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Scorecard

	John Eugene’s unbeaten 100 was not enough for St Maarten to chase down 169 © Stanford20/20

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.

Ricky Ponting and his boys are a sure draw with Indian television audiences © Getty Images

Australia and India could meet in a one-day series in North America this year with New York and Toronto shaping as the likely venues. But player workloads and the suitability of grounds mean the planned venture is no certainty, according to Cricket Australia.Michael Brown, CA’s operations manager, said India had approached Australia with a proposal for the limited-overs series. “You never say never but details at this stage are sketchy,” Brown told .Another possible stumbling block in the negotiations could be wrangling over the percentage of revenues to be shared between the two boards, with Australia reportedly demanding an equal share and the Indians demurring. Australia’s tight schedule features a trip to Zimbabwe in June, between the World Cup in March and April and the Twenty20 world championship in September.”There is also the issue of player leave,” Brown said. “So there are a few things to consider. India wanted to hold a tournament similar to the one we had in Kuala Lumpur.”A bilateral contest between India and the world’s number one team is aimed at capitalising on India’s lucrative pay television market, with each of the planned seven games expected to generate up to $6 million. A triangular contest would mean lesser returns for each participant and the possibility of a relative lack of viewer interest if India fails to reach the finals, as happened in the DLF Cup in Malaysia in October. The BCCI reportedly sold the offshore television rights for each game in the series that featured India for $US5.8m but had to offload the Australia-West Indies matches for only $US1.2m.The reported that India held the upper hand in negotiations as other nations would jump at the opportunity should Australia pass up the chance. But it also suggested the Indian board was desperate to play Australia if they hoped to raise $42 million from the series.It’s believed an indoor NFL stadium in New York would host the games, meaning the matches would be played on a synthetic pitch. But Brown had his own doubts. “I’m not even sure whether they would have a suitable ground in New York,” he said.

Australia 5 for 318 (Martyn 70, Symonds 66, Katich 60) beat Sri Lanka 7 for 202 (Jayawardene 50) by 116 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Andrew Symonds: cut loose with a 61-ball 66 to sink Sri Lanka © Getty Images

Australia overcame an indifferent start to crush Sri Lanka by 116 runs in the opening match of this season’s VB Series at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome. Only briefly, when Australia struggled in their first 15 overs, was this even a contest but from the moment their batsmen cut loose, it became an increasingly one-sided affair. There was more than enough entertainment to keep a decent crowd amused, but it left a suspicion that Sri Lanka will struggle to retain a foothold in the competition.The game’s watershed came in the 16th over when Damien Martyn was caught off a no-ball from Chaminda Vaas. He certainly did not hear the call and was trooping off before he became aware of the reprieve. He celebrated by smacking Vaas for a massive six over cover and never looked back. With Simon Katich, he added 74 in 11 overs and Australia disappeared into the distance.Sri Lanka began brightly after putting Australia in, dismissing both Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting for 13 in a rather low-key beginning, Gilchrist missing an attempted heave over midwicket and Ponting, after an indifferent stay, gave Ruchira Perera the charge and missed. At the 15-over drinks break, Australia were 2 for 64 and Sri Lanka, coming into this match in dreadful one-day form, sniffed the slightest of openings.But the real strength of this Australian side is that it bats in depth, and that frees their batsmen to play their shots with little fear. There was a certain inevitability that Katich, who had been trying to run himself out all afternoon – surviving several close calls because the fielders kept missing the stumps – would go that way. His luck finally ended when he had made 60, Tillakaratne Dilshan scoring a direct hit after a classic yes-no mix-up with Martyn.To the crowd’s delight, that brought in Andrew Symonds, and rather than check the momentum it just resulted in it going into overdrive. It was one of those days when everything he tried came off, and even when he mistimed his strokes the end result was still the same. With Martyn he added 106 at more than a run a ball and Marvan Atapattu could do little other than shuffle his bowlers around. The outcome was the same whatever he did, although the fielding was at times sloppy – Atapattu himself dropped Martyn – and against the world champions, that’s a luxury no side can afford.

Tillakaratne Dilshan loses his off stump as Sri Lanka lost their way © Getty Images

Martyn’s 64-ball 70 ended with a rather tired swish and Symonds (66 off 61) fell to a freak dismissal when his straight drive hammered into Michael Clarke’sboot and lobbed to Dilshan. It mattered little by then, and as Symonds departed he grinned at a smiling Clarke and indicated he was owed a post-match pint. You can laugh when you are cruising.Clarke and Michael Hussey then dismembered the corpse, improvising at will and smashing the ball to all parts as they added 90 in a little under 11 overs at the death.If Sri Lanka faced a daunting ask when they started their innings, it soon became almost impossible when Australia caught them cold. Brett Lee’s opening two-wicket burst and a third from Nathan Bracken all but ended this match as a contest as they slid to 3 for 31.Lee struck with his second ball, bring one back to clip Upul Tharanga’s off stump, and then in his second over Jehan Mubarak nicked one low to Ponting at second slip. With Australia’s fielding and bowling every bit as good as their batting had been, the game took on an increasingly one-sided feel, and when Kumar Sangakarra’s attempted leg-side flick looped to Clarke at mid-off, it was a question of by how much Australia would win.The remainder of Sri Lanka’s innings was of little consequence. Michael Vandort opted for crease occupation – always a good strategy in a one-day run chase – and made a turgid 48 off 117 balls before he ran himself out to end his and the crowd’s misery. Mahela Jayawardene made a breezy fifty of no consequence, James Hopes bowled a tidy spell, but it was all academic.Australia, in case anyone doubted it, looked to be back to their opposition-crushing best, but Sri Lanka have some serious issues to overcome. Since October they have won only two of the 12 ODIs they have played, and both of those have been in dead matches. On today’s evidence, that record is unlikely to improve during this series.

Adam Gilchrist lbw b Perera 13 (1 for 25)
Missed attempting swing over midwicketRicky Ponting b Perera 13 (2 for 58)
Simon Katich run out (Dilshan) 60 (3 for 132)
Damien Martyn b Fernando 70 (4 for 238)
Andrew Symonds c Dilshan b Mubarak 66 (5 for 241)

Upal Tharanga b Lee 2 (1 for 2)
Inswinger clipped off stumpJehan Mubarak c Ponting b Lee 2 (2 for 11)
Edged low to second slipKumar Sangakkara c Martyn b Bracken 16 (3 for 32)
Leading edge to attempted leg-side flick, looped to mid-offTillakaratne Dilshan b Bracken 29 (4 for 93)
Missed straight oneMichael Vandort run out (Ponting) 49 (5 for 118)
Poor judgment, well shortMarvan Atapattu c Katich b Hogg 8 (6 for 137)
Acrobatic catch above head at widish mid-offMahela Jayawardene c & b Hopes 50 (7 for 176)
Bowler held back ball, chipped return catch

What’s the score? 29-5 to the Aussies, according to Woolmer© Getty Images

The Pakistan Cricket Board wants to hear Bob Woolmer’s comments, in their original form, on the umpiring decisions in Australia, according to . Woolmer had alleged that his team were at the brunt of an overwhelming number of bad decisions – a statement that angered the ICC and sparked off a global discussion over the effect of appeals designed to influence umpires.Woolmer was reported under the ICC Code of Conduct for making a “public critisicm of, or inappropriate comment on a match-related incident or match official”. Since it was a Level 2 breach, Woolmer could lose at least 50% of his match fee or, in the event of a maximum penalty imposed, could even be banned for one Test or two ODIs. Considering that Pakistan play India next, the board will be keen to avoid the maximum penalty.Shaharyar Khan acknowledged that Woolmer’s comments, in their original form, were required by the board. “Yes, we have sought Woolmer’s comments after the International Cricket Council (ICC) drew our attention over the matter,” he said. “Apparently his comments are not severe, but we would see it once we get his comments.””It went 29-5 against us,” were the words that started a debate over umpires in Australia after Woolmer’s side returned from a tour there with few positives. More recently, a statistical point on this website noted that, since 2002, fewer Australians have been dismissed leg-before than players from any other side in Australia.

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.”

Peter McGlashan of Hawke’s Bay has been named captain of the New Zealand District Association team to play Bangladesh starting next Friday in Wanganui.The match is not a first-class fixture but a rare chance for players in the Hawke Cup regions to get exposure to playing an international side.District Associationteam manager Ross Dykes, says the side has been selected from New Zealand district teams only and does not include any players from the metropolitan areas or any current first-class players.”The majority of the team is made up of players who have previously played first-class cricket or who are now on the fringe of first-class selection,” says Dykes.”It’s a mixture of experience and up and coming talent who realise that it’s a rare honour for a district team to be playing an international side.”I’m sure they’ll be very competitive.”The team is: Peter McGlashan (captain, Hawke’s Bay), Tim Anderson (Nelson), Simon Andrews (Hamilton), Peter Fulton (Canterbury Country), Jaden Hatwell (Hamilton), Peter Ingram (Manawatu), Harley James (Canterbury Country), Taraia Robin (Hawke’s Bay), Grant Robinson (Hamilton), Neil Rushton (North Otago), Greg Todd (Wairarapa), Scott Baldwin (12th man, Wanganui).

Ravneet Ricky and Manish Sharma got off to an aggressive start againstSri Lanka in what was their first difficult match of thetournament. Both teams were keen to score a win in the match as thiswould make their future path in the tournament easier. In the end,India were keener than Sri Lanka and ended up being deserved winners -their third successive victory in the Super League.India began positively with Ricky (32) rattling up the bowlers withsome aggressive batting. After Ricky departed, the captain MohammadKaif played some good strokes before he was dismissed by spinnerDhammika for 12. Yuvraj Singh, the pick of the Indian batsmen in thetournament so far played in characteristic fashion as he made 36before he was run out. From this point on, the vice captain ReetinderSingh Sodhi, who has had a low key tournament thus far made a timely74 and helped India along to a challenging total. Some sensiblebatting towards the end by Niraj Patel, who made 43 without scoring asingle boundary and YV Rao (15) saw India to 242 off 50 overs.The Sri Lankan openers began positively, hitting the ball hard andfinding the boundary with regularity. The Indian bowlers did not losetheir composure and were well backed up by some very tightfielding. The Lankans lost wickets at regular intervals and the factthat the highest partnership of the innings was 57 for the seventhwicket tells its own tale. Only stumper RT Peiris (66) showed thetemperament required to play at the highest level. Unfortunately forhim, his gutsy innings was in vain as the hosts slumped to 201 allout.

First Division

	Essex’s innings ends as Danish Kaneria is caught by Eoin Morgan at Lord’s © Cricinfo

Jacques Rudolph’s century propelled Yorkshire to a handy 339 for 6 against leaders Somerset at Taunton, although he was nipped out just before the close for 155, one of a trio for Ian Blackwell. Rudolph and Gerard Brophy shared a fourth-wicket stand worth 130 before falling within 15 runs of each other. Somerset welcomed back Andy Caddick after his shoulder injury but he finished with 0 for 70 off 16 overs.Callum Thorp’s 5 for 64 was the highlight of a bowler’s day for Durham at Chester-le-Street, his third first-class five-for in 27 matches. The Harmison brothers cleaned up the other five between them, Stephen with two and Ben with 3 for 25. Michael Carberry and Sean Ervine both made fifties to push Hampshire‘s total to 239 but they should have done much better as their last eight wickets contributed only 80. Durham lost Mark Stoneman in reaching 59 for 2 and could have been in even more trouble had Michael Di Venuto not survived a claim for a catch at slip when he had made 6.The opening day of Kent‘s tussle with Sussex was lost to the rain at Canterbury. Having had to shift the FP Trophy quarter-final away from the ground on Wednesday, it was still not fit for play on Friday after steady drizzle throughout the morning. Play was abandoned at 3pm.To find out how Lancashire fared against Nottinghamshire, read John Ward’s report from Old Trafford.

Second Division

Charl Langeveldt and Graham Wagg took four wickets each as Derbyshire bowled out Worcestershire for a lowly 151 at Chesterfield. The visitors, who won the toss, were indebted to No. 10 Steve Magoffin’s 33 for lifting them from 101 for 9 to something slightly less paltry. Langeveldt claimed the key wicket of Vikram Solanki, superbly caught at second slip, then Graeme Hick dragged Jonathan Clare into his stumps. Clare could have had another, but spilled a tough return catch off Ben Smith, although wickets were never far away.Stand-in captain Ian Westwood batted all day to make an unbeaten 139 as Warwickshire reached 278 for 4 against Glamorgan at Cardiff. He and Navdeep Poonia (37) put on 119 for the first wicket and though Michael Powell fell on the same score, Westwood, drop by Robert Croft at first slip off Alex Wharf when on 70, remained resolute.Fifties from Marcus North and Alex Gidman lifted Gloucestershire from a stumbling 77 for 2 to a sturdier 258 for 4 against Northamptonshire at Northampton, with North still unbeaten on 84, after reaching his fifty off 88 balls following an indifferent run of form. The Kolpak pair of Johan wan der Wath and Andrew Hall did the damage alongside Johann Louw. It needed a team effort to remove Hamish Marshall, who edged to second slip only for David Sales to fumble the chance. However, Hall was alert at first slip to take the rebound.To read Martin Williamson’s report on how Middlesex‘s Tim Murtagh took six wickets to knock Essex over for 161 – all ten wickets being catches – click here.

Having made a £32m move to Tottenham Hotspur from Real Madrid back in the summer of 2020, initial expectations for Sergio Reguilon amongst the Spurs fanbase would have undoubtedly been extremely high.

However, after a patchy debut season in north London – in which the 25-year-old averaged a SofaScore match rating of 6.74 over his 27 Premier League appearances – the Spain international has once again struggled to find any real level of form over his 23 league outings in the current campaign – with the defender losing his starting spot at left wing-back to Ryan Sessegnon earlier this year, prior to the 21-year-old picking up a hamstring injury.

Indeed, the £68k-per-week full-back’s general level of form in 2021/22 was summed up by his performance in the 3-1 win over West Ham United last Sunday, with Tottenham insider John Wenham stating his belief that Reguilon’s display against the Hammers was one of his worst in a Spurs shirt.

In a recent interview with Football Insider, Wenham said: “He’s so average it’s untrue. I always go back to these constant rumours about Barcelona or Real Madrid being interested in him. There’s always stuff about them paying a premium for him, it’s nonsense.

“He’s just not that good. He’s the best of the full-backs we have, but that’s not really praise at this point. Against Manchester United, he didn’t offer anything. Against West Ham was the same.

“For me, he is the worst of the bunch. He wasted so many chances against West Ham. You can absolutely see why Conte kept playing Sessegnon over him until he got injured. He wastes so many good crossing opportunities. He was very, very poor [against West Ham]. It’s probably his worst game for Tottenham.”

It was not only Wenham who felt that the £25.2m-rated man was poor on Sunday, with PA Sport journalist Jonathan Veal claiming on Twitter that he has “never seen someone so scared when they enter the penalty area” than Reguilon, while Tom Young labelled the Spaniard’s display as “pathetic.”

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As such, with both Real Madrid and Barcelona reported to be interested in a move for the left-back this summer – with the former believed to possess a £43m buy-back clause for the 25-year-old – it would appear highly advisable for Conte to cash in on the defender at the end of the season, as the player who Jonathan Woodgate dubbed “horrendous” simply does not appear to be of the standard required for Tottenham.

AND in other news: Conte can unearth his next 19 y/o “killer” in THFC sensation who’s an “immense talent”

Brett Lee bowled the fastest delivery ever recorded by speed gun, clocking 157.4 kilometres per hour (kph) with a ball to South Africa’s Jacques Kallis on the first morning of the Second Test in Cape Town.The first ball of the 17th over just beat Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar’s 157.2 kph, which was registered in a one-day international against Australia at Cardiff in June 2001.Lee’s previous fastest recorded delivery was measured at 156 kph against South Africa in a one-day international in Johannesburg in the 1999-2000 season.A delivery from Jeff Thomson was timed at 158.4 kph back in the 1970s, but the timing technology used was different.Lee, 25, is playing in his 20th Test for Australia. Earlier in the opening session, the New South Wales speedster claimed his 78th Test wicket when Gary Kirsten edged to Mark Waugh.