Hampshire had some early good fortune at the start of the fourth and final day of their championship clash with leicestershire.White was neatly caught first slip off a Boswell no-ball, and the the same batsman was dropped by Burns when on 26.Leicestershire already missing much of their main bowling attack, saw Dakin limp off after just one over. The opening attack of the day included change bowler Vince Wells taking the mantle.Morris the Hampshire night-watchman domintated a partnership of 99 with White, and with Hampshire hopes of achieving their target of 279, both were dismissed within seven balls of each other. White pushed forward to Williamson and was bowled, Morris edged off-spinner Crowe to Smith at slip. Morris’s career best 60 included 11 fours.Skipper Robin Smith and Jason Laney guided their side to lunch still needing a further 120 to win.

Indian discard, offspinner Harbhajan Singh (5 for 88) and SandeepSanwal (5 for 82) wrecked the Jammu and Kashmir line up to help Punjabregister an innings and 193 run victory on the final day of the NorthZone Ranji Trophy match at the Burlton Park in Jalandhar on Wednesday.Punjab reaped a rich haul of 8 points from this outright win.Resuming at the overnight score of 118 for 3, the overnight batsmenAshwani Gupta (37) and D Mahajan (65) took the score to 150. Ashwaniwas the first to be dismissed, caught by Ricky off Harbhajan Singh.Ten overs later, Mahajan was bowled, giving Sandeep Sanwal his firstwicket of the innings. Then Vikrant Taggar (13) held the fort for afurther 10 overs in the company of Idris Gaudroo (18).But after Sanwal picked up Taggar and Shashi Kumar (13), it was just amatter of time before the innings folded up. Sanwal then held a returnchance to send back Sanjay Sharma. Idris who had battled for over 73minutes departed, bowled by Sanwal. Harbhajan then returned to pick uphis fifth wicket, that of Abdul Qayoom (7), to signal Punjab’svictory.

Valuable knocks by skipper Sachin Dholpure and one drop M Mishra helpedMadhya Pradesh to score 251 before they were all out in the last over onthe opening day of their Cooch Behar Trophy semifinal against Tripura atPune on Saturday.Opting to bat, MP lost wicketkeeper NV Ohja (0) in the fourth over withonly one run on the board. Dholpure and Mishra then came together to add 67runs for the second wicket off 25 overs. Mishra, easily the more aggressiveof the two, slammed 55 of 82 balls with the help of nine fours and a six.Dholpure however continued to bat patiently before he was sixth out at 205in the 68th over. Dholpure faced 199 balls and hit ten of them to theropes. JS Saxena (33) and N Menon (31 not out) gave a helping hand in themiddle order to keep the innings going. Saxena faced just 19 balls and hittwo fours and two sixes in a breezy cameo. T Shah was the most successfulbowler for Tripura finishing with four for 35 off 20.2 overs.

Lancashire suffered yet more Championship frustration at Old Trafford today.They had reduced Leicestershire to 83 for three when the rain which had washed out their previous two home games against Surrey and Glamorgan returned soon after lunch, with the teams taking an early tea at 3:40pm, and play finally being abandoned for the day at 5pm.Leicestershire, who made one change to the team who drew with Somerset last week with Jon Dakin replacing Darren Stevens, won the toss and chose to bat.But they slipped to 8-2 in the sixth over, with Trevor Ward having his off stump uprooted by a superb delivery from Peter Martin, and Iain Sutcliffe brilliantly caught by Mike Atherton at first slip off Glen Chapple.Daniel Marsh responded positively, using his feet against Muttiah Muralitharan and striking four boundaries.But Chapple, the leading Englishman in the first-class bowling averages at the start of play, switched to the Stretford End to have Marsh caught by Mark Chilton at square leg off a top-edged hook.Darren Maddy joined Ben Smith to steer the visitors to 81 for three at lunch, but the skies were already filling in and it was no surprise when only two overs into the afternoon session rain stopped play.Lancashire had named a full strength team as they aimed to build on Saturday’s dramatic win at Northants, with Atherton, Joe Scuderi and Gary Keedy returning in place of Ryan Driver, Tim Roberts and Chris Schofield – and Andy Flintoff is fit to bowl for the first time since he injured his side in a Benson and Hedges Cup tie against Yorkshire on May 6th.

The West Indies’ arrival in Zimbabwe last week was completelyovershadowed by the hype surrounding the second Test between Zimbabweand India that started at Harare Sports Club the following day.The West Indies are in Zimbabwe for their first-ever tour sinceZimbabwe attained Test status in 1992 and it will be only their secondTest series after Zimbabwe’s tour of West Indies in March last year.West Indies won the series with a two-nil whitewash. This time too,West Indies are playing two Tests.West Indies manager Ricky Skerritt said that they were looking forwardto a competitive series against Zimbabwe. “We expect it to be a tightseries. Zimbabwe is a very competitive team and they have been doingvery well at home. We have a young team so it will be good experiencefor us and we are looking forward to it.”The triangular one-day series is also going to be very tough. Indiais one the highly rated one-day teams and we have not had a very goodrecord in one-day cricket of late. Zimbabwe is known to be a verycompetitive one-day team and this leaves us as underdogs. So for us toget into the final will be a great achievement.”We lost more games than we won in the last one-day series. InAustralia we got into the final but we struggled to do that. We beatZimbabwe but again it was not easy. We then had a home series againstSouth Africa and again we did not do well. They beat us 5-2 in theseven-match one day series after we won the first match.”But it was valuable experience for us. We have a lot of young playerswho have not had a lot of one-day matches. Our bowling attack is theworst affected as it is very inexperienced. And for the guys to handlepressure against sides like India and Zimbabwe will be a very goodtest.”Zimbabwe’s Test record has not been that impressive. They are, afterBangladesh, the newest Test-playing nation and the victory over Indiaon Monday was a very good win. They have had a very good run at homethis season. They are getting better, producing more players, andproducing a more competitive Test team. We are going through arebuilding phase and they have just come out with a very good winagainst India in the last Test and our series against Zimbabwe will bevery competitive.”I wouldn’t want to single out any players for special mention.Obviously the more senior players have established themselves, thecaptain and the Flower brothers. Zimbabwe has a well-balanced team,improving all the time so we will take them as a team and not asindividuals.”Captain Carl Hooper also spoke about the series against Zimbabwe.”It’s going to be a very good series with Zimbabwe playing some goodcricket at the moment. They have just beaten India in the Test to drawthe series. The tri-series will be close too and I think Zimbabwe area very good one day-side as well as India. We expect to give a goodaccount of ourselves.”The series against South Africa was a good one for us. They (SouthAfrica) are second only to Australia in the world. We are rebuildingthe side and we don’t feel under any pressure at all to win here inZimbabwe. We have a young side and it will take a while for them tocome through.”We are here to play Zimbabwe as a team and we are not going to singleout any individual players for special attention. We are just going toplay some good cricket over the next couple of weeks.”

* An awe inspiring estimate of TendulkarSachin Tendulkar will amass 20,480 runs and 81 centuries in the next10 years if he maintains his present form, according to an assessmentby Wisden Cricket Monthly. In the past 27 months since February 1999,Tendulkar had piled up 1720 runs in 15 Tests at a near Bradmanesqueaverage of 71.67, it said.Should Tendulkar continue at that rate in the next decade, playing 12Tests a year and finally hang up his boots at the age of 38, he willhave amassed 20,480 and 81 centuries in 202 Tests. His average will bea cool 66.06, placing him all alone on a unique second tier ofchampion batsmen – still behind Bradman (99.94) but distinctly aheadof Graeme Pollock, George Headley and Herbert Sutcliffe (60-odd),Wisden wrote.The jury is still out on whether he would have outscored Don Bradmanif he had been around in the run-thirsty 1930s, but the Indian maestrohad two sweet statistics to savour on his 28th birthday in April,Wisden writes in a piece headlined “Tendulkar the Great (and gettinggreater)”. It went on to cite that Tendulkar’s had been the 28 mostprolific years and 27 of the most prodigious months in the history ofbatting.Pointing out that on his birthday, Tendulkar’s record in limited oversInternationals stood at 10,179 runs and 28 hundreds – twice as good asany one else at the same age – the magazine says that in Tests, hisomnipotence is equally jaw-dropping. He was 1676 runs clear of theprevious record held by Javed Miandad and his 25 Test centuries dwarfthe 15 made at the same age by Bradman and Neil Harvey, his nearestrivals.* Andy Flower’s pat for Tendulkar, HarbhajanZimbabwe wicketkeeper-batsman Andy Flower has showered praise onSachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh. In an interview to PTI inHarare, the former Zimbabwe captain described Tendulkar as a “veryspecial player.” Flower said it was a treat to watch the batting ofthe Indian maestro from behind the stumps. “He has been superb towatch from behind. His balance, timing, eye position and techniquedoesn’t seemed to have changed much (over the years) at all. It’s allbeen very simple. Or let us say he has made it look very simple. Thatis one of his great strengths that he has got a very simpletechnique,” he said, though he did feel that like any other batsmanTendulkar, who likes to go for his shots, too was slightly vulnerableagainst an outswinger.Flower had a lot of praise for Harbhajan Singh too, saying the offspinner was a “top quality bowler”. “He is not your standard offspinner. He has a lot of variations and tends to mix up his deliveriesall the time. He keeps you thinking. You can’t line him up, so tospeak.”Flower, who has close to a thousand runs in just six Test matchesagainst India, described playing in India as “an amazing feeling” andsaid he loved playing in the country. “My style of play is more suitedagainst spin. Plus, the wickets in India are very good for batting andthe outfield is quick. I love playing in India. The whole atmosphereof touring India and playing cricket in India is an amazing feeling.”Flower, whose main goal of seeing his country win a Test was achievedwhen Zimbabwe defeated Pakistan in 1997-98, said the peak of hiscareer was the tour of India last year where he averaged 270 in thetwo Tests with his highest score being an unbeaten 232 out of a tallyof 540 runs. “But I don’t want to leave it at that. I am still veryhungry,” he declared.* Lillee to camp at MRF Pace FoundationFormer Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee will camp inChennai from June 18 to 27 to monitor the progress of trainees at theMRF Pace Foundation. Besides monitoring the progress of the shortlisted boys whom he selected during his earlier visit in February,Lillee would also finalise the players for the pre-season trainingwhich would go on till September end, foundation chief coach TA Sekharsaid in a release on Friday.Four fast bowlers of the National Cricket Academy along with its chiefcoach Balwinder Singh Sandhu and four bowlers each from the zonalacademies would be at the foundation during Lillee’s visit. Inaddition, up and coming young Sri Lankan fast bowlers Amila Ratnayake,Dilhara Lokuhettige and Dilhara Fernando and Australian CricketAcademy’s Mark Thistle and Mitcheli Johnson would also be attendingthe training sessions.Australian Cricket Board’s psychologist Sandy Gordon would also becoming here to conduct classes, the release added.

The small fourth day crowd witnessed some bizarre scenes after tea as the entire Middlesex XI plus coach John Emburey turned their hands to assisting the ground staff in order to enable their CricInfo Championship match against Notts to re-start after a downpour.A heavy thunderstorm had halted play with Notts on 193-8, still 20 runs short of making their opponents bat again. Needing just two more wickets to cement their lead at the top of Division Two the Middlesex players helped drag covers off the playing surface and generally assist with the entire mopping up operation.Once the umpires were satisfied with their efforts play re-started just before 5pm with a minimum of 19.3 overs left to be bowled. But only three of those overs could be delivered before yet another shower dashed the Middlesex hopes.At the interruption Notts were on 202–8 but, somewhat incredibly, play once again resumed. Two Read boundaries off Fraser helped Notts sail past the 213 needed to make Middlesex bat again as finally the umpires called it off. Read had batted heroically to end undefeated on 76 and Harris finished on 14. Tim Bloomfield was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers with figures of 5-58Beginning the day on 93-3 Notts last three wickets inside just five overs. Bilal Shafayat and Darren Bicknell both fell to Tim Bloomfield and Paul Johnson was caught at forward short leg off Phil Tufnell for 0.David Lucas scored 11, sharing in a stand of 38 with Read but when he and Richard Logan fell hopes of saving the match seemed to have been extinguished.Read went on the offensive and reached his third half-century of the season in just 69 balls. With Harris as support tea was reached on 187–8. Nine deliveries were possible after the resumption before the showers came but despite the efforts of the Middlesex players there was no longer enough time for them to force a win.

Well to go two nil up is fantastic! Another strong team effort by the lads and with a win or a draw in the next Test at Trent Bridge we will retain the Ashes once again. Of course we are looking at winning each Test as it comes along but of course winning and retaining the little trophy is the most important thing.Here is my diary of the second Test at Lord’s:Pre-match:Steve Waugh stated in the post match interviews that he believed the toss did not make much difference. ‘Tugga’ sometimes says that he hopes he loses the toss so that he doesn’t have to decide what to do! The wicket looked pretty good but because it was overcast, Steve thought that our bowlers could exploit the conditions.Day One:The opening day was a tricky one as there were a few interruptions. In my second over Mark Waugh appeared to lose sight of an edge from Trescothick off a no-ball and at that point the umpires felt it was time for a spell because it was too dark.I was bowling from the Nursery End and as we all know from where I was running in there is a slope from my right to left.Too much is made of the slope at Lord’s. At the end of the day, a bowler still needs to hit the right areas time and again to build pressure on the batsman. If a bowler is thinking about run-up, slope, breeze etc. he is not concentrating on the job at hand.During the first innings Steve Bucknor was at my end. Steve Bucknor does not say much, but he has a great sense of humour and when he does have a chat, it is usually funny and leaves you with a smile on your face.When we came back on we made some great inroads into the England top order. After another interruption or two England closed the day at four for 120-odd, with Ramprakash going just before bad light intervened again.During one of the delays we all met Her Majesty the Queen. During the day she had presented the BBC Radio commentators with a cake and when Colin Miller was introduced the Queen (surprise, surprise) asked Funky about his pink hair.Day Two: It was great to wrap up England for under 200. ‘Pigeon’ [McGrath] bowled superbly and got a nice ovation once he bagged his fifth wicket. The crowd seem to warm to our new idea of the bowlers showing the ball and Glenn did his traditional thumbs up to the four corners of the ground.Early in our innings we lost ‘Haydos’ and ‘Punter’ but in walked Mark Waugh and what a knock he played!When the pressure is on, there are not many better players around than Mark Waugh. He always stands tall and his 108 was a masterful knock. Some of his shots on the leg side were such that only Mark Waugh could possibly have played them.He had a big partnership with Steve, before unfortunately getting run out. At the close we had a handy lead, which hopefully ‘Marto’ and ‘Gilly’ would build on tomorrow.Third Day: The Saturday crowd at Lord’s was fantastic. It was a great atmosphere and certainly one to remember. England had their chance to make early inroads with ‘Gilly’ getting dropped.He didn’t let it faze him and went on to make 90 and with ‘Marto’ getting 50 a lead of over 200 was great!There has been talk in the media over here (I believe by one of the England players) that Australia are a lucky side. Well, we are of the belief that you make your own luck. So ‘Gilly’ got dropped a few times in his 90 runs. England weren’t unlucky; they had their chances. It is just not good cricket to let a player like Adam Gilchrist off the hook like that.So with a big first innings advantage it was great to have England three for 50 at tea after some sharp bowling from Brett Lee. Then Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash played well and nearly got to stumps before Ramprakash went lbw for 40. Again we were in a strong position and hopefully with some good bowling we could win sometime tomorrow.Final Day: Well ‘Pigeon’ made some early inroads, knocking over Stewart and Ward and we were away. Apart from some strokeplay from Craig White all we needed was 14 to go two up.Personally, getting five-for is always satisfying but it is a small bonus on top of winning the Test match and a bit of reward for the effort.The man of the match award was fully deserved by Glenn who really set the tone and put us in a great position by getting five wickets in the first innings and claiming another three in the second. Mark Waugh was the other contender with his brilliant hundred and his world record for catches taken.We celebrated in the rooms for about seven hours, awesome stuff!Lord’s, as I mentioned earlier, was a great occasion and it was great to see some ex-players over here. Merv [Hughes] and Pistol [Reiffel] were here with their tour group and Heals [Healy] with his. It is great to have these guys over here and catch up with them and seek out their advice.Well we are off to another tour match and then to Robin Hood country inNottingham where hopefully the score line will read 3-0 in a fortnight or so!

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.

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