Mike Powell, not afraid to drive over the top and surely worth a look for higher honours, led the fight-back in partnership with the veteran Matthew Maynard.At first Maynard was content to play second fiddle, but he began to unleash some of his trademark cuts and pulls as the Dragons made it to the 15 over mark at 84-2.Powell stuck the dangerous Kabir Ali for successive boundaries straight down the ground, before repeating the punishment to Sheriyar. Stuart Lampitt struggled with his line and David Leatherdale with his length as Dragons looked to have a score of 300 within their sights.But Powell, attempting an optimistic single, was run out for a fine 71 (from 81 balls) having been sent back by Maynard. The pair had added 133 off 113 balls.Maynard continued to flourish. Using his feet well to the spin, and displaying his huge range of back foot shots, it was something of a shock when he well caught and bowled, one-handed, as he drove hard at the promising Gareth Batty. He had made 87 from 72 balls.The 200 was brought up in the 33rd over, but Dale soon perished, driving Leatherdale lamely to mid-off as Royals appeared to have weather the storm.But Mark Wallace showed why he is so highly though of with a brisk 21 (18 balls), including an edged pull for six off Leatherdale, before clipping the same bowler to mid-wicket where Lampitt held a fine catch above his head.Steve James used his experience to steady the ship and hit a boundaryless 43 (55 balls) before attempting too sharp a single, and some lusty blows from Mark Kasprowicz and David Harrison gave the innings a late boost.Meanwhile in the second division Sussex Sharks were back in the swim with a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Hampshire Hawks at Hove.Kevin Innes took 4-26 as the Hawks subsided from 56-1 to 126 all out, with none of the batsmen progressing beyond 26.Dimitri Mascarenhas struck back at the start of the Sharks innings, dismissing Bas Zuiderent first ball and James Carpenter to reduce the hosts to 5-2, but Murray Goodwin stood firm, finishing unbeaten on 76 and adding 95 with Chris Adams, who made 30.Both the Sharks and the Hawks look destined to a place in the bottom four, however. That would mean a third round tie against first-class opposition in the third round of next year’s C&G Trophy, while their rivals will play against part-time players from the qualifying rounds.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers made limited progress in a rain-interrupted first day of their tour match against Durham at Chester-le-Street. Although Chaminda Vaas claimed two early victims to reduce Durham to 17 for two, the tourists then found wickets hard to come by as the hosts closed on 219 for four.England one-day international Paul Collingwood hit an impressive, unbeaten 103 to show the selectors that he can build an innings in the longer format of the game. Collingwood, 25, was in command from the start, and his first hundred of the season came off 119 balls with 14 fours and two sixes.Gordon Muchall, 19, compiled his maiden first-class 50 as he and Collingwood added 129 for the third wicket. Sri Lanka looked ill at ease in the cold, overcast conditions. In the 52 overs that were possible only Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa looked dangerous with the ball.Vaas, who is sure to be in the tourists’ side for the first Test againstEngland at Lord’s beginning on May 16, bowled Jon Lewis for nine as he played no stroke to a delivery that moved back off the seam to clip his off stump.Vaas then accounted for Pratt for four in the same over, with wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara taking a comfortable catch to leave the hosts in trouble.But after Muchall settled, Ishara Amerasinghe and Ruchira Perera struggled to bowl with the venom and accuracy of the opening pair. Spin was introduced in the 25th over in the form of Thilan Samaraweera, but Muchall immediately flicked the ball through midwicket for another boundary.Rain then halted proceedings for just over three hours. On the resumption, Muchall square-cut the first ball to the boundary and another cracking shot through extra cover brought up his half-century, 75 balls with seven fours.Collingwood soon followed to 50 off the same number of deliverieswith nine boundaries, but Muchall then went for 69, caught by Russel Arnold at second slip off Zoysa with the score on 146.Nicky Peng was also caught by Arnold off the same bowler for 17 but Collingwood continued to dominate with a rich array of strokes including two huge sixes off Samaraweera. Ashley Thorpe, making his first-class debut, joined Collingwood and the duo added 24 before bad light brought an early close.