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Cricket in the West Indies isn’t all about turning wickets and sweeping cover-drives to the boundary. Calling stumps might signal the end of the day’s play, but for many that’s merely the start of the socialising. It’s not difficult to see why. After all, these sunny islands in the Caribbean sea have the concept of partying pretty much done-and-dusted. Whether it’s a shutter-covered shanty bar, a theme pub, or a luxury beach-front resort, you can bet your banana daiquiri that it will still be pumping at 3am.It’s a situation that has Australian fans smiling wider than Steve Irwin after he’s encountered a particularly grumpy crocodile. In true Antipodean pioneering spirit, the 4000-plus Aussie fans who’ve descended on an unsuspecting Barbados have managed to seek out every night-spot in existence. They’ve been spotted dancing to steel bands, singing karaoke and more than once, falling asleep under a palm tree in the wee small hours.On Friday nights the place to "C and B", as they say here in Bridgetown, is the fish fry at Oistins. When the cooks fire up the open burners in this outer suburb, everyone joins in the fun. It’s not just the tantalising aroma of pan-fried fish that has people flocking to the area. It’s the atmosphere. Beginning life as a run-of-the-mill fish market, Oistins is now a myriad of food stalls, bars and dance floors. There’s also a resident DJ, so by 9pm, the music is thumping, the rum is flowing and the people are happy.It’s also just as popular with the locals as it is with cricket blow-ins. “Everyone comes to fish-fry night,” said Jefferson from St. Michael. “You can walk around, meet your friends, shoot the breeze. Everyone is welcome.” Jefferson’s wife Loretta agreed. “The food is great and it’s always friendly,” she said, rum punch in one hand, deep-fried fish cake in the other. “Behaviour is monitored so nothing gets out of hand. Dancing on the table-tops is definitely not allowed.”The blow-ins, however, were there in force. “I can’t believe my luck,” said Neil from Melbourne as he arrived and surveyed the scene. “First we get great cricket, then this. There are so many people here. It’s a beautiful night.” Michelle from Sydney was equally impressed. Having sprained her ankle two nights previously, she wasn’t about to let the injury hinder her Oistins experience. “I’ve heard you’re not supposed to dance on the tables,” she said. “But I’m willing to give it a shot after I’ve had a few rums.”Ryan from Wagga was content just to take photographs. “I’m wandering aimlessly, taking it all in,” he said. “It’s that kind of place isn’t it?” Sarah from Adelaide was more concerned with opportunities of the liquid variety. “This rum goes down so smoothly,” she said, tinkling her ice in time to Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman, No Cry’. “I don’t drink at the cricket, so I try to make up for it at night. Is that wrong?” No one present seemed remotely interesting in presenting her with a contradictory viewpoint.Then of course, there’s the commercial aspect of Oistins. Friday night fish-fry is also an absolute money-spinner. “It’s great for our economy,” said CD seller Rochelle. “People come from all over the world to Oistins. They spend money, Bajans have employment, everyone has a good time. We all win.” By 10pm, Rochelle was so satisfied with the night’s business that she was shutting up shop and heading home. “It’s been a good session,” she said, displaying her cash haul. “I’ve sold a lot of Bob Marley, some Jimmy Cliff and a bit of Sean Paul hip hop. But reggae is still the most popular with tourists.”Just before midnight Michelle from Sydney decided to put the no-table-top dancing theory to the acid test. While her friends kept an eye on her crutches and backpack, she tried to launch herself onto the bright blue wood for some serious boogying. “Move the dishes first,” someone yelled. Everyone laughed. But the locals were right. As soon as she placed her bandaged foot above the seat line, the security guard moved in. “Please get down,” he said, taking her hand and returning her to the ground. “Tables are not for dancing.” Michelle didn’t argue. She’d given it a red-hot go. “Hey, I tried,” she said. “I’m like Warnie. I’ll never die wondering.”By 3 am, the Oistins Friday night fish-fry was showing little signs of slowing down. The punters were showing even fewer signs of wanting to go home. “Let’s stay here all night and go straight to the cricket tomorrow,” yelled Michelle. Everyone cheered.Christine Davey is a freelance writer based in Melbourne, Victoria.

The presentation of the Lord’s Taverners Trophy to Yorkshire as winners of the CricInfo Championship will take place on Wednesday 12th September during the luncheon interval of the Yorkshire v Essex CricInfo Championship fixture at Scarborough (match starts at 10.30am).The interval will be extended by 10 minutes to accommodate the presentation to Yorkshire’s Captain David Byas made by CricInfo’s Managing Director Peter Griffiths accompanied by Andrew Hall, CricInfo’s Head of Marketing.All of Yorkshire’s players who have featured in Championship matches will be in attendance.CricInfo Championship prize-money

• First Division winners: £105,000
• First Division runners-up: £50,000
• Second Division winners: £40,000
• Second Division runners-up: £25,000

Winner of each match throughout the season in both divisions: £2,000

Northern Districts‘ 313 was, astonishingly, not enough to stave off a charge by a rampant Canterbury, who hunted down the total with four balls to spare and five wickets in hand. Canterbury faced the huge total courtesy of Daniel Flynn’s 149 from 141 balls, but were handed a strong platform by Michael Papps’ 90. With eight balls to spare in Christchurch they brought up the 300, and four balls later the job was done. The bowling figures were nothing to write home about, only Shane Bond recording an economy of under five while Andrew Strauss missed out on the runfest with a duck.Centuries for Aaron Redmond and Alex Gidman in Dunedin, helped Otago leapfrog Central Districts into second as their 321 proved insurmountable. Warren McSkimming helped restrict the visitors with two wickets including that of topscorer Greg Hay.Auckland overhauled Wellington‘s 247 in Wellington in the final over to stay top. Lou Vincent set the platform with 72 and Rob Nicol added a fifty while Graham Napier’s four wickets were in vain.

Wayamba 174 for 9 (Kulatunga 78) beat Ruhuna 143 by 31 runs
Scorecard

Jeevantha Kulatunga played the stellar role, scoring a stroke-filled 78 off 45 balls and capturing 2 for 33, to steer Wayamba to a 31-run victory in the inaugural inter-provincial Twenty20 final against Ruhuna at the Welagedera Stadium in Kurunegala.Invited to bat first, Wayamba were 18 for 2 when Kulatunga arrived in the middle. He weathered the storm of Kosala Kulasekera, who had threatened to run through the batting, before starting to display his repertoire of strokes. He lifted his team to a fighting total of 174 for 9, hitting five sixes and as many fours in his fastidious knock.After losing their first two wickets for six runs, Ruhuna were pegged on the back foot by bowlers who maintained a tight line and reduced them to 96 for 7 by the end of the 14th over. A late rally by wicketkeeper Gihan de Silva, who slammed a quick 36 off 18 balls (two sixes, two fours), only delayed the inevitable as Ruhuna eventually folded up for 143 at the start of the final over.Wayamba skipper Jehan Mubarak attributed his team’s victory to Kulatunga’s all-round contribution. “He made the difference between the two sides,” Mubarak said.Kulatunga picked up the Player-of-the-Match award with Chintaka Jayasinghe of Kandurata taking the Player-of-the-Series prize.Sri Lanka Cricket were forced to cancel the Super Four round of matches due to bad weather and make it a straight knockout contest with the semi-finals and the final.Wayamba edged past Kandurata by seven runs and Ruhuna defeated Basnahira North by five wickets in the semi-finals.

Division One

Yesterday it was a 38-year-old, Ottis Gibson, who took the headlines – and today, another wise cricketer put Durham on the verge of an exciting win. Paul Wiseman, 37 years young, took 5 for 65 to give Durham hope of beating Hampshire at Chester-le-Street, but the hosts were thwarted by Michael Brown who produced a magnificent performance to carry his bat for the second time in the match. Durham declared on 221 for 5 to set Hampshire an unlikely 359, in 75 overs. And after reducing Hampshire to 121 for 5, only Durham had realistic ambitions of winning. Wiseman chipped away at the tail to reduce them to 252 for 9, but Brown was defiant, ending unbeaten on 126 to take his match aggregate to 182 runs.Darren Maddy’s dogged persistence, and equally determined rain clouds scuppered Kent’s chances of beating Warwickshire on the final day at Canterbury. With Warwickshire resuming on a wobbly 187 for 5, Maddy found excellent support in Jim Troughton with whom he put on 90 for the sixth wicket, Troughton digging out a dogged 31 from 103 balls before he edged Andrew Hall behind. And with Maddy nudging his way towards 150, the rain fell to thwart Kent’s hopes of taking the final three wickets.Darren Gough took 6 for 50 to bowl out Surrey for 229 before rain forced a draw on the final day at Headingley. Stewart Walters and Mark Ramprakash put on 67 for the fourth wicket, before Walters fell to Jason Gillespie. And though Ramprakash made 59, and Rikki Clarke 65, Surrey’s tail collapsed. Before the rain fell, Yorkshire lost Craig White for 2.

Division One points table

Division Two

Derbyshire escaped with a draw against Glamorgan in a tense final session at Derby, after Robert Croft ripped through the home side’s top-order with 6 for 44. At the start of the day, Kevin Dean took 5 for 24 to dismiss Glamorgan for 127, leaving Derbyshire to chase 276 in no more than 46 overs. And they got off to a good start, too, with Travis Birt and Steve Stubbings putting on 84 for the opening stand. Then Croft struck, reducing them to 170 for 7 to give Glamorgan a scent of victory – but Graham Wagg (48*) dropped anchor and saw them safely through to a draw as Glamorgan ran out of overs.Hilton Ackerman brought up his hundred from 148 balls to take Leicestershire past the 400 mark against Middlesex, before the match petered out into a draw at Grace Road. Jim Allenby smacked a quickfire 38 from 26 balls, carving six fours, as Leicestershire declared on 403 for 5. Middlesex lost Nick Compton in reply – Stuart Broad bowling him for 1 – but inevitably the rain forced an early close, and the end of the match.Rain prevented any play on the final day at Taunton, as Somerset’s match against Essex ended in a draw.

Division Two points table

Greg Chappell has defended India’s selection for the first Test in Antigua by saying that Harbhajan Singh would have been a luxury and Irfan Pathan needed a break.India opted for a four-man attack comprising Sreesanth, VRV Singh, Munaf Patel and Anil Kumble. Singh was making his debut, and Sreesanth and Munaf had played just two Tests apiece depriving Rahul Dravid of valuable experience.”We couldn’t afford to play Harbhajan under the conditions,” Chappell told AFP. “We felt that we needed three pace bowlers. There wasn’t a place for a second spin bowler. We knew that Virender Sehwag could do a job if required, and I thought that he bowled very well.”Sehwag took the wickets of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo as West Indies finished the second day on 316 for 6. Sreesanth, however, conceded 82 runs off 13 overs while Singh, who struggled to find any sort of rhythm, made amends by snaring two wickets on the third morning.Chappell said that Pathan understood why he wasn’t playing the Test. “He [Pathan] appreciates this, and I think probably the break will do him good,” said Chappell. “It wouldn’t have been good for him to come out and bowl badly, and suffer a bigger dent to his confidence. It was thought he should regroup and come back as I am sure he will. I am confident he will play in this series at some stage or the other, but under the conditions we felt that the other options were the better ones.”Chappell justified India’s opting to bat first. “I think conditions weren’t easy for batting on Friday. We decided when we won the toss to bat first. In hindsight that may not have been the ideal thing to do, but I think it was important that we did it, and we tried to take control of the game. West Indies bowled pretty well. I thought our guys under the circumstances didn’t play badly, but maybe 300 was probably a more likely score under the conditions,” he said.

Daniel Vettori has been named as captain for New Zealand’s one-day series in Bangladesh, but will be vice-captain for the Test series. Stephen Fleming, who will lead the Test side, will miss the one-dayers to rest a long-term abdominal injury.While the move to give Vettori the top job reflected faith in his abilities as a leader, John Bracewell, the coach, said that it was also part of a wider initiative: “We want to develop captaincy skills among key senior players,” said Bracewell. “There is a heavy reliance on Stephen Fleming as captain, and a succession plan is required to ensure we have cover in the event he is injured. The one-day series in Bangladesh will give us the opportunity to develop Vettori as a possible captaincy option.”Andre Adams, Peter Fulton and Mathew Sinclair were rewarded with call-ups due to consistent performances, while Jacob Oram – another captaincy option, according to Bracewell – was rested.”Andre Adams has been selected in the ODI squad following his recent form playing county cricket for Essex,” Bracewell explained. “The opportunity given to Andre in county cricket has given him enormous confidence and self-belief and a greater understanding of the make-up of a team and his role within it. This broadening of experience has been essential to his development as a player.”Peter Fulton is being rewarded for his performances for Canterbury and New Zealand A. His performance for Canterbury shows he is suited to the one-day game and is likely to be suited to the flatter front-foot wickets of Bangladesh. Peter is going as a back-up batter, and the opportunity should be a good experience for him. It will also be good opportunity to see whether players performing well at the A-team level are able to make that step up to the Black Caps.”Sinclair entered the team through the back door, when Michael Papps dislocated his shoulder during a training camp. Bracewell said Papps would be out for more than a month, and acknowledged Sinclair’s ability to play well in South Asia.”Mathew Sinclair is being rewarded for his New Zealand A performances in South Africa. He was the most successful top-order batsmen in the past two A-team series, and has a good understanding of the Black Caps and playing in the subcontinent.”Squad Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Hamish Marshall, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum (wk), Scott Styris, Peter Fulton, Chris Harris, Chris Cairns, Daniel Vettori (capt), Andre Adams, Ian Butler, Kyle Mills (one more player to be named later).

Australia have announced their Test and one-day squads for the forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe. Glenn McGrath returns to both the squads, having recovered from an ankle injury, while Cameron White, the all-rounder from Victoria, gets the national call-up for the first time. White comes into the squad in place of Stuart MacGill, who has pulled out due to personal reasons. The two to miss out from the squad that toured Sri Lanka last month are Andrew Symonds and Shaun Tait.Shane Watson has been recalled to the one-day squad following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a back injury. Watson last played in the VB Series in 2002-03.Trevor Hohns, the chairman of the national selection panel, confirmed that McGrath had fully recovered from an ankle injury. “Glenn’s 100% and ready to go,” he said, “so it’s sensible that he returns to the squad given his prior status as the premier fast bowler in the world. With the short nature of the tour it’s a good opportunity for Glenn to ease his way back into competitive cricket.”Hohns said that MacGill’s decision to skip the tour gave the selectors a chance to pick White. “We were keen to take two spinners to Zimbabwe and given Stuart’s unavailability for the tour, we now have an opportunity to look at one of our younger spinners in Cameron with a view to the future. His form in the Pura Cup with both bat and ball was very good, and we’re looking forward to seeing him take the next step on the international stage.”Hohns added that Symonds’s inclusion in to the squad for the Sri Lanka series was “exclusively based on the conditions in that country” and with the squad-strength being reduced from 15 to 13, an extra batsman would not be necessary. “We all know that Andrew’s a quality player and never out of our thoughts because of the flexibility he offers our squads with his all-round talents.”Both the squads will assemble in Brisbane for a three-day pre-tour camp on May 9. The Test squad will depart for Zimbabwe on Thursday May 13.Test squad
1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Simon Katich, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Jason Gillespie, 9 Michael Kasprowicz, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Shane Warne, 12 Cameron White, 13 Brad WilliamsOne-day squad
1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Andrew Symonds, 8 Ian Harvey, 9 Brad Hogg, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Michael Kasprowicz, 12 Glenn McGrath, 13 Shane Watson, 14 Brad WilliamsTour itinerary
17 May Two-day game v Zimbabwe A CFX Academy, Harare
23 May First Test v Zimbabwe Harare Sports Ground, Harare
29 May Second Test v Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
6 June First ODI v Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
9 June Second ODI v Zimbabwe Harare Sports Ground, Harare
12 June Third ODI v Zimbabwe Harare Sports Ground, Harare

On the second day of the two day friendly match against Sussex at Hove, the Worcestershire bowlers met strong resistance on a bitterly cold day.Sussex scored 341-5 off their 79 overs before play was called off and the match declared a draw. For Sussex Richard Montgomerie scored a fine 104, Chris Adams 64 and Robin Martin-Jenkins 55no.The six strong bowling attack shared the duties throughout the day with Mark Harrity taking 2-60 off 17 overs and Vikram Solanki taking 2-64 off 14 overs. Overseas Player Nantie Hayward took his first wicket with a final return of 1-56 off 12 overs. Kabir Ali, Chris Liptrot and David Leatherdale completed the bowling attack on the day.The Squad will play against Herefordshire on Sunday at Hereford in a David Leatherdale Benefit match before the final inter-squad match on Wednesday 16th April at Ombersley CC.The first game of the season will be at New Road against Hampshire starting on Friday 18th April.

Congratulations to the players, coaches, selectors managers and all volunteers who have given years to junior cricket across Canada. Further success must surely follow such dedication!Preliminary phone confirmation indicates that Canada on Saturday August 11, 2001 defeated Bermuda at Somerset C.C. in Bermuda for their second successive Americas U-19 triumph in the preliminary regional tournament for qualification to the U-19’s World Cup. Full scorecards will follow. Canada defeated the Combined Affiliates Friday by 10 wickets. Aneel Nauth one of our best players and opening batsman Gibran Rahaman (24 not out, including 5 fours in one over) led the way with 52 runs in 4.1 overs.Canada batting first scored 184 in 50 overs. Captain Ashish Bagai, fresh from the ICC Trophy WC 2003 qualifying team top-scored with 50, Gibran Rahaman (20) and Jonathan Roberts (24) were among the top scorers. Johnathan Roberts, our backup wicketkeeperbatsman, also captured 10 wickets in the tournament, including a match winning 7 for 20! This despite Canada not bowling in 2 rain-affected games.Bermuda after a rain delay and Duckworth Lewis adjustment was asked to make 179 runs off 46 overs. Bermuda were all out for 144 in 45 overs. Nathan Richards, another outstanding player, led Canada’s bowling with 5 wickets , supported by Chris Argunen’s 3 wickets and by Johnathan Robert’s continued efficient accomplishments in a utility role as our closer.This triumph is even more remarkable when Canada were forced by an ICC rule change to replace five players from the originalsquad. Those five players of course were extremely disappointed. Even more discouraging for these five players was the forced withdrawal of a second and top quality Canada U-19 team from the West Indies U-19 tournament due only to financial reasons!At least two of these players are viable candidates for senior team selection with advanced coaching and training, for example at FM cricket academies in the next year.Loss of critically required Sahara Cup funding and extra and unexpected costs in staging the ICC Trophy 2001 can be a devastating legacy for the future development of Canadian cricket. The ICC Trophy 2001 was held without a sponsor for Canadian Cricket. Things must change in short order for Canada to realize its true potential and achieve ODI and later full member status. Can Canada properly prepare for and send players to the U-19 and FM World Cups without major sponsorship? You know the answer, don’t you?Canada needs you. Cricket needs you. Join Canada’s WC teams. Together we succeed.