Having already qualified for the knock out phase, Tamil Nadu couldafford to go all out to press home their advantage against UttarPradesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The presence of Test capSadagoppan Ramesh at the head of the order helped bolster a battingline up that was in good nick as it is.Opening the bowling for Uttar Pradesh, Ashish Winston Zaidi struckearly, getting rid of Ramesh after the south paw managed just sixruns. However, that was all the joy Uttar Pradesh were entitle to asSridharan Sriram stole the limelight with a scintillating unbeatenhundred. Well supported by hard hitting youngster Hemang K Badani,Sriram notched up milestone after milestone in the course of theday. Reaching his fifty off a sedate 121 balls, Sriram then increasedthe tempo, requiring only an additional 61 balls to reach the threefigure mark. Sharing a 109 run partnership with Badani, Sriram tookTamil Nadu to a position of real strength.When Badani (62) was stumped by Manoj Mudgal off the bowling of RazaUttar Pradesh might have thought they finally got the breakthroughthat would help them restrict the rampaging Tamil Nadu side. No suchluck. JR Madanagopal walked out to the middle and joined theunstoppable Sriram. Helping himself to an unbeaten 80 that includedfive boundaries and two sixes, Madanagopal saw Sriram through to152. With Sriram unbeaten on 152, stumps were called. At 311 for 2, itwould be safe to say that Tamil Nadu are firmly in the driving seat atthe end of the first day.

The opening match of the ACB Cup was one for openers.It might still have been September but Duncan Betts and Jerry Cassell wasted little time in adjusting themselves to the early start to the representative season, setting the QAS off on the right footing with a partnership of 171. Each fell agonisingly short of a century but the momentum that they established was irreversible.So serene was the Queenslanders’ progress that as many as 44 runs even came from two overs late in the innings.Academy openers Luke Williams and Shane Stanton matched their counterparts’ industry with a century stand of their own in the reply but, confronted by the probing off spin of Scott O’Leary, few other batsmen made an impression.A second innings of note from Betts featured as the QAS established a victory target of 322 before setting opening bowler Ashley Noffke loose. Noffke went a long way toward settling the match’s fate with a new ball burst that yielded three early wickets and then returned later in the innings to claim the scalps of top-scorer Michael Clarke and Chris Hartley in successive overs.A long-term injury to Michael Kasprowicz had opened up a spot for a replacement pace bowler in Queensland’s senior team and the strapping young right armer’s credentials as a candidate for the vacancy were hard to ignore in this display.

Karachi, Nov 25: Karachi Whites moved another step towards the finalof the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Grade-I Cricket Championship witha six-wicket triumph over Sargodha at the Sports Stadium in Sargodhaon Saturday.According to a message received here, pace trio of Mohammad ZahidJunior (4-23), Mohammad Hasnain (3-12) and the explosive MohammadSami, who claimed three for 53 to complete a match bag of eight for105 routed Sargodha for just 102 in their second innings.Requiring 54 for their sixth victory, Karachi Whites, who had earlierdeclared their first innings at their overnight score, reached theirtarget for the loss of four wickets.

Northern Districts is top of the Shell Trophy table after two rounds of the competition, the only team with a hundred per cent record.An eight wicket victory over Central Districts was completed shortly after lunch on the final day. It was ND’s seventh successive victory in the Shell Trophy.CD resumed this morning on 180 for eight, a lead of 97.Any lingering hopes of victory for CD were ended when the last two wickets managed only two runs between them. The first wicket was the run out of Ewan Thompson following hesitation over a short single, a disastrous start to the day.Needing exactly 100 to win, ND lost two early wickets to left-armer Thompson. Mark Bailey and Neal Parlane remained together for the rest of the innings, Bailey finishing one short of his half century.A note of drama was added at the end, as thunder and lightening appeared around the Taupo area and rain began to fall. It is possible that had Parlane not hit the winning runs when he did, a long delay might have ensued.ND Coach Chris Kuggeleijn was understandably happy with his team’s performance. He cited the performances of Neal Parlane with the bat and Grant Bradburn with the ball as being key to ND’s success, but stressed that it was a good all round team performance.”All the bowlers got wickets and most of the batsmen contributed too.”Kuggeleijn’s only worry was that the thunder and rain would end the game before the win had been sealed.ND’s next Shell Trophy game is against Canterbury in Rangiora. As Kuggeleijn says, “that’ll be a big one.”The decisive passage of the game was CD’s descent from 240 for two to 289 all out on the first day. Kuggeleijn’s judgment that CD left themselves at least seventy short on first innings was proved correct. The visitors wasted the advantage given them by some top class batting by Ben Smith and Mark Douglas, whose 130 was the only century of the match.ND had to fight for its lead, having given away wickets early on. Neal Parlane played a disciplined innings of 89, well supported by Grant Bradburn. Even so, it was left to the resilient ND tail to take the team to a significant lead.CD made heavy work of batting in the second innings, falling exactly a hundred short of coach Dipak Patel’s idea of a fourth innings target that would test the home side.Apart from the batting of Douglas and Smith there were a number of positives for CD to take away from the game. Its young attack stuck to its task well, with off-spinner Haydn Morgan impressive on debut.Ewan Thompson showed himself to be an accurate fast medium bowler who has the ability to bring the ball back into right-handed batsmen. Michael Mason proved that it is an unfair world by bowling superbly for one wicket.The game at Rangiora will be Grant Bradburn’s one hundredth for ND at first class level. Later this season he will expect to break Andy Roberts’ record of 104 appearances. His contributions in this match were typical of his career as a whole; unflashy, understated, but vital.His off-spin slowed CD down when Smith and Douglas were racing away, while his first innings partnership with Neal Parlane was the core of ND’s first innings. Three wickets followed in the second innings.Bradburn takes the unofficial CricInfo MVP award.This has been a fine game of cricket in which Central Districts has shown itself to be a talented young team. But the experience and all round talent of Northern Districts was decisive in the end. It will be hard for any of the other five teams to beat them to the Shell Trophy this season.

Captain Steve Waugh and Ian Harvey kept their cool to guide Australia to a five-wicket success over England in an exciting NatWest Series match at Bristol.Set 269 to win, the pair put on an unbroken 39 for the fifth wicket to ensure victory with three balls remaining after Ricky Ponting’s 102 had laid the foundation.The decisive blow came from Harvey, who sent the last ball of the 49th over from Ben Hollioake towering over extra cover for six. That took the requirement down to five off the last over, bowled by Mark Ealham, and a boundary and a single from Waugh wrapped up victory.It was a compelling encounter for the 15,000 who had packed into the County Ground for the first English Cricket International to be played in the West Country.England captain Alec Stewart won the toss and was pleased with his side’s batting display.The innings was given a great platform by Marcus Trescothick and NickKnight, who brushed aside the early loss of Alistair Brown, to put on 124 for the second wicket, 23 overs.Trescothick, who grew up in Bristol, continued his excellent form this season with seven fours and two sixes in his 69 before he was run out by Shane Warne’s throw from mid-wicket.Knight, who also hit seven fours and two sixes, departed for 84 after Warne held a superb diving catch at mid-wicket off Brett Lee.England failed to hit a boundary between the 30th and 40th overs and were in danger of dipping below 250 until Hollioake and debutante Owais Shah, two of England’s younger generation, cracked 70 off seven overs at the finish.Hollioake, with batting that was reminiscent of the 63 made on his debut against Australia at Lord’s four years ago, finished with 27 not out from 26 balls, while Shah made 28 from 24 deliveries.Australia’s attack, handicapped by the absence through injury of pacemen Damien Fleming and Jason Gillespie, struggled for consistency.Mark Waugh bowled eight tidy over of spin for 27, but Lee and Harvey both went for over 50 runs in their ten-over spells.Australia lost Adam Gilchrist, caught at mid-wicket off Darren Gough, in the fifth over of their reply, but Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting rectified things with a second-wicket partnership of 89 in 18 overs.Waugh was bowled off his pads by Dominic Cork for 46, but Ponting continued to bat beautifully with shots to all areas.The Tasmanian reached his eighth limited overs century – and his first against England – from 113 balls, with nine fours and two sixes.Damien Martyn gave great support with 46 in a stand of 97, but when both departed in quick succession the game was back in the balance.Martyn had his off-stump knocked back by Alan Mullally and then Ponting, sent back by Andrew Symonds, was run-out by Mullally’s throw to Stewart from the bowler’s end.Symonds was bowled by Gough for 23, but Steve Waugh and Harvey then combined for the match-winning partnership that broke English hearts.But England captain, Alec Stewart, took lots of encouragement from the game, particularly the batting of Shah and Hollioake: “They batted well and it bodes well for the future. It shows what you can do it if you compete,” he reasoned. “We didn’t compete against Pakistan.”There are a lot of positives coming out of today. As David Graveney hassaid, we are planning for the World Cup.”Rival captain, Steve Waugh, credited the pitch for a fine game: “It was a good pitch, probably a little quicker than we thought it was going to be and 270 runs from either side is a pretty good day’s entertainment,” he said. “It was an excellent day of one-day cricket. Both sides played some great cricket and we were probably fortunate in the end to get out of it. England played very well. You have got to give them credit.”Waugh was obviously delighted with the win that takes Australia to the top of the NatWest table: “It’s been a real good start. I have been pleased in the way that we have chased totals. It is never easy to chase a big total. We kept our calm and the tempo going and it’s been very positive so far.”

Muttiah Muralitharan earned match figures of ten for 123 as Lancashirecrushed Essex by nine wickets to claim their third consecutive Championshipwin despite a century in each innings from Stuart Law.The overseas players continued to dominate on the last day at Old Traffordwith Murali taking three of the last six wickets as Essex were all out for257, with Law left high and dry for the second time in the match, this timeon 120.Lancashire were left needing only 53 to win, and took 19 points to climb tosecond in the First Division table, leaving Essex in the relegation zone.But that was so tough on Law, who has now scored 305 runs in threeChampionship innings without being dismissed following his unbeaten 116 inthe first innings, and 66 not out in Essex’s last game against Surrey.This was the second time he has scored two centuries in a match for Essex,the other coming against Yorkshire at Chelmsford in 1999, and took his tontally for the county to 29 in less than six seasons.And although both Michael Bevan and Mark Ramprakash scored two centuries ina Championship match last season, Ramprakash also ending on the losing side,Law became the first player to record a pair of unbeaten hundreds in theChampionship since Hugh Morris for Glamorgan against Notts in 1995.But Muralitharan was not to be outdone.The Sri Lankan had Stephen Peters caught at silly point, Ricky Anderson lbwand bowled Barry Hyam with a ball which turned prodigiously from welloutside off stump to complete second innings figures of four for 70 from 39overs.That gave him match figures of 87-36-123-10, the sixth time he has takenten wickets in a match for Lancashire in only 11 appearances, and he did notbowl in one of those.Muralitharan has now taken a total of 94 Championship wickets forLancashire, and six more against Surrey at The Oval next week would take himinto three figures in only 12 matches – probably the fastest century ofwickets in Lancashire history.

Sir Paul, what took you so long?Today’s news that Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta has been asked to front up by July 1, and give evidence to back up his earlier claims of having paid players from around the world for information, is welcome.Apparently, the head of the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit, Sir Paul Condon, has already met twice with Gupta and discussed his claims.He is now asking Gupta to front by July 1 and provide formal evidence and be available to present that both inside and outside India.Now we are getting to the nub of the matter.But, in a society where people accused are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, the time between Gupta’s unsubstantiated claims to the Indian police and this demand has been too long.The implications have been serious for players named: Martin Crowe, Brian Lara, Alec Stewart, Mark Waugh and Dean Jones, to name a few.The players named have been tarnished, possibly forever, by the suspicion that now hangs over them and so many of the games that have produced results regarded as being even a little out of the ordinary.A cynical view would be that the just-completed meeting of the ICC demanded that Condon play the Gupta card once and for all and rid the game of the stench emanating from what has become a gangrenous limb.If the ICC didn’t make the demand, it certainly should have.From the time Gupta’s remarks were made, there should have been a much more rapid response to his claims.The wheels of justice may grind slowly, but there has been no excuse for the amount of time taken here.It may be that Gupta fronts and provides evidence that backs each and every one of his claims. So be it.At least the facts will be clear and action towards much more complicated legal hearings can begin.But the way things have gone so far, the only thing lacking in the proceedings has been an available Australian marsupial to preside over a court that forever bears its name.If Gupta doesn’t front, then some serious questions will have to be asked of the terms of reference of the entire process by which this investigation has been done. And that Gupta’s claims were allowed to be given such weight.No evidence was provided in the Indian Police report to substantiate his claims regarding the players named.It is interesting that Condon has been reported as saying that while he is concerned that some problems are still occurring in games there will be no names of players announced who are suspected of being implicated.That has been consistent with the view of this columnist since the former Pakistan coach Javed Miandad made utterances about the New Zealand tour earlier this year. Utterances which have since been claimed to have been the subject of mis-reporting.Accusers should provide evidence to match their claims or run the risk of being suspended themselves for bringing the game into disrepute.”There will be no naming and shaming. No one can play fast and loose with the laws of defamation,” Condon said in The Times today.Where does that leave the players who have already been named?What protection have they been given from the laws of defamation?And if Gupta doesn’t produce the goods on July 1, where does that leave all the investigations being carried out by most of the national associations of the players named by Gupta?What of the cost of those investigations, presumably being borne by those countries who would probably be far happier spending the money involved in coaching, marketing or development?The blood-letting to cricket has been too expensive so far, both in monetary terms and in image.July 1 now has to be a significant date in the history of the whole sad saga.If Gupta says ‘yes’ then the cricket world will wait with bated breath to hear the evidence to back the claims he has made against players.If Gupta doesn’t then the egg on the faces of some recipients at the prosecution level of this exercise is going to make omelette making, at a personal level, easy for a considerable period of time.

Thabo Moseki, a 41-year-old communications specialist, was named the new Chief Executive Officer of the Gauteng Cricket Board on Monday night.Moseki fills a gap left by the resignation of former general manager, Ziggy Wadvalla, towards the end of last year.Formerly the senior manager of corporate communications with the National Electricity Regulator, Moseki felt the three biggest challenges facing him in his new role would be hosting the 2003 World Cup final at the Wanderers, transformation in the sense of bringing through youngster from the previously disadvantaged areas and making use of programmes already in place and bringing spectators back to the Wanderers.His greatest challenge, however, might be in restoring Gauteng cricket to its former pre-eminence on the field. Last season the Highveld Strikers, Gauteng’s playing arm, finished bottom of the SuperSport Series log.He will have Alan Kourie, the former South African spin bowler who was recently appointed director of cricket to rely on on the playing side, but one of Moseki’s priorities will have to be to stop the drain of talent from the Wanderers.In announcing Moseki’s appointment, Gauteng chairman Gerald Ritchie stressed that Moseki was the best man for the job and was not an affirmative action appointment.By his own admission, however, Moseki has little background in cricket and with the success or failure of sports invariably judged by results on the field, the new chief executive will have his hands full trying to pull Gauteng out of the mire.

An innings of the very highest quality from Kevin Pietersen thrilled a small, but appreciative, Trent Bridge crowd and helped Notts recover from a precarious 122-5 to finish on 322 all out, a first innings lead over Derbyshire of just two.Pietersen’s 150 was his fourth Championship century of the summer, but his first on home ground, and combined destructive power with elegant strokeplay. Having seen him score an unbeaten double hundred last month at Derby the visitors were almost shell-shocked as the 21-year-old went on the offensive.From the fall of Stephen Randall’s wicket at 247-8 until Pietersen himself holed out no-one else scored any runs. That includes last man Nadeem Malik who shared a last wicket stand of 57 without getting off the mark!Six times Pietersen cleared the ropes during an innings which lasted just 164 balls.For Derbyshire Kevin Dean was the pick of the bowlers – taking 5-89. His first wicket came in unusual circumstances with the aid of a stumping from Karl Krikken who was standing 15 yards back. The striker Guy Welton was still rehearsing a shot – but was stood out of his ground and was found out by an opportune shy from the ‘keeper.Welton made 42 and Chris Read also got into the 40s but there was precious little else coming from the other end until Pietersen’s blitz.In the evening gloom Notts undid much of their work by bowling poorly and allowing the Derbyshire openers Steve Stubbings and Michael Di Venuto to race along at five an over.When the premature close came 15 overs early the visitors had reached 51 without loss, an overall lead of 53.

Sussex County Cricket Club have confirmed their reluctance to release Matthew Prior for the second Under-19 Test which will clash with our CricInfo Championship match against Derbyshire.Chairman Don Trangmar said: “We were initially approached for Prior’s release for one game to which we agreed although it meant him having to miss the wonderful opportunity to play the all-conquering Australians. We were then told, not asked, that he would be required for two Test matches rather than the original one.”This approach is discourteous to say the least and lacks the flexibility that all counties were promised in dealing with U19 team selection.”