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Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Wasim Jaffer and VRV Singh checked in at the National Cricket Academy for the fitness test ahead of the South Africa series, starting on March 26. Over the next few days, Sourav Ganguly, RP Singh and Pankaj Singh will also undergo routine tests.Rahul Dravid, who has been recuperating from a finger injury that he picked up in the Adelaide Test against Australia, was also seen at both the morning and evening nets. “My finger injury has healed and I am feeling fine now,” he said.Dravid has not played any competitive cricket since the Australian tour – he didn’t turn out for Karnataka in the recent Ranji one-dayers – but has had intensive practice with the bowling machine for the last few days.The tests today – held under the supervision of Paul Chapman, the physical conditioning coach, and Paul Close, the physiotherapist – included skinfolds, bleep tests, repeat sprint and aerobic strength tests.Pankaj was supposed to arrive today but it’s learnt that his physio in the Rajasthan Cricket Association wrongly believed that he could issue a fitness certificate himself. Pankaj is carrying a slight niggle in the back and it will be interesting to see how he fares in his fitness test on Friday.While the more well-known bleep test involves short sprints, the aerobic vertical jump test records the difference between the height reached at full stretch with feet on the ground and from a standing jump. The skinfolds test uses callipers to measure body fat.While Laxman, Singh and Jaffer left for the airport to catch their respective flights, Kumble, the local boy, bowled for 30 minutes at the NCA ground. He started off with some spot bowling before using his full regular run-up. As he left the ground, Dravid came in for his evening nets session.

Scorecard

John Eugene blasted the first century in Stanford 20/20 history, but could not prevent St Maarten from falling short of St Vincent and the Grenadines by ten runs at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Coolidge.Eugene, who claimed the US$25,000 Man-of-the-Match award, gave St Vincent a scare by launching into a late-over blitz with the run-rate having climbed to 18 runs an over, smashing 20 off the 17th over, 24 off the 18th and 14 off the 19th. But with 14 required in the final over, Eugene could not sustain the momentum against left-arm seamer Keon Peters, who conceded only four runs to clinch a ten-run win for St Vincent. Eugene, however, managed to bring up his hundred off 46 balls.St Maarten, chasing 169, found it difficult to get off the blocks, scoring just 50 in ten overs, and slumped further to 88 for 5 as legspinner Orlanzo Jackson claimed three wickets. But the tide changed when the 37-year-old Eugene, who hit seven fours and six sixes, added 66 for the sixth wicket with Kenroy David, who contribution with eight.Opting to bat, St Vincent rode on an unbeaten 37-ball 73 by wicketkeeper Lyndon James. James took his team to a commanding position after they had lost four wickets for 50. Most of James’ runs came during his unbroken 118-run fifth-wicket stand with Alston Bobb (38 off 27 balls),During his innings, James seemed to have his sight set on hitting the clock tower at the top of the Southern Stand, with two of his four sixes coming close to fetching him a US$100,000 bounty. But he had to be content with the Play-of-the-Day award worth $10,000 for launching a six out of the ground and into the adjoining airport runway.

Without taking anything away from Zimbabwe’s first ODI win over West Indies, the next four matches will show if this was a flash in the pan or the start of something more substantial.Since taking over from Kevin Curran as Zimbabwe coach, Robin Brown has been singing the one tune: the need to reverse an inherited negative approach towards the game by his players which was a hallmark of the Curran regime. “The days of playing to compete are over,” he is reported to have told local reporters at a press meeting on the eve of the first ODI.Curran sent his players out to do no more than bat out the overs, with the result that rarely did they ever give themselves a chance to win matches. It was safety first and that negativity spread to the players. “My contract doesn’t say that I have to win matches, it says as long as I am competitive, then my employers are happy,” he boasted. In the end, even swatches of non cricketers within the ZC board realised that was not a viable approach.Brown oozes self-assurance in the midst of adversity. His confidence lies in his own ability as a cricket instructor of note, and his power to uplift and overhaul the whole attitude of a bunch of young players, who he has bluntly told to pull up their socks.The results have been apparent from as early as his first assignment when Zimbabwe stunned Australia at the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa. For once the Zimbabwe Cricket board deserves a pat on the back for a cricket decision which seems to be bearing early fruits.The players too are buying into Brown’s regime. Commenting on his outstanding all-round performance which earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, Chamu Chibhabha paid tribute to the coach, saying that he “allows us to play our natural game.” That could never have been said under Curran.Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya, who seems to be growing in confidence under Brown, admitted that his side can no longer use inexperience as an excuse for poor cricket and self-inflicted defeats.It is certainly an approach which can be taken forward. But will it be? Only time will tell and much will be clearer by the end of the week. Zimbabwe have the remaining four matches to prove that their first ODI win was no fluke, and that they can genuinely claim to be a bona fide member of the international cricket family.They need to take forward the positives from the first match, like the resurgence of Chibhabha and Elton Chigumbura as versatile players with the ability to deliver in all departments. This development has meant sure that the seam bowlers on the sidelines are kept on their toes as the team begin to rely more and more on players with all-round abilities.Zimbabwe cricket has a tendency of burning down its own house in order to build again. One hopes that they have learned and will leave cricket to cricket people and allow Brown to get on with the job in hand.

A trio of teenage pace bowlers will enjoy a taste of history on Thursday when they use a pink ball under match conditions for the first time. Queensland Fire’s Delissa Kimmince, Taija Davis and Jo Verrall will take part in the ground-breaking Twenty20 match between Queensland and the Western Fury at the Gabba as the women trial the pink balls.The following day, South Australia Scorpions will host Victoria in a WNCL match that will be under lights – the first women’s match to be held as a day-nighter. Those matches are crucial, with South Australia needing two wins in two to guarantee a place in the final which will be hosted by New South Wales later this month.Over in Queensland, Davis, 16, will make her state debut while 18-year-olds Kimmince and Verrall will shoulder additional responsibility with Kirsten Pike being rested ahead of Friday and Saturday’s WNCL encounters. The Twenty20 game is also the first time the Fire have played at the Gabba and will be the curtain-raiser to tomorrow’s KFC Twenty20 game between Queensland and Tasmania.Additionally, the Fire players will wear pink caps and pink wrist bands with Queensland Cricket and the National Breast Cancer Foundation combining for the match to raise awareness and funds for research towards finding a cure for breast cancer.Queensland selectors have left out spinner Dawn Holden and included off-spinner Kirby Short for her first match this year, as well as adding Rikki-Lee Rimmington the squad.Queensland Twenty20 squad Melissa Bulow (capt), Jude Coleman, Lyndall Daley, Taija Davis, Danielle Hollis, Delissa Kimmince, Kasee Marxsen, Jodie Purves, Casey Reibelt, Rikki-Lee Rimmington, Kirby Short, Jo Verrall.Queensland WNCL squad Melissa Bulow (capt), Jude Coleman, Lyndall Daley, Danielle Hollis, Delissa Kimmince, Cindy Kross, Kasee Marxsen, Kirsten Pike, Jodie Purves, Rikki-Lee Rimmington, Kirby Short, Jo Verrall, Megan White.Western Fury squad for both Avril Fahey (capt), Renee Chappell, Emma Biss,,Nicole Bolton, Lauren Ebsary, Angele Gray, Peta Merrilees, Lauren Stammers, Holly Hyder, Charlotte Horton, Jenny Wallace, Amanda Williams, Jaimi Wilson.

An England cricket fan has been sentenced for scrawling racist graffiti on the seats at the Newlands ground in Cape Town.Matthew Weller, 33, from Wolverhampton, will either spent six months in jail, or pay £356 to compensate the Western Province Cricket Association, who maintain the ground. He had pleaded guilty to malicious damage to property. The magistrates’ court in Cape Town heard that he had used black felt-pen to scribble racist slogans and swastikas on 17 seats in the presidential pavilion at Newlands on Monday, the second day of the third Test between South Africa and England.The prosecutor, Catherine Putter, had told the court that the floodlights were turned on at the end of the day – costing the Newlands ground authorities £1000 – so that police could take photographs of the damage. A further £365 was spent on cleaning and staff costs relating to the graffiti.Putter said that the Newlands authorities had banned Weller from the rest of the Cape Town Test, and she had been instructed by them to seek a compensation order against him for the full £1365.At Weller’s first appearance earlier this week, JD Kotze, the presiding magistrate, had ordered that he make a public apology at Newlands while the Test was in progress, but this was rejected by the cricket authorities, as they felt it could “sour the game”.In a letter to them instead, Weller indicated his regret: “I am extremely sorry for any offence caused to the staff and patrons of the ground who may have witnessed the act, or those involved in the cleaning operation,” it read. “I wholly regret my actions, which were totally out of character and promise that I shall never again act in this manner.”Weller was an independent traveller, and not part of the Barmy Army.

A good innings from skipper Ronnie Irani who made 95, helped Essex torecover from 13 for three to make 292 all out in 103.2 overs againstfellow Division Two County Championship promotion hopefuls Glamorganat Southend on the first day today.Irani (95) and Stuart Law (70) put together a partnership of 111 forthe fourth wicket before Law fell to Robert Croft. Irani was out toDean Cosker, the left arm spinner.The other impressive performer for Essex was the debutant James Foster(52) who fell to Steve Watkin. For Glamorgan, Watkin, Croft and DarrenThomas took three wickets each.In reply, Glamorgan were 40 for 1 with Steve James being the batsmandismissed for 30 by Ashley Cowan. In the process he crossed 1000 runsfor the season.

As West Indies gear up to take on England in the four-Test series, their captain Brian Lara said his side had already put their NatWest Series final defeat behind them, and would take some positives into the Tests. West Indies did manage to reach the final of the three-way NatWest Series – eliminating England along the way – but were soundly beaten at Lord’s on Saturday.But Lara is convinced that the way forward is to forget the immediate past – which, in West Indies’ case, does not make for good reading anyway. In seven matches in the series, they were beaten three times, won two games against England, and had two washed out.An AFP report quoted Lara as saying, “We have got to separate this from the rest of the tour. Now the one-day series is over, and there are a lot of positives we can take into the next couple of months, like the fact we were in the final and England, the host country, were not.” However, the last time England and West Indies played a Test series, England won three Tests and drew the fourth earlier this year.”Also, we have had a few weeks of playing cricket in English conditions, whereas normally you arrive two weeks ahead of the first Test,” said Lara. “The guys have become accustomed to the weather, and we are in a better position for an upcoming Test series than if we had just arrived. Hopefully in the warm-up games batters can start thinking of long innings and bowlers getting the ball in the right areas and being more hostile.”West Indies have two three-day games – against MCC at Arundel and Sri Lanka A at Shenley – before the first Test starts at Lord’s on July 22.

India wilted under sustained England pressure in the field as the tourists successfully defended a total of 250 in the second one-day international. From the seemingly comfortable heights of 99 for two, the hosts subsided to 234 all out as England won by 16 runs to level the six-match series at one-all. Paul Collingwood was made man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 71, which was the highest score of the day.Sourav Ganguly again won the toss and asked England to bat in the hope of extracting some morning moisture. In the event they began steadily, posting 75 for the loss of both openers in the first 15 overs. Marcus Trescothick, the hero at Kolkata, took two boundaries before Ajit Agarkar made the first breakthrough. Trescothick was fractionally late on a pull, giving Dinesh Mongia time to run behind the square leg umpire to take a straightforward catch.Nasser Hussain joined Nick Knight, and well-judged running between the right and left-handers kept the scoreboard ticking over. Hussain found the mid-wicket fence by pulling a marginally short ball from Agarkar. But it was the pull that lost England their second wicket, as Knight hit Srinath straight to Harbhajan Singh at deep mid-wicket.Hussain was missed on 36 as he edged Ganguly and Ajay Ratra couldn’t hang on to a thickish edge behind the stumps. The England captain then swept Harbhajan behind square to bring up the tourists’ hundred, and Michael Vaughan caught the mood next ball by pulling Ganguly handsomely over mid-wicket. After surviving a close run-out decision, Hussain inexplicably lost patience against Ganguly, holing out to Agarkar at deep mid-on. Vaughan restored the momentum with a handsome boundary through extra cover.Vaughan went to his half century (59 balls, 4 fours), with a sweep off Sachin Tendulkar, and Collingwood used his feet to clip Anil Kumble wide of mid-on for his second boundary. The 36th over went for ten runs, six of them coming off the first ball as Collingwood swung Tendulkar to square leg where Harbhajan, having caught the ball just inside the boundary, was unable to release it as he stepped back on to the rope.Vaughan was then needlessly run out after miscuing a reverse sweep. As the ball went towards square-leg he hesitated when there should have been a straightforward single, and was left short of his ground at the bowler’s end. Andy Flintoff followed for five, swinging across a full-length ball from Harbhajan to lose his off stump. Kumble then bowled Ben Hollioake through the gate, leaving England on 192 for six and in danger of squandering their solid start. Amid the adversity Collingwood was still able to reach his 50 in style, swinging Kumble over mid-wicket. Following up with a mid-wicket six off Agarkar, the Durham all-rounder went on to see England through to the 250 mark, assisted by Jeremy Snape and then James Foster.India made a perfect start to the chase as Ganguly dispatched Darren Gough twice to the backward point boundary in the first over. A flashing square drive off Matthew Hoggard took Tendulkar off the mark in the second. It was a ball of fuller length from Hoggard that made the breakthrough as Ganguly, with minimal foot movement, edged a straightforward catch to Knight at second slip. But India kept up the momentum as Tendulkar took boundaries through mid-wicket off Hoggard, then through extra-cover and back down the ground off Gough, who made way for Flintoff after four overs.Hussain constantly shuffled his attack, with Snape coming on in the 19th over and England increasingly desperate for a breakthrough. It came fortuitously when Tendulkar was run out by a deflection, Hollioake getting a fingertip to a drive by Mongia which hit the stumps with Tendulkar, backing up, stranded yards out of his ground.England broke through again when Laxman failed to make his ground as he attempted a single after Mongia had clipped the ball to Collingwood at backward-point. Virender Sehwag then failed to get on top of a pull, Knight taking a good, tumbling catch at short mid-wicket. At 121 for four India were wobbling. They had a let-off when Badani was missed by Foster, who was standing up to Collingwood and couldn’t gather cleanly as Badani went down the track.Foster soon redeemed himself by playing a key role in yet another run-out. Mongia, trying for a second to Matthew Hoggard at long leg, failed to ground his bat as Foster took the return one-handed to break the wicket with milli-seconds to spare. Hollioake struck next, as Badani skied a slower ball to wide mid-on, where Flintoff jubilantly held the catch.A double bowling change led to more England euphoria as Flintoff trapped Ratra in front for 30 with the first ball of his new spell. Harbhajan immediately swung the Lancastrian to the fence at long-on, but India descended further into the mire as Snape trapped him lbw sweeping. Agarkar and Kumble batted sensibly to keep flickering Indian hopes alive, but with four overs remaining and India’s last two wickets still needing 30, Hussain turned to Gough. The Yorkshireman did the trick for his skipper with his 150th wicket in one-day internationals; Kumble slogged at a slower ball and Collingwood did wonderfully well to take a running catch over his shoulder at mid-wicket.Gough eventually finished it in the 49th over as Agarkar got a thin edge to Foster. England had triumphed amid the tension, and the series is still very much alive.

John Reid, the former New Zealand captain, has been appointed president of New Zealand Cricket (NZC). Reid succeeds Dave Hoskin, who held the position for three years.Announcing the news, Martin Snedden, chief executive of NZC, said: “John is respected worldwide for not only his skills as a player but also for his work as an international match referee. I have no doubt John will be a great ambassador for New Zealand Cricket in his new role.” Apart from the 58 Tests he played in – of which 34 were as captain – Reid was the match referee in 50 Tests and 98 one-day internationals.Snedden also praised Hoskin’s contribution during his period as president. “David did an excellent job for New Zealand Cricket during his three-year tenure and we appreciate the significant contribution he has made.”

South African cricket is going through a period of transition, and Gerald Majola, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board, is at the helm of the transformation process. He spoke to the media during the first Test at Kanpur.

On the reasoning behind such an inexperienced squad
As far as we are concerned, this is the best team for South Africa, as selected by our standards. We outlined those standards at the beginning of the season, and every player here has been selected on form. If you look at their statistics, they stand out.On the policy of including five or six black players in the squad, and whether that puts pressure on his selectors
I was asked this question in Parliament. A day earlier, at the selectors’ meeting, they had all agreed to pick the team based on form and not by any other qualification. But the selectors know about our transformation policy and they understand it.On the importance of the policy, given the controversies with the rugby team last year
Transformation in South Africa is very important, not only for cricket but for the entire country. We have to transform and know where we are coming from. South Africa suffered under apartheid for decades and transformation is something that doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a process. In 1998, the United Cricket Board started its own transformation chapter without any external pressure, because we understand that we have to transform the sport.Cricket is part of South Africa and we have set ourselves targets that we must achieve, which is why you now see black players being picked on merit. We have recently reduced our provincial teams from 11 to six, and the number of black players playing there is almost 50 percent. They are all coming through on merit and many of those performing well are also black. They are being selected on form and not because they are black. Thami Tsolekile, Alfonso Thomas and Charl Langeveldt, who is not here, are some of those players doing well.Is the emphasis on long-term planning or short-term goals?
It’s a long-term process and not a matter of numbers.Will you be distracted from this path if you lose a couple of series?
No, definitely not.How about the white players who feel they are being ignored?
No one is being ignored because everyone is selected on merit. So, any white player who performs will be selected.On including former players like Barry Richards in the development programme
You can’t force someone to do something they don’t want do. Barry Richards has chosen to be a commentator and that’s his field. You have others like [Ray] Jennings who are still involved in the system and therefore being used by it.Any special plans for the development programme?
Everyone has to have access to the sport. Previously some of us did not have access to the same facilities that our white colleagues did.On Mark Boucher being dropped
He was out of form.