An unbeaten 140 by Ranji player KA Fayaz helped Andhra to score 324 for five wickets at close of play on the opening day of the three day KSCA Coca Cola South Zone (under-25) cricket tournament in Bangalore on Monday.Winning the toss, Andhra lost LNP Reddy (14) at 23. He edged medium pacer Sunil Kumar to wicketkeeper Rajasekhar Shanbal in the sixth over of the innings. But the other opening batsman KNV Krishna Mohan (40) and Fayaz added 74 runs for the second wicket off 21 overs. Krishna Mohan then edged a ball from Karnataka captain T Aditya to Shanbal. Balaji K Singh (4) did not last long and when Gnaneswara Rao (10) fell, Andhra were shakily placed at 124 for four.Fayaz and skipper I Srinivas (68) however set Andhra on the road to recovery with a fifth wicket association of 164 runs off 37.3 overs. Before Srinivas was caught by Shanbal off Ashwath, he had faced 120 balls and hit ten fours.The recovery process was maintained with Fayaz and H Vatekar (22 not out) adding 36 runs in an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 36 runs off 11.4 overs before play was called off, about an hour before the scheduled close due to bad light. By close, Fayaz, who had batted 271 minutes and faced 210 balls had hit 14 fours and two sixes, both off spinner N Aswath. For Karnataka, Sunil Kumar took two for 49 while Ashwath, who was expensive, captured two for 104 off 21 overs.

The first day of cricket at the island’s newest first-class venue wasone in which both Barbados and South Africa ‘A’will claim some degreeof satisfaction.Having only arrived in the Caribbean four days earlier, the visitorsadapted well to the conditions and were making fine progress up untilthe evening session at the lovely setting of the Windward Club groundin Lucas Street. St. Philip.A new-look Barbados team, featuring seven debutants, might have beenslightly worried when South Africa ‘A’reached 213 for four inside thefinal hour. But, as so often happens in cricket, one unlikelydismissal changed the course of the match.Dale Benkenstein, no stranger to Barbados as he once served a stintwith Wanderers, had just completed a solid half-century and was wellset when he was prised out by an outstanding piece of fielding byShirley Clarke.The South Africa ‘A’captain, whose polished 57 was made with hardlyany bother from 141 balls in three hours’ batting, was run out at thebowler’s end by a direct throw from Clarke at mid-on.The dismissal ended a fifth-wicket partnership of 67 betweenBenkenstein and Ashwell Prince, who ended the day unbeaten on 57, andlaunched a Barbados fightback.On the whole, the hosts were able to restrict the scoring after teawhen 89 runs were scored in comparison to the 125 that came in thesecond session.The revival was instigated by fast bowler Hattian Graham, whoseperformance up to then was somewhat indifferent.He claimed the second wicket of the day with a fine delivery that tookthe edge of left-handed teenager Graeme Smith’s bat for a catch to the’keeper.During the pre-tea session, Graham was off line on occasions, but hedid well to hit back with a double strike in the dying stages.He won a leg before verdict against the tall right-hander Justin Kemp,but there was no doubt about the dismissal of Robin Peterson, who wasembarrassed when he offered no stroke and had his stumps disturbed.It meant that three wickets had gone by for the addition of 16 runsand the close of play total of 240 for seven was one which Barbadoswould feel reasonably happy with after they opted to field first onwinning the toss in overcast conditions.It was a relief to the fair-size crowd that as many as 77 overs weredelivered during the day.The dark clouds that hovered to the east of the ground and a lightdrizzle were enough to delay the start by an hour-and-a-quarter.The sun, however, made its presence felt for most of the day and thebatting of the South Africans was impressive against a bowling attackthat appeared to lack depth.There were many who felt that Ryan Hinds, a specialist batsman anddecent part-time left-arm spinner, should not have been given the roleof fourth-choice bowler.Both he and Shirley Clarke, who trundles off-breaks, were required tobowl as many as 30 overs between them. Mind you, they did so fairlytidily, and Hinds struck a blow with his third ball by removing thedengerous opener Doug Watson.The 26-year-old Watson, who averaged nearly 50 in the 1999-2000 SouthAfrican first-class season, cracked seven boundaries in making 30before Hinds deceived him in flight and bowled him an hour afterlunch.By then, Justin Ontong had already reeled a few exciting front-footstrokes and continued to play with authority until he gifted his hand15 minutes before tea.The 20-year-old arrived at his half-century at a run-a-ball before hewas bowled by left-arm fast bowler Ian Bradshaw.Bradshaw was the best of the Barbados bowlers on the day and deservedmore than two wickets.

After two days of rain, the players in the Supersport Series match betweenBoland and the Highveld Strikers woke up to a sunny day on Sunday and musthave expected to get on the field and finally start the match.But when they arrived at Boland Park, the outfield resembled a marsh, as theheavy rain over the past two days failed to drain sufficiently.The umpires took the decision that play would be impossible at any stageduring the day and informed the captains that they will try again on Monday.The weather has made a result impossible unless the sides attempt tocontrive a finish and forfeit an innings. That is unlikely though, given thecurrent cricket match-fixing scandal, as neither team will want to appear tobe manufacturing a result.Play, hopefully, will start on Monday, which may appear to be an exercise infutility, but is still of importance. The Highveld Strikers urgently needpoints and if they could pick up two or three bonus points, it would aidtheir slim chances of qualifying for the Super Eight phase of thecompetition.

South Africa turned in a controlled performance that sent a warning to the teams they have still to meet in the CricInfo Women’s World Cup that they are coming into form in the latter part of the tournament.The match against Sri Lanka had virtually everything – early solid defence, defiant late aggression, controlled bowling, bursts of excellent fielding, an overload of run outs and dissatisfaction with the umpiring.South Africa produced the first surprise of the day, putting Sri Lanka in after winning the toss. However, the coach, Rodney Willemberg, said they wanted to take advantage of what they believed was a tendency among the Sri Lankans to succumb under pressure.So it proved. Through tight bowling from Kim Price (10-4-14-1), Helen Davies (8-1-16-1), Nolubabalo Ndzundzu (10-6-14-1) and Alison Hodgkinson (4-1-9-0), the Sri Lankan top order appeared devoid of attacking shots or an ability to push the ball around for quick singles.By 30 overs, they had crawled to 43 for three and yet another score of under 100 in the tournament seemed a definite possibility. However, the Sri Lankans showed, like the other developing teams in this tournament, that they will fight to the end. So, with aggressive contributions from Champa Sugathadasa (21), Chandrika Lakmalee (21) and Ramani Perera (13 not out), they produced a score of 134 for nine, respectable given the early dearth of runs.But how many runs there might have been if that frailty under pressure that the South African coach had identified had not come to pass. Five wickets – including the last four – fell to run outs. The accurate South African fielding contributed – offered gifts have to be accepted – but the Sri Lankans were the architects of their own misfortune. In almost every incident, the ball was played directly to a fieldsman. But it seemed that the batsmen’s mindset demanded that the very action of bat on ball required that a run be taken. And so they went…..and went….and went…..And they did not go very happily either. Words were exchanged between “partners” as the hapless loser in what fast became a comedy of errors departed the scene. However, the Sri Lankan manager, Chandra Munaweera, acknowledging that her players get “excited,” was not convinced that all of the decisions should have gone against them.And she suggested that in calling wides and lbws against her team the umpires “have not been fair, not been just. I hope they will be in future matches.”However, she said her team had not fielded and bowled as well as they did in their defeat of Ireland and they had needed more runs. “If we had scored 150, we could have won.” What the match had demonstrated was the disadvantage the team was placed under through a lack of match practice.When South Africa batted, their top order gave a salutary lesson in how to rise above a slow early run rate. Tight Sri Lankan bowling restricted South Africa to 56 for two at 25 overs, but controlled batting by CricInfo Player of the Match for the second successive game, Daleen Terblanche (53 not out), and Helen Davies (24) in a third wicket partnership of 68 meant South Africa cruised to victory in the 46th over.Terblanche, fresh from being the rock while wickets fell around her against the Netherlands, earned her 50 with a mixture of controlled aggression and resolute defence.The South African coach said he was exceptionally happy with Terblanche but especially pleased that his top order had had time in the middle. “We have the batting strength and we are now starting to show it. The run rate is not going to be an issue in the final placings so it was more important that we get confidence with the bat.”We played decent cricket out there today.”Result: Sri Lanka 134 for nine; South Africa 135 for four. A win to South Africa by six wickets.

One over-30 wicket-keeper will replace another for the Kenya leg ofthe imminent West Indies tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya.Courtney Browne, 30, takes over from Ridley Jacobs, 33, emphasisingthe absence of obvious young candidates at present.Browne is one of two changes to the 16 for Kenya where the team willplay two four-day matches and three One-Day Internationals.The other brings in 21-year-old left-arm wrist spinner Dave Mohammedfor his first tour in place of fellow Trinidadian Dinanath Ramnarine.Chairman of selectors Mike Findlay did not say who would substitute ifeither Jacobs or Browne is injured. It is a calculated gamble but onethat could well backfire.Last year, Findlay identified Wavell Hinds as a possible choice afterJacobs was originally the only chosen keeper for the tour of England.But then Wayne Phillip, the 22-year-old Dominican, was seconded tofill the post.In the event, Hinds never had to be called on. He is again in thesquad for the triangular one-day series with India and Zimbabwe, whileLeon Garrick, his fellow Jamaican who takes his place for the Tests,has kept at club level.Jacobs was also the sole keeper on the preceding tour of New Zealandand played in both Tests and all five One-Day Internationals.Findlay acknowledged yesterday that the choice of Jacobs, who hasplayed his 31 Tests and 79 One-Day Internationals in succession, andBrowne (13 Tests, 12 internationals) was indicative of the dearth ofyoung keepers.On this tour, we would have loved to have had a young keeper but thereality is we don’t have one we felt was ready yet , he said.The disappointing thing is that every time we see a young keeper wholooks promising, after a couple of years he falls back instead ofgoing forward.Findlay, himself a former Windward Islands keeper who played 10 Testsfor the West Indies between 1969 and 1973, placed Jamaicans Shane Fordand Matthew Sinclair, in that category.They were chosen for representative teams against touring teams buthave since lost their places in the Jamaica team.Phillip and 21-year-old Jamaican Keith Hibbert are both at the ShellAcademy in Grenada and Findlay hoped they would emerge from that asthe keepers of the future.Phillip looked quite good when he went to England and filled in forJacobs in some county matches on last year’s tour of England, he said.But something seemed to go wrong along the way and he hasn’tprogressed as we hoped.Hibbert made an impression in last year’s Red Stripe Bowl with bothhis batting and his keeping but, according to Findlay, they fell awayduring the Busta International Series.They are both young enough that they can come on with the propertraining and attitude, he said.

Former West Indies fast bowler, Wes Hall and Anguillian bank executive, Val Banks are likely to become the next president and vice president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).The WICB yesterday confirmed that Hall and Banks were the only nominees to fill the vacant posts of president and vice president of the regional body; this, in accordance with Article 92 of the WICB’s Memorandum of Association.The nomination of Hall, who is also a former chairman of selectors was supported by both the Barbados Cricket Association and the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control.Meanwhile, Banks’ nomination was supported by the Leeward Islands Cricket Association and the Barbados Cricket Association.Election for the two top posts in West Indies cricket will take place on 21 July when the WICB convenes a special general meeting at the Savannah Hotel in Barbados.The positions of president and vice-president became vacant after Jamaican lawyer Pat Rousseau and Antiguan business executive Clarvis Joseph resigned at a meeting of the WICB directors in Barbados earlier this month.The elevation of Hall and Banks to the two top positions in West Indies cricket is likely to be a formality since the Memorandum of Association (Article 92) clearly states: “No person shall be eligible for election to the office of President or Vice President at any meeting of Members unless, not less than thirty days before the date appointed for the meeting of Members at which the election of the President or Vice President is due to be considered, there shall have been left at the office of the Secretary of the Board a nomination in writing, signed by two Full Members accompanied by a notice in writing signed by the nominee of his willingness to serve if elected.”

• It was the 1733rd ODI in cricket history.
• It was India’s 468th and West Indies’ 428th match.
• It was the 65th match between these two sides. The record nowreads : India 23, West Indies 40, tied one and abandoned one.
• Umpires KC Barbour and GR Evans were officiating in their eighthand 13th match respectively.
• Carl Hooper, on one, completed his 1000 runs in matches againstIndia. He was playing his 35th match and 33rd innings. Hooper alsobecame the third West Indian after Desmond Haynes (1357 runs in 36matches ) and Gordon Greenidge (1181 runs in 24 matches) and 16thbatsman overall to do so. Incidentally Pakistani Saeed Anwar with 1901runs from 49 matches holds the record of aggregating most runs in acareer against India.
• India conceded only five extras in West Indies’ innings – twowides and three no-balls. It was only the seventh occasion when Indianbowlers and fielders conceded five or less extras in opponents’ totalof 200 or more. The details :

• Tendulkar (122*) when reached 76,completed his 1000 runs against WestIndies. He became first Indian and ninth batsman overall to do so. Hewas playing his 28th match and innings. Tendulkar now holds the recordof completing 1000 runs in a career against West Indies in leastmatches and innings. The earlier record was held by Pakistani Inzamamul-Haq who took 33 matches and 32 innings for his 1000 runs.
• The hundred was Tendulkar’s 29th in ODIs and second against WestIndies. His only other hundred against West Indies was made at Jaipuron November 11,1994 when he scored 105 off 148 balls.
• Tendulkar’s innings was the highest score by an Indian against WestIndies-home or away. -bettering Navjot Sidhu’s 114* at Visakhapatnamon November 7,1994.
• Tendulkar’s innings was the highest for India on this ground. Theprevious highest was a paltry 70* also by Tendulkar against Zimbabwein the second league match of this series on June 27,2001.
• The hundred was Tendulkar’s second in Zimbabwe. The other being 127*against the hosts at Bulawayo QC on September 26,1998. Tendulkar hasnow become only the third batsman to score more than one hundred onZimbabwean soil. The others being Alistair Campbell in 42 matches andRoshan Mahanama in three matches.
• The hundred was Tendulkar’s 17th on foreign soil-yet another record !He was earlier at level with Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar with 16 hundreds.
• Tendulkar has now aggregated 6712 runs (ave.41.43) in 182 `away’matchesmaximum by any batsman in ODIs. He surpassed the aggregatesof two Pakistanis – Saeed Anwar (6685 in 186 matches) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (6647 in 209 matches) . The following table lists the leading runscorers in away matches in ODIs :

• The 133 run-partnership between Ganguly and Tendulkar was the secondhighest for India for the opening wicket against West Indies. The besthowever still remains the 176 run partnership between Ajay Jadeja andTendulkar at Cuttack on November 9,1994. Incidentally the previoushighest opening stand for India against West Indies in `away’ matcheswas unbroken 116 runs also between Ganguly and Tendulkar at Port-of-Spain on April 27,1997.
• Ganguly and Tendulkar also became the third pair to participate in twocentury partnerships for the opening wicket against West Indies afterAustralians Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh and Indians Ajay Jadeja andSachin Tendulkar.
• Tendulkar was getting involved in a century partnership for the 47thtime in his careera new world record. The break-up of Tendulkar’scentury partnerships- 20 for the first,11 for the second,10 for thethird,3 for the fourth and 3 for the fifth. The previous record ofmost century partnerships was on the name of West Indian DesmondHaynes who featured in 46 such partnerships. The following table liststhe batsmen who have been involved in most century stands

• Tendulkar was winning his 41st Man of the Match award. This was alsohis sixth award against West Indiesmaximum by any player. He waspreviously at level with Pakistan’s Imran Khan with five awards.

Somerset Under-16s lost their two-day match against Middlesex at Richmond on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.Batting first Middlesex scored 308 for 8. The pick of the Somerset attack was Lee Denslow who bowled 23 overs and took 4 for 80.When Somerset batted they were all out for 239, with Lett top scoring with 48, to give Middlesex victory by 69 runs.

Indo-Pak cricket relations
The Agra Summit between the President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of India ended rather abruptly. It seems many issues like restoration of cricket relations between the two countries, a matter to be talked over in a leisurely mood, may not have appeared on the conference table.Apart from restoring permanent relations, it’s surprising the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is still awaiting Government permission to send the team to Pakistan for the Asian Test Championship tie to be held in September 2001. As per the ACT itinerary, India is scheduled to play the opening match against Pakistan at Lahore from 12-16 September 2001.According to a news item, Mr Kishore Rungta, Treasurer of the BCCI has expressed the view that ‘there was no reason for the Ministry of Sports to restrain the national squad from participation in the championship’. Of note is the news that India has pulled out of a one-day series in Australia, mainly because the dates clashed with the Asian Test Championship.Further, in the last meeting of the Asian Cricket Council in which the programme of the tournament was finalised, the President of the BCCI assured members that the Indian Ministry of Sports had no objection to the Indian cricket team playing in Pakistan in a ‘multilateral tournament’. Strangely, a fresh approval is still required.Shoaib dictating terms to PCB
Shoaib Akhtar, who has not paid back in terms of performance even a fraction of the amount spent by PCB on the correction of his suspect bowling action and medical treatment, has started dictating terms to the Board.Earlier, Shoaib was sent to Australia to take guidance from Coach Daryl Foster and former pace icon Dennis Lillie to rectify the fault that made his bowling action suspect. After a few weeks of guidance, coaching and practice under the two stalwarts, his action was cleared. He joined the Pakistan team for its tour of England. In order to turn Shoaib into an effective fast bowler and boost his skill and potential for the future, the PCB even hired Daryl Foster to be at his side during the tour.Ironically, after all the efforts to build him into one of the world’s leading fast bowlers, Shoaib came out to be in a poor state of health and physical fitness. He broke down on the field, failing to bowl more than a few overs, thus causing a set back to the team as well as disappointing the spectators. When dropped for the next match, Shoaib is reported to have left the hotel to live out and signed up with some local teams to play in England.Now that the Pakistan team is preparing for the Asian Test Championship, Shoaib was asked to join the training camp starting in the 1st week of August. In his response to the PCB’s call, Shoaib has apparently made his inclusion in the team a condition for his return to the country. This seems an act unbecoming of a test player.No player can be guaranteed a place in the team until he proves his fitness and is selected by the Board’s Selection Committee. To perhaps knock-in some sense and set matters straight with Shoaib, the PCB would be well advised to ignore him from inclusion. This jolt should prove an effective medicine to improve his physical fitness as well as discipline.A legal challenge to Hansie Cronje’s ban
Reports indicate, former South African captain Hansie Cronje may be up for a dramatic return to cricket coaching, if not actually playing the game. It seems his well-prepared legal team may challenge their client’s hastily applied life ban in the court. The lawyers feel that Percy Sonn, President of the United Cricket Board of South Africa insisted on slapping the life ban on Cronje without a hearing, thereby denying the former captain the legal right to have his side heard.The cricket fraternity, however, thinks otherwise. Re-counting his crimes they maintain that by his own admission, Cronje has been guilty of accepting $30,000 from the Indian bookmaker MK Gupta for losing a Test against India at Kanpur in 1996. In the one-day series between South Africa, England and Zimbabwe in the year 2000, he accepted $10,000 from a bookmaker, again by his own admission.Despite all this, if a remission is granted him, he may get away with every thing except the one-year ban that he has already served. In such a case, the game of cricket may have to call up some new axioms like ‘play with a crooked bat’ or ‘cheats always beat’. With other cases also being swept under the carpet, the impression that the fight against corruption was directed mainly against Asian players is likely to gain further momentum among cricket fans.In the light of above one feels that the cases of two former Asian captains Azharuddin and Saleem Malik may also have to be reviewed. Though the Lahore High Court has already rejected Saleem Malik’s appeal, the fact remains that he was punished on the evidence of two Australian players with no chance to defend himself provided to him.

Rain allowed only 55 minutes’ play on the second day of the Division One contest between Northamptonshire and Kent at Wantage Road.The hosts progressed from 228-4 overnight to 277-5, losing the wicket of Tony Penberthy (77) in adding 49 runs.An overnight deluge ruled out any cricket until 12.30pm, and in the third over of the day Ben Trott had Penberthy caught behind without adding to his Wednesday night score. The Cornishman had struck 15 fours in his three-hour stay.Graeme Swann and Toby Bailey – unbeaten on 28 and 20 respectively – secured a second batting bonus point for Northants, and guided their side to 269-5 at lunch.Only three more overs were bowled after the break when more rain drove the players from the field and prompted an early tea.Umpires Peter Willey and George Sharp planned to inspect the conditions at 4pm, but by that stage the skies were darkening again and they decided that nothing more could be done.