The rain that destroyed a day’s play of the third Test between South Africa and New Zealand in Johannesburg was in no mood to allow much more action at the Supersport Series game between Griqualand West and Boland.When play was brought to a premature close by the second thunderstorm of the day after just 35.3 overs, Griquas, having been put into bat by visiting captain Louis Koen, had moved to an extremely modest 111 for seven.Once again, international outcast Henry Williams proved that he is still a talent to be reckoned with. After a five-wicket haul in his last Supersport Series outing against Northerns in a losing cause at Centurion, he has already added another four scalps to his season’s haul, ably backed by Charl Langevelt – the right-arm seamer chiming in with two cheap wickets.Only Loots Bosman mounted anything approaching genuine resistance, and he remains unbeaten on 42, although he and Zaheer Abrahim had added 41 for the eighth wicket when the inclement weather decided to intervene, Abrahim finishing the day on 13.Whether Griqualand West can mount a remotely competitive total will depend largely on whether this pair can go on to build by far the largest partnership of the innings. Although there is plenty in the pitch for the bowlers, Griquas have no one but themselves to blame for a shoddy first day performance.

Sussex’s Cricinfo Championship match with Worcestershire is perfectly poised after a day of fluctuating fortunes at Horsham.The home side were bowled out for 372 in their second innings, which left the visitors to score 327 in four and a half sessions.By the close they had reached 173-3 from 59 overs and their hopes largely rest with Vikram Solanki and David Leatherdale who have so far put on 71 for the fourth wicket.Sussex seemed to have taken control when off-spinner Mark Davis had Anurag Singh caught at silly point and Graeme Hick superbly taken by wicket-keeper Matt Prior as he swept with the spin.Those wickets, in successive overs, reduced Worcestershire to 103-3 but Solanki and Leatherdale batted with increasing assurance in the final session to raise their side’s hopes of victory.Earlier Davis had made 43 not out, his highest score for the county, as Sussex’s lower order batsmen chiselled out valuable runs.Umer Rashid scored 38 as the last four wickets put on 77, Alamgir Sheriyar finishing with 4-83 to give him a match haul of 8-136.Worcestershire got their victory chase off to a good start with Singh and Phil Weston putting on 66 before Mark Robinson trapped Weston leg before for 21.

Yawar Saeed, the Pakistan manager on the just-concluded and most eventful tour to England, talks with CricInfoYawar Saeed felt that harping on Pakistan’s capitulation in the NatWest final is not the right way to go about it. He took time out to discuss the 55-day tour in its entirety. In fairness, not because it would show his team’s performance in better light but for the fact that the Waqar Younis-led team had some really bright moments if you look at it with a wide-angle lens. And he believes, rather strongly so, that taken as a whole the tour was a great success, despite the fact that it was the first time since 1987 that Pakistan has failed to win an away series in England.
“When the team left for England, it had a couple of setbacks behind it. It had not done well in New Zealand, and lost the ARY Cup final at Sharjah. In England, it was considered a side that was weak and quite beatable. They seemed to be right as Pakistan lost the first Test at Lord’s in only three days. It was a terrible time; we were under-prepared and were outclassed. Any other team may have crumbled, but we regrouped after that serious reverse. The result was a great comeback, and we won at Old Trafford. What’s more our performance was the best by any team in England in the first half of the summer”.
“Considering that we were playing in the early part of the summer, drawing the series was a great achievement. The visiting teams find the damp conditions a bit too much to handle in early summer. The example that readily comes to mind is that of India losing 2-0 and Pakistan winning by the same margin in England in 1996; then India had played the rubber in the wetter half”.
“The other big plus was that we performed as a unit, and you could see it from the fight each member of the squad put up. It was quite evident at Old Trafford, where every session was so absorbing, with fortunes swinging this way and that. Such was the intensity that it was said to be a great advertisement for Test cricket”.
“To me, to draw the series was very satisfying, and a great achievement. Many people in England thought that we didn’t have a ghost of a chance to do that. There were some very good individual performances in that Test, such as those of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Rashid Latif. The duo kept it up in the NatWest series, with others like Yousuf Youhana, Abdur Razzaq and Saqlain Mushtaq also making good contributions as Pakistan made it to the final. But the man who really came out much taller was captain Waqar Younis. He led by example and got the best out of the boys, each of whom were willing to do anything for him. I have been on nine tours as manager, and never was the dressing room atmosphere as excellent as it was on this tour. Younis had a big hand in that”.
“Before the NatWest Series started, we were billed as the team likely to end up third. It is a tribute to the boys that we made it to the final, beating England in three out of three encounters and Australia in one of the two games [the third one was washed out] on the way. That meant that going into the final, we were equal on points with the Aussies”.
“The final was a very huge disappointment. We had thought that victory in the final would be the icing on the cake. That was not to be. To sum it, we were not only found below par against the Aussies, we performed way below our potential, and were outplayed thoroughly”.
“Still, I would say that overall the tour should be rated as a success; we drew the Test series and we played the final. And the biggest success was that after a long time every member of the squad – even those who were not featuring in the games – pulled in one direction and gave their full support to the captain. There was not a hint of controversy in the entire 55-day tour”.
Yawar conceded that it was something that needed looking into and added:”It has happened on three or four occasions only recently. We find out that the batting is doing sufficiently well till the big day, and then there is a collapse. We have to do a bit of soul-searching to find the answers; in fact we have begun doing just that. That we are not short on talent and ability is not disputed, so it has to be mental strength and strategy. We have to work hard to get it right”.
Are finding a quality opener to partner Saeed Anwar, and give the middle order a more settled look. Sending a different batsman at one-drop in every game was not the right idea, he agreed, for it kept the batsmen to follow under pressure, especially when the openers kept getting out cheaply and added:
“It is really bad on confidence if your number 7 and 8 are made to make a last ditch fight every now and then. Actually the two big stands during the NatWest series were between Youhana and Rashid Latif and Youhana and Inzamam. It was about time the openers delivered with some runs on the board on a regular basis”.
He admits to making some mistakes, while vociferously defends others. Dropping Saqlain from the Lord’s Test XI falls in the former category:
“The decision to play five seamers was made collectively. We all admitted later that it was a mistake; but, as they say, it is easy to be wise after the event”.
Yawar believes thus was correct and explains:
“There was nothing exceptional from him in the four matches that he played. The problem with Afridi is that if he comes off he is gold, but if he doesn’t he is not even silver. We can be wrong, but we thought going for an opener who was in form – Saleem Elahi had scored 70-odd in the previous game – was better than having additional bowling options. Going in with five bowlers and five batsmen was the right idea, and now that it has backfired we can be criticised for it”.
Yawar felt, now that the tour is over, he would like to focus on the positive things instead of harping too much on the negative angles:
“True, there were weak areas, and nobody denies that we should work at improving them. But there were many brilliant things too, for instance Waqar Younis being named NatWest Man of the Series, and Afridi’s effort being nominated as the catch of the series. Though it still needs to improve further, our fielding was generally good”.
Yawar’s comments came unsolicited:
“We have seen poor umpiring before, but this time it was much below expectations. No one has to comment on it any longer, it is now evident to everybody who watches the game on television”.
It too is no longer Yawar’s favourite. He believes that they gave too much importance to pitch invasions, firecrackers and crowd disturbance when the focus should have been on performances in the matches:
“The British press could be accused of ignoring cricket, because whatever the crowds did had nothing to do with the visiting team. I asked some of them [members of the British press] why don’t you check the nationalities of those involved. I assured them none of them had a green [Pakistani] passport”.

Pakistan A cricketers flew home yesterday having completed a successful tour of Sri Lanka and coach cum manager Mudassar Nazar was confident that the charges under him, who were all players drawn from the national academy, would in the near future provide the quality to the national team.We want to be a world power in cricket and we want to compete with Australia and South Africa. We see them as the two leading teams in world cricket, said Mudassar.These countries have all these facilities available and it is asking an awful lot from your players to compete against them and not give them the same facilities, he said.Mudassar said the academies, a brainchild of the present chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), General Tauqir Zia, were formed with the intention of bringing Pakistan on par with other top cricketing nations like Australia and South Africa.We hope the national academy will play a leading role in the development of our cricketers. It was formed only three months ago and we dont know as yet what benefits we can get out of it. We have a very advanced system ourselves. I am hopeful that through the academy, we will be able to deliver more and more quality players to the national team, said Mudassar, who is the head of the academies.Apart from a national academy, Pakistan also have a junior academy and three regional academies.Mudassar said that it was imperative to have frequent A tours and added: I would go as far as saying we should hold a mini World Cup amongst the A teams of all Test-playing countries.It is imperative that we should give all our youngsters a chance to play in the Test matches in foreign conditions so that when they come into the national Test team they are not under pressure as now, said Mudassar.He said Test and one-day internationals were important at this level because all international tours have both types of games in the itinerary.One-day cricket has taken the game to a different dimension and there is a lot of interest. There is a certain skill you need to play that game, said Mudassar.One of the main reasons why we undertook this tour, was to see where we stand with our players. The tour brought out the players who were mentally tough and who were incapable of coming through for the time being, anyway. You have to work on those who didnt come through, he said.Commenting on the recently concluded Test and one-day series between Sri Lanka A and Pakistan A, Mudassar said that the bowling on both sides had been outstanding, but the batting was a little disappointing.I think I blame my batsmen, but at the same time a lot of credit should go to the Sri Lankan captain Tilan Samaraweera. He exploited our weakness against off-spin, said Mudassar.His off-spin was very good, he exploited Pakistan in every game. If he had been a little more adventurous, I think he would have had far greater success against our players, he said.Mudassar said the most outstanding Sri Lankan player was Michael Vandort.He had a good series, and he could have got more runs because he did get a start in almost every innings. I like his batting, he said.The other guy who caught my eye was Suresh Perera. His hitting was very intelligent towards the end of the game. He hit em straight which is very good. In bowling, he has the uncanny knack of taking wickets which makes him an ideal player for one-day cricket, Mudassar said.From Pakistans side Mudassar said he admired Azam Hussains courage.He hadnt played on this tour and a lot of games in Pakistan either in the recent past. We threw him straight into the one-day game and he has come good. His bowling has been fantastic under pressure, said Mudassar.Faisal Naveed showed a whole a lot of character. He collected a pair in the first Test match, but since then his form has been encouraging. Hasan Raza scored two hundred and a fifty in the Test series and I found that he is the best spin ball player in Pakistan. Yasir Arafat has come through. He bowled intelligently throughout the series. Irfan Fazil and Danish Kaneria were the pick of the bowlers. Both have been outstanding and also bowled really well under pressure. There were times when we played one bowler less in the first game, and these two guys really held out bowling together. I took a lot of strength from that, he said.Mudassar said the Sri Lanka cricket management should take a lot of credit for the hospitality shown to them on and off the field. Its been absolutely fantastic, he said.Pakistan A led by Raza won the three-match Test series 1-0 (2 drawn) and drew the three-match one-day series 1-all (1 no result).

Worcestershire smashed the record for the highest total by a side batting second in a day-night league match by reaching 275 for 3 to beat Durham by seven wickets in an epic top-of-the-table clash.The cricket was every bit as stirring as the fireworks sound-effects as the home side extended their lead to four points in front of a capacity crowd of 4,500.Paul Pollard launched the six-an-over chase with 62 from 44 balls, and when the opener pulled a catch to square leg, Graeme Hick and Vikram Solanki made their quality count in a partnership of 160.Taking surprisingly few risks – both reached 50 with only five boundaries – they systematically carved into Durham’s 274 for 7 by putting on 160 in 27 overs before Hick was bowled by Danny Law for 87.But Solanki stayed unbeaten with 91 as Worcestershire romped home with 16 balls to spare.It was a case of matching everything Durham did – and better. To make the achievement all the more meritorious, they secured a fourth successive league win despite losing fast bowler Kabir Ali after he had bowled only three overs.The teenager is expected to be out for a month after dislocating his right shoulder when sprawling at deep mid-wicket in a vain attempt to cut off one of Nicky Peng’s 19 fours in a blazing 121 from 113 balls for Durham.The England A batsman also hit a six after launching the first innings in a stand of 102 in 16 overs with Andrew Pratt, but Durham were unable to kick on when Peng hoisted a catch to long on off Andy Bichel.Alamgir Sheriyar and Bichel shared six wickets as battling Worcestershire gave their batsmen a chance of conjuring up a spectacular result.

Skipper Yere Goud led from the front as Railways took a firm grip ontheir MRF Buchi Babu invitation cricket tournament first round matchagainst Maharashtra at the Southern Railway stadium in Chennai onMonday. Thanks to Goud and his 173-run partnership for the fourthwicket with Raja Ali (89), Railways finished the second day on 365 forfour wickets off 90 overs in reply to Maharashtra’s first inningstotal of 267.Resuming at seven for no loss, Railways lost Amit Pagnis for 15 at 37.They suffered another quick blow at 39 when Murali Kartik was run outfor zero. The other opener Vineet Saxena (51) and Goud then initiateda recovery process by adding 60 runs for the third wicket off 16 oversbefore the former was out for 51. During his stay of two hours at thecrease, Saxena faced 104 balls and despatched eight of them to theropes.Left hander Raja Ali joined the 29-year-old Goud and the two not onlycarried the Railways score past Maharashtra’s but also enabled theirside to take a stranglehold on the match. Both found run making easyduring their long association which lasted 46.4 overs. At 272, the 25-year-old Raja Ali was bowled by Mandar Sane, eleven runs short of ahundred. He faced 128 balls and hit 14 fours and a six. There was norelief for the Maharashtra bowlers – and skipper Abhijit Kale triedten of them during the day – even after Ali’s dismissal. For, Goud andSanthosh Sahu then added 93 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket off12.2 overs till close.At stumps, Goud, a prolific run getter in the Ranji Trophy last seasonhad batted 334 minutes. He faced 251 balls and hit 20 fours and twosixes. Sahu was unbeaten with 42 off 62 balls with five boundary hits.With Railways already having a lead of 98 runs with six wickets inhand, the last day’s play on Tuesday will just be a formality. Aboutthe only interest remaining in the game is how much the run hungryGoud, who averages 50 plus in his first class career, will finallyget.* Sridhar shines with bat and ballThe second day of the match between All India Associate Bank XI andTamil Nadu Districts XI in the MRF Buchi Babu All India InvitationTournament at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday, sawAIAB take their first innings score to 344 all out. By close of play,TN Districts XI had scored 164/4 in 79 overs. The main highlight ofthe day was a good show with the bat and ball by Ramakrishnan Sridhar.Resuming at 283/8, AIAB went on to add 61 valuable runs for the lasttwo wickets. Manish Majithia made 28 and was caught by Noorul Riaz offthe bowling of Subbiah Veeranan. Sridhar played a bright knock andwent on to remain unbeaten on 38, which included five boundaries and asix. The last wicket partnership between Sridhar and Narender PalSingh (17) added 32 runs. Ganapathy Vignesh with 4/54 was the best ofthe bowlers.TN Districts XI got off to a sedate start, Riaz and Mohamad Basha puton 125 runs for the first wicket off 55.1 overs. Riaz made 70 runs off171 balls with the help of five strokes past the ropes and was thefirst wicket to fall, caught by Pankaj Dharmani off the bowling ofMajithia. Masha (45) followed soon, caught by Sanjay Mohan off thebowling of Sridhar.Sridhar struck two more body blows to the TN Districts XI bydismissing Saravanan (8) and Kumaraguru (4) and reduced them to 151/4in the 70th over. In the last ten overs of the day just 13 runs werescored as Vijayakumaran Gautham (19 not out) and Rajagopal Sathish (4not out) played carefully. Sridhar, the left-arm orthodox spinner whoplays for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy, finished with the excellentfigures of 18-8-17-3. All looks set for a keen fight for the allimportant first innings lead on Tuesday.

Lancashire eased the air of crisis at Old Trafford with a 22-run victory over Sussex Sharks which took them well away from the bottom of the National League Second Division table.Defeats by Glamorgan and Middlesex had left the former one-day giants in danger of an embarrassing wooden spoon, but they produced a disciplined all-round performance to leapfrog above Sussex into a more respectable fifth in the table.Lightning made 200-8 in their 45 overs with half centuries from JohnCrawley and Graham Lloyd, then dismissed the visitors for 178 off the first ball of the last over despite a dogged 76 from Richard Montgomerie.John Wood was the pick of the Lancashire bowlers with two for 20 from his nine overs, while Chris Schofield weighed in with three for 30 late on.Crawley had won the toss and chosen to bat, but saw his struggling team slump to one for two in the fourth over with Glen Chapple and Mark Chilton going cheaply to Robin Martin-Jenkins and Billy Taylor.Crawley himself led the recovery with a sensible 54 from 99 balls, his second National League half-century of the season continuing his prolific form which brought him 280 and 68 in last week’s Championship game against Northants.Graham Lloyd stepped up the pace with 56 from as many balls including seven fours, his second half-century in three National League matches.Taylor, Martin-Jenkins and James Kirtley each picked up two wickets forSussex, although Mark Robinson was the pick of their attack with one for 25 from his nine overs, the crucial wicket of Andy Flintoff bowled for 18.The Sharks were floundering from the start in their reply, as Wood and Glen Chapple each picked up a wicket and Murray Goodwin was run out to leave them 22 for three.Montgomerie took his anchor role to extremes, scoring only one run in the first 10 overs. He finally found some decent support from Will House in a fifth wicket stand of 74.But after House flicked Wood to mid wicket for 35, Sussex were always struggling.Montgomerie, who is now the leading run-scorer in the Second Division, reached his half-century from 98 balls with his second boundary and then moved on to 76 from 119 balls before he was ninth man out, bowled by Flintoff in the 44th over.

Auckland Cricket was a major recipient of awards at the 2001 Westpac Trust Sport Auckland Sports Awards dinner held in Auckland on Tuesday evening.Emily Drumm from the University Akarana Cricket Club was a popular winner of both the Asics Sportswoman of the Year Award and the overall WestpacTrust Sporting Excellence Award for her achievements in leading the CLEAR White Ferns to victory in the CricInfo Women’s World Cup in December 2000 and as an integral part of the State Auckland Hearts team which won their second successive State Insurance Cup during the 2000/01 season.Fittingly, in what was a memorable night for Auckland Cricket, the State Auckland Hearts were also named the Lion Red Sports Team of the Year.Rising cricketing talent, Rob Nicol from the Cornwall Cricket Club was named a joint winner of the Sport Auckland Junior Sportsman of the Year with basketballer, Lindsay Tait. The 18-year-old opening batsman and medium pace/off-spin bowler is New Zealand Cricket’s Young Player to Lord’s this year and will be a leading contender for the New Zealand Under-19 team to play in the ICC Under-19 World Cup to be played in New Zealand this season.Long-serving Auckland Cricket administrator, Don Hattaway, was also recognised for his exceptional work in developing the game in Auckland with a Special Service to Sport Award. Lou Vincent of the Grafton United Cricket Club was also a finalist in the Sportsman of the Year Award.

WP have switched sponsors from MTN to Nashua.This has been confirmed by WP CEO Arthur Turner. WP join Northerns Titans and Kwa-zulu Natal in the Nashua cricket stable. Tuner said MTN, with their commitment to the national side and considerable spending in development felt that they were over-committed. “Nashua have taken over the terms and conditions of the MTN sponsorship” Turner is quoted in today’s Sunday Argus. “The deal runs till 2005” Turner added.