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Frizzell County Championship Division OneDay 4 ReportSussex 385 and 383 for 7 dec. beat Lancashire by 377 and 139 by 252 runs
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He left it late, but Mushtaq Ahmed spun Sussex to another victory which puts them five points behind the leaders Surrey. Mushtaq took eleven wickets in the match as Lancashire crashed to 139 in just over 73 overs. Chris Adams declared on 383 for 7 twenty minutes before lunch after making 190. Billy Taylor was only playing because James Kirtley and Jason Lewry were not available, but he made his mark in style. He took the first four wickets, including Stuart Law (7) and Carl Hooper (1), as Lancashire spluttered to 64 for 4. Then the more well-known figure of Mushtaq added to his galaxy of wickets this season. Chris Schofield (18) and Warren Hegg (25) held up Sussex’s charge, but Mushtaq twirled away the last four wickets for 11 runs with the last man, Hegg, falling with only ten balls remaining in the day.Frizzell County Championship Division TwoSomerset 476 and 292 for 4 drew with Northamptonshire 681 for 5
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Somerset cruised to 292 for 4 on a lifeless pitch at Taunton as their game with Northants petered out to a bore draw. Only 19 wickets fell in all four days of the match, and Northants used ten bowlers, including Toby Bailey, the wicketkeeper, in Somerset’s second innings. Matthew Wood scored 100, Jamie Cox 64 before he retired hurt, and Ian Blackwell smacked 38 from 35 balls.Yesterday’s matchesFrizzell County Championship Division One Kent 477 and 96 for 2 beat Middlesex 407 and 165 by eight wickets at Lord’s
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Muttiah Muralitharan spun Middlesex to their first defeat of the season, by picking three of their last four wickets to complete match figures of 9 for 141. Middlesex, who had resumed on 141 for 6, were bundled out for 165, with Jamie Dalrymple and Simon Cook falling in successive deliveries to the sweep shot. Kent needed just 96 in their second innings, and though David Fulton and Michael Carberry fell cheaply, Robert Key and Andrew Symonds breezed to victory inside 25 overs.Warwickshire 277 and 267 for 2 beat Leicestershire 346 and 195 by eight wickets
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Nick Knight led Warwickshire to an emphatic eight-wicket win against Leicestershire at Edgbaston. He belted 20 boundaries in his 122 not out, and shared put on 140 with Jim Troughton, who smashed an unbeaten 55 off 44 balls, as Warwickshire cruised past their potentially tricky target of 265. Mark Wagh also chipped in with 58, and that was after he had wrapped up the Leicestershire tail to finish with 4 for 20. Resuming on 121 for 6, Leicestershire added 74 more runs, thanks mainly to a sensible 37 from Philip DeFreitas. Waqar Younis was also in the wickets, taking 4 for 37, to help set up Warwickshire’s second win of the season.Frizzell County Championship Division TwoGlamorgan 444 and 86 for 2 beat Durham 355 and 174 by eight wickets at Cardiff
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Glamorgan needed just 2.1 overs on the fourth morning to wrap up an eight-wicket win over Durham. Mike Kasprowicz had flagellated Durham’s batsmen on the third afternoon with career-best figures of 9 for 36, and Glamorgan trailed by a mere 12 runs at stumps. It had been an even contest until Kasprowicz had embarked on his second spell on Friday afternoon. Bowling fast and full, he skittled Durham’s last nine wickets for the addition of 55 runs, with all but two bowled or lbw.Other matchEngland U19 229 v South Africa U19 48 for 1 at Chelmsford
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Francois du Plessis scored 177 and put South Africa firmly in control against England at Chelmsford. He hit 26 fours and three sixes and added 138 with East Springer, who scored 77. Daryn Smit (52) and Heinrich Le Roux (49) weighed in with some more runs down the order as South Africa finished a good day’s work on 463 for 8 with a lead of 234 runs.

Rain had the final say at Cardiff, on the last day of the Glamorgan v Hampshire Frizzell County Championship match. Both sides taking 11 points for their efforts.Glamorgan started the day three wickets down and a deficit of 243, but on the bland pitch had no trouble in gaining enough runs to avoid the follow on, the only real chance Hampshire had of forcing a victory.The sun shone when play began on time, but as the morning progressed the clouds built up. Play was suspended shortly after lunch, and the final word came from umpires Willey and Cowley at 3:30pm.Matthew Maynard and Michael Powell took their fourth wicket partnership to 166, before Wasim Akram forced Powell into playing on with the first delivery of the second new ball.Chris Tremlett who had received a mauling from Maynard the day before gained some revenge by having him well caught at mid-wicket. He followed this by trapping young wicket-keeper Wallace lbw.

Out of character but inexcusable was New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden’s feeling about the Durban nightclub incident involving Chris Cairns and Brendon McCullum.They were found to have broken the team’s protocol when asked to leave the nightclub amid claims of drunkenness and unacceptable behaviour. Cairns was then assaulted outside the club.Snedden, who fined the pair $500 each, and who reprimanded the nine other members of the team who were at the nightclub, said it was a bad mistake by the group which they now realised.As professional sportsmen, in the public eye, the players had to be aware that if they gave people the chance to criticise their behaviour, they had to be prepared to handle the consequences.Snedden said the reaction of the players to his actions in investigating the matter and putting a report in front of them had been good and they had understood the process and its ramifications.Snedden had just returned from South Africa when the incident occurred. He had been talking with International Cricket Council executives about New Zealand’s decision not to play in Kenya during the World Cup.While New Zealand’s request to have the match played in South Africa had been declined, there was no closure on the matter yet, and there may not be for another 12 months.What action there would be, would depend on the attitude of the ICC’s television partners, the Global Cricket Corporation.Snedden said it was clear from the outset NZC would be pushing uphill to have their match rescheduled in South Africa but had stuck with their course of action, which was different to that undertaken by England in their refusal to play in Zimbabwe, because they thought it was the best way to deal with the matter.Snedden said that despite the fact the refusal to play in Kenya might affect New Zealand’s ability to move further ahead in the tournament, he was sure it was still the right decision.It was not a case of looking at the matter as a financial one or a cricket one. It was a matter of serious player safety and the final point was that NZC were dealing with people’s lives.At the same time he said the play of the New Zealand side in the World Cup was impressive and they were on a roll.”It is a shame our fate is in other people’s hands but the team are playing really well. The pressure they were under to win in the West Indies and South African matches was incredible. Especially the South African game where they were chasing South Africa’s 306. But in the end they were coasting it.”I hope something comes out of the last few games of the round to allow them to carry on,” he said.

Souths left-hander Michael Sippel will make his State debut againstTasmania on Sunday with XXXX Queensland Bulls captain Stuart Law missinghis first game since 1998-99.Law and his wife Debbie are expecting their first child on Monday and itwas not possible for the Bulls skipper to play on Sunday in the ING Cupmatch against the Tigers and return back from Hobart in time for thebirth.It will break a run of 62 consecutive four-day and one-day matches forQueensland for Law, who last missed a game in the 1998-99 season when hewas on international duties.Queensland Cricket Chief Executive Graham Dixon announced that openerJimmy Maher would captain the Bulls in the absence of Law. It will beMaher’s first match as Queensland captain and comes hard on the heels ofhis selection in the Australia ‘A’ team that plays tomorrow nightagainst New Zealand at the Gabba.The Queensland selectors have opted to blood the 26-year-old Sippel forthe ING Cup clash with the Tigers at Bellerive Oval, with the Bulls alsomissing Australian one-day players Matthew Hayden, Andy Bichel andAndrew Symonds.Allrounder Lee Carseldine, a century-maker for the QAS againstQueensland Country last week, will make his first appearance this seasonin the Bulls one-day strip in the only other change to the team thatlost to WA by 42-runs at the WACA on Friday.Sippel, a regional sales manager for Yates Seed Company who lives inGatton, said he was thrilled at his selection, which follows impressiveperformances at club and 2nd XI level this season.”I’ve been pretty happy with how my game has been going this seasonalthough I didn’t think this would happen. I was working onconsolidating a QAS spot and getting runs for Souths so this is a bit ofa shock," he said.The clean-hitting left-hander has scored three centuries in the BrisbaneXXXX First Grade competition and produced a useful 58 for the QASagainst New Zealand in one of the tour practice matches in October.Sippel, who is a second cousin of Bichel, is a former QueenslandUnder-19 and Colts player who has been a member of the QueenslandAcademy of Sport program.The Bulls leave on Thursday for the match. The Pura Cup team will beannounced later this week, with Queensland and Tasmania meeting in thefour-day match from next Thursday.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Tasmanian Tigers, ING Cup, Sunday, Hobart: JimmyMaher (c), Martin Love, Clinton Perren, Lee Carseldine, Brendan Nash,Michael Sippel, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Nathan Hauritz, AshleyNoffke, Michael Kasprowicz, Joe Dawes. (all 12 to play).

Team Canada newsflashWednesday:Canada played the University team “Tucks” — current League Champions in a warm up game.Canada scored 254/7 – top scorers were Joe Harris with 65* and Fazal Samad 46 . Tukkies scored 203 /10 in 45 overs, after falling to 59 for 5. Sanjay Thuraisingam took 3 wickets.Thursday:Team Canada contingent and coach Gus Logie held a coaching clinic in a township school.The Tour Manager and Captain attended a luncheon hosted by the Mayor of Johannesburg.Team Canada attended a great reception hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner.Friday:Canada plays in its first Day/Night (warm up) game.

West Indies’ captain, Carl Hooper, has warned his players to focus on thecricket and not on safety concerns as the West Indies begin their first tourto the island for eight years.Hooper had voiced safety concerns prior to the teams departure beforereassurances were given by the Sri Lankan board, but expects his team to beable to focus on the cricket despite predicted election violence over thecoming weeks.”As professionals, we have to focus straight on the cricket,” he said. “Ifwe start worrying (about) what is going to happen off the field with thepolitics in Sri Lanka, then it will be a wrong note to start the tour on.Hooper admitted the Sri Lanka posed his stiffest challenge yet overseas ascaptain: “Obviously this tour is going to be a sterner test than theZimbabwean tour but I think we’ve got the players to deal with it,” he said.Team manager, Ricky Skerritt, who visited Sri Lanka recently to check on tour arrangements and met with top officials in the Ministry of National Security, was convinced that security was not a big issue for the team."What they tell me in Sri Lanka is that this is very local – political party versus political party – and it gets heated up close to the election," he said."We don’t expect to experience any of it – or very little of it. "If we find that the security arrangements are not to our satisfaction, we are going to try to get it improved and if we can’t get it improved, we’ll have to take other steps."Meanwhile, coach Roger Harper has brushed aside concerns that the team wouldbe adversely affected by injuries to star batsman Brain Lara andwicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs saying that he expected both players to play afull part in the tour.The team’s preparations have been marred by injuries. Key middle orderbatsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul was forced to pullout with back problems,whilst Lara (hamstring) and Jacobs (finger) were included despite not havingfully recovered from their respective injuries.Chanderpaul’s replacement, Jamaican left-hander Wavell Hinds, was thenforced to stay back for surgery to his nose after being hit by a shortdelivery from former West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner in a festival matchon Sunday. He is, however, expected to re-join the squad shortly.Jacobs, who was originally injured in a domestic one-day match, attended apre-tour training camp in Jamaica but was not able to participate fully innet sessions.Harper was unconcerned: “We’ve seen Ridley in the past operating withinjuries and it hasn’t affected his game one iota. He is the sort ofcharacter that once he has committed himself to going on tour, he will givehis all and I expect nothing less of him on this tour.”Lara’s injury is longstanding, stretching back over a year to the WestIndies tour of England. He played through series against Australia and SouthAfrica whilst suffering from the injury and was finally forced to pullout ofthe Zimbabwe tour in July.”Brian has had an injury which has plagued him for a while,” Harperadmitted, but added, “The doctors feel that it is an injury that can bemanaged and should not really inhibit him providing he follows the propermanagement and rehabilitation programme set out for him. We expect thathe’ll be able to perform very close to his best on this tour.”The West Indies arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday morning where they are dueto play three Test matches and a tri-series also involving Zimbabwe. SriLanka have only played three Test matches against West Indies in their 111Test match history.Full West Indies squad:Carl Hooper (captain), Ridley Jacobs (vice-captain), Chris Gayle, DarenGanga, Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds, LeonGarrick, Neil McGarrell, Dinanath Ramnarine, Colin Stuart, Mervyn Dillon,Marlon Black, Reon King, Pedro Collins. Ricky Skerritt (manager), RogerHarper (coach), Ronald Rogers (sports therapist).

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today expressed its delight thatan agreement had been reached between the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and that the forthcoming three-match Test Series between India and England will therefore continue as scheduled.Lord MacLaurin, ECB Chairman, said, “I am delighted to hear this news. The decision is a victory for common sense and I congratulate both the ICC and BCCI on reaching an agreement. As we have made clear, the ECB has always been fully supportive of the ICC’s position throughout this process. The decision will strengthen the ICC’s authority and integrity as the world governing body for cricket, but the family of cricket is the real winner. “Tim Lamb, ECB Chief Executive, said, “This is good news for the millions ofcricket followers worldwide and England’s supporters. There is huge expectation about the Series and I am delighted that the tour can now proceed as planned, and that the England team can continue their preparations for the first Test in Mohali without any further distractions.”

England v Pakistan, NatWest Challenge, Match 3, Lord’s

So, England have won the inaugural NatWest Challenge, and today’sdecider at Lord’s was a fitting finale to an uplifting trio of matches. First and foremost, it’s a memorable start to Michael Vaughan’s reign – he may not have contributed much with the bat, but his attacking approach and calm authority in the field were pivotal to his team’s efforts, and he deservedly becomes the first England captain to win his first series in charge since Adam Hollioake in Sharjah in 1997-98.Nine balls separated England and Pakistan at the end, but in truth, the difference between the sides was much, much less. For if Pakistan had fielded half as well as they bowled, then it would surely have been Rashid Latif lifting the trophy.At this stage of their redevelopments, however, results are less important than resolve. Both sides are rebuilding and inexperienced, which was one of the main reasons why this short series was such fun to watch. Each match had more crash, bang and wallop than a Tom and Jerry cartoon, and it was that very youthful exuberance which brought the games to life. Australia are the only side in the world with a team of grown-ups who have been there, done that and won the trophy: everyone else has to do the best with what they’ve got.England’s victory was an especially sweet moment for Marcus Trescothick and Chris Read, who not only carried England home, but laid their Lord’s ghosts to rest in the process. Trescothick’s 108 was his third century in four ODI innings at Lord’s – but the first time he had ended up on the winning side. For Read, this was his first innings back since that embarrassing infamous blunder against Chris Cairns’s slower ball, two post-World-Cup-reshuffles ago in 1999.But while those two lead England’s celebrations at the start of a new era, you have to feel sorry for Latif. As captain he has restored spirit and unity to the Pakistani cause since the World Cup, and he captained and kept admirably in this series. It was Latif who defused a potentially unpleasant situation by informing the umpires that a slip catch off Jim Troughton had not carried, and it was he who sparked England’s mid-innings collapse with two smart dismissals in quick succession.So it was unfortunate that it was Latif, of all people, who arguably lost the game – and the series – for Pakistan when he spilled a crucial chance off Trescothick late in the piece. But it just goes to show that even the most experienced member of the team can make mistakes. So here’s to youthful exuberance – it’s certainly the way forward. Just ask that spring chicken Darren Gough.Click here for today’s Wisden Bulletin

As if anxious to spend as little time as possible at Goodyear Park, India took just 11.3 overs to sweep to a 10-wicket victory over Kenya in their Standard Bank One-Day International on Friday evening.There were very few spectators in to watch the two “away” teams in this triangular and those that were present might have felt a little short-changed in terms of overs for money. Kenya lasted only 37.1 overs in making 90 and, in all, the match consisted of just 48.4 overs.India didn’t bother to used their regular openers, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, entrusting the task of knocking off the runs to Deep Dasgupta and Virender Sehwag. In many respects Sehwag is a Tendulkar lookalike and apart from the resemblance he played a Tendulkaresque innings, helping himself to 55 before the match ended. Dasgupta’s contribution was 24.The gulf in class between the haves and the have-nots of international cricket was never more evident than on Friday as the Kenyans were simply blown away. The only thing that went right for them was winning the toss, but even this proved a mixed blessing.Ajit Agarkar bowled Ravindu Shah with the last ball of the second over and from there on things went downhill for Kenya. Agarkar’s opening six-over spell brought him three for 9 and he was to come back later in the innings to finish with four for 27.And when he wasn’t in action from the Loch Logan end, Anil Kumble was, claiming three leg before victims as he took three for 14 in his 10 overs. It was an innings, in fact, mostly notable for its statistics – eight wickets fell to bowlers operating from the Loch Logan end, there were five lbw victims, four batsmen out bowled and just one catch in the innings – and an umpiring curiosity.When Thomas Odoyo had 9 he was adjudged run out by umpire Dave Orchard after being sent back by Martin Suji. As he left the field, the third umpire Wilf Diedricks got on the radio to Orchard to inform him that he’d made a mistake.At this point Odoyo was already off the field of play, but Orchard reversed his decision and called Odoyo back. It was, in the end, the right decision, but Orchard got to it by probably the wrong procedure. In a match so one-sided as this one it made no difference, but in a tighter contest a major controversy would almost certainly have erupted.How much Kenya benefited from this trouncing is a moot point. It is one thing to argue that the East Africans, and other lesser sides, need to play the bigger teams for experience, but one-sided humiliations serve very little purpose for anyone.And, certainly, the Bloemfontein public voted with their feet by almost completely ignoring this match. A head-to-head series between South Africa and India would have provided six or seven matches and far better cricket than the mismatches currently involving Kenya.Perhaps the only positive feature of the entire match was the fact that by winning so easily India have now moved to the top of the triangular table on run rate over South Africa.

Jacques Kallis has confirmed that he will not be rejoiningGlamorgan as their overseas player for the 2002 season.The South African all-rounder who appeared in six County Championship gamesin 1999 has told the Welsh county that he needs a break before the start of the 2003 World Cup, although he has expressed an interest in returning to Wales for the county campaign once the World Cup is finished.There has been speculation in the Press about whether Glamorgan should opt for a batsman by resigning Jimmy Maher or Matthew Elliott for 2002, or alternatively look for a bowler.But as Glamorgan Chief Executive Mike Fatkin said “We haven’t decided whether we want a batsman or a bowler at this stage. “”We knew when the International Cricket Council published its long-term programme that there was going to be a problem. We have been speaking with Jacques for quite a few months and knew that the only break he could have before the World Cup was during our season in 2002.””I think he realises that his body has got to have a rest at some time, but I’m sure he will agree to come back for the 2003 season. We have got a very good relationship and he is very keen to come back to Glamorgan in the future.”