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Unbeaten centuries from Thilan Samaraweera and Thilina Kandamby rescued Central Province from a perilous overnight position against North Central Province in the final round of Provincial Tournament group matches. Their efforts leave Central Province favourites to qualify for the final next week in Dambulla against the same opposition.Samaraweera had faced one nervy delivery the previous night when three wickets had tumbled in the space of just 11 deliveries after North Central Province were bowled out for 314. However, like he has done many times before, he steadied the middle of the innings and then ground on an on, exploiting a bowling attack weakened by the tactical decision to rest key bowlers before the final.Bathiya Perera (14) departed early in the morning, one of three wickets for Omesh Wijesiriwardene, before Kumar Sangakkara, the Central Province skipper, and Samaraweera wrestled hold of the initiative with an 104-run stand for the fifth wicket. The fall of Sangakkara just before lunch appeared a serious blow to their chances of securing a vital first innings lead but Kandamby continued his purple form.Kandamby has had a difficult time in the recent past, failing to convince doubters about his ability after a short spell in the national squad. Critics, pointing to a sub-30 first-class average and a comfortable waistline, were unimpressed about his abilities despite rave reviews from the A team management. But in the last two provincial matches he’s taken a giant leap in his career, this time scoring 109 from 196 balls with 12 fours and a six.The pair were left undefeated at the end of another sweltering Colombo day having carried the team to 380 for 5 after their unbroken 240-run stand. With two days to go and a rested bowling attacked waiting in the wings, they now have an opportunity to push for an outright victory against a team missing skipper Mahela Jayawardene who is resting a finger injury.
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In the other match being played, Southern Province, also final contenders, were left fighting for survival after Chaminda Vaas produced a captain’s knock for Western Province, scoring 130 from 205 balls, to secure a large 183-run first innings lead. Southern Province finished the day strongly, reaching 93 for 1 at the close, but with much work to do.Vaas had excelled with the ball on the first day, taking 4 for 39 as Southern Province were bundled out for a pathetic 134, the only notable contribution coming from Harsha Vithana. He was then entrusted with batting responsibility as his top order, Ian Daniel (40) excepted, wilted, slumping to 133 for 6. Vaas’s hundred was the third of his career and it left Southern Province on the rack.

The ICC and the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) have reached an agreement on resolving the dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).The dispute, which saw big names like Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, and Ramnaresh Sarwan pulling out of a tour to Sri Lanka, has had serious consequences for both the national team’s progress as well as the infrastructure of the West Indies board.Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, said: “Both sides have reached a balanced and pragmatic solution. The agreement reached between the ICC and FICA provides the WICB with certainty in exploiting its commercial rights and deals with the issues raised by the players.”Tim May, FICA’s chief executive, commented that the agreement will lead to a West Indian selection process based on merit. “Both sides have made a number of concessions in order to find a solution and from a player’s perspective I think what has been agreed will now ensure the best players are representing West Indies in international cricket.”May also said that WIPA needs the opportunity to brief its members before it would be able to release any details of the agreement. “The West Indies players are currently in Australia and we need to respect the right of the players to receive a full briefing on the agreement that has been reached directly from WIPA.”Speed added: “The issues involved are complex and commercially sensitive. The ICC and FICA have reached agreement only in the last day or so and the documentation is only now being forwarded to both parties.From the WICB perspective, it will obviously need the opportunity to speak with its members and with its commercial partners before it and its players’ association could consider what, if any, details of the agreement should be made public.”

Kevin Pietersen’s explosive start in international cricket could earn him a spot in the Test side, according to Michael Vaughan, the England captain. Pietersen, who was in remarkable form throughout the one-day series against South Africa, struck his third century in a crisis situation to help his side to a respectable total in the seventh one-dayer at Centurion, even though it couldn’t prevent another England defeat.England were reeling at 68 for six, when Pietersen took charge, hitting 116 and taking his series tally to 454. “You have to be a very good player to do what he has just done,” said Vaughan, quoted on the website. “He has come in and set the world alight with innings of unbelievable tempo in pressure situations.”I am certainly happy he is in our team. Once you get him and Andrew Flintoff batting together in that middle period you will certainly see some fireworks. And I don’t see any reason why he should not continue this form into Test cricket.”Pietersen’s efforts may have been in vain as England went down 1-4 in the seven-match series, but he did manage to win the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has also not ruled him out for the forthcoming Ashes series. “When an individual bats like that, you can’t ignore him,” said Fletcher. “He has to come into the equation. It is nice to have these pleasant problems; we need to sit down and weigh it all up, Australia are coming over, they are a tough side and we will have to give it a lot of thought.”Pietersen smacked 15 sixes in all making himself a strong contender to team up with Andrew Flintof and form the explosive core of the middle order. “The way he took on everyone, the South African crowd included, was impressive, he just seems to thrive on that and it is a big plus in his favour. He is a boy who likes a contest and that is very pleasing with the Australians coming along.”Pietersen, who left his South African roots at the age of 20, was delighted with his prolific run, and rated his knock of 116 as one of the best, but refused to be drawn on his chances of a Test debut against Australia. “This knock was pretty special and it would rank up there as the best hundred I have ever scored. Everyone is asking me about my desire to play Test cricket now but I do not select myself. I can only put my hand up for a place in the team by scoring some runs for my new team Hampshire.”

Lancashire 187 (Loye 59*) and 200 for 3 (Hooper 100, Sutcliffe 81*) lead Worcestershire 146 (Anderson 6-49) by 241 runs
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It’s amazing what a winter’s rest can do for a jaded fast bowler. At the end of last season, James Anderson was a shadow of the red-streaked menace who swept all before him in a meteoric rise to stardom. But eight months and several frustrating hours of net practice later, he has once again been allowed to make his mark on a first-class match.After being kept on the sidelines throughout England’s triumphant Test series in the Caribbean, Anderson marked his Old Trafford homecoming with a first-innings haul of 6 for 49, including four wickets in six overs this morning. His efforts paved the way for a day of Lancastrian dominance, which was underwritten by the coolest of centuries from the former West Indian captain, Carl Hooper.Anderson’s great strength as a bowler is his ability to conjure wickets from nothing deliveries – although when the magic deserts him, it can often be his greatest failing as well. But from the second ball of the day onwards, when Kadeer Ali wafted a leg-side delivery through to Warren Hegg, Anderson was pre-destined to produce one of those typically irrepressible spells. He followed up with a searing yorker that splattered Nadeem Malik’s stumps (88 for 6), before pinning Gareth Batty in front for 0 (94 for 7). Andrew Hall dented his figures with a push for four and a slash that just evaded second slip, but when Andy Bichel had his off stump detonated for 3, Worcestershire were a perilous 102 for 8, having lost their last six wickets for 26.At this stage, there was no indication of just how serene Hooper and his sidekick, Iain Sutcliffe, would find the batting conditions later in the day. Hall and Steve Rhodes rode what was left of Worcestershire’s luck to reduce the deficit to a manageable 41, but in an ominous foreshadow of what might await them on the fourth day, it was the spinner Gary Keedy who applied the coup de grace. Hall smeared a slog-sweep to midwicket for 34, before Matt Mason toppled out of his crease to be smartly stumped by Hegg. In two mesmerically brief spells, Keedy had helped himself to 4 for 20.Lancashire began their second innings in a trance, as if they couldn’t believe they had been handed control of the match. They reached lunch unscathed, but the early introduction of Batty paid instant dividends, as Mark Chilton played back and was rapped on the pads for 12. And with Mal Loye still recovering from his back spasm, Stuart Law had not got off the mark when he flicked his third delivery, a leg-stump half-volley from Mason, tamely to Kadeer at square leg. Perhaps he had heard rumours that the England selectors were sniffing around the ground.At 32 for 2, Lancashire were one wicket away from relinquishing their grip on the game, and their engine room of Hooper and Law had contributed all of nine runs in three innings. It could mean only one thing. Hooper avoided his duck by depositing Batty for a one-bounce four, followed up with an uppercut to third man, and then left his crease once again for another lofted boundary. But he wasn’t satisfied with just a statement of intent – he was determined to make a speech. With Sutcliffe chugging along contentedly beside him, Hooper reigned in his attacking instincts, just as the sun burst through the cloud cover to transform the match conditions.After six consecutive maidens, Sutcliffe broke the deadlock with a sweet cover-drive for four, before Hooper square-drove Hall to move into the forties. The pair brought up their half-centuries in quick succession – Sutcliffe with a piercing extra-cover drive, Hooper with a tickled single to fine leg that typified an innings of uncommon patience.Worcestershire were devoid of ideas. Batty’s lack of variety was in stark contrast to the flight and invention shown by his opposite number Keedy, while the seamers could do no more than keep a tight line as the pitch lost its venom and the ball lost its shine. The only sniff of a chance came with Hooper on 99, when he all but ran himself out while sizing up a quick single to short third man. Next ball, however, he found the gap he had been aiming for, and trotted through to complete a fine century.Three balls later, Hooper gifted Worcestershire a late breakthrough as he chased a wide one from Bichel, but Sutcliffe and Keedy shut out the rest of the day. With a lead of 241 and seven wickets in hand, it will take an improbable chain of events for Lancashire to squander such a position of strength.

South African cricket found itself in the middle of yet another selection row when Graeme Smith, the captain, and Mickey Arthur, the coach, had a showdown with Haroon Lorgat, the convener of South Africa’s selection committee, just before the start of the Newlands game on Sunday over the exclusion of Andre Nel and the selection of Andrew Hall in his place.The tiff happened just 15 minutes before the toss and the matter was presumably on Smith’s mind as he walked out to open the innings. Significantly, he was dismissed off the second ball and could later be seen on the team balcony, a furious expression on his face. His mood could hardly have been lifted by his team’s top-order batting.Nel had starred in the crushing 157-run victory at Durban, scythingthrough the Indian middle order on his way to superb figures of 4 for 13.He hurt a finger yesterday, when a spike on his shoe made contact duringhis follow-through. But having passed a fitness test this morning, he wasalmost certain to play until Lorgat intervened.Smith reacted furiously, and Jacques Kallis and Gordon Templeton, the media manager, had to calm him down, before Mark Boucher also tried to make peace. At one stage, Kallis appeared to be waving Lorgat away.South African cricket has been routinely plagued by discord over selection policy between successive team managements and the national selectors.

Keen to get some runs under his belt before the start of the international season, Sourav Ganguly has apparently requested the Indian board to be included in the Board President’s XI, which will take on New Zealand in a warm-up match from September 26-28 at Visakhapatnam. According to a report in The Asian Age, Ganguly has asked for a middle-order berth after a poor start to the season; in the Challenger Series, Ganguly managed scores of 27 and 25, while he made a fourth-ball duck and an unbeaten 28 in the Irani Trophy.The report quotes SK Nair, secretary of the BCCI, as saying that he could furnish more information only after hearing on the matter from the people concerned. “I have received no instructions from either the chairman (of selectors, Brijesh Patel) or the Board president (Jagmohan Dalmiya). Once I hear from them, I can release it (the news).” Patel is in Bangalore, recovering from a bypass surgery. According to the report, Kiran More, the selector from the West Zone, indicated that he was unaware of this development.Wisden Comment by S Rajesh
If the report is indeed true, then Ganguly’s move to get some more time at the batting crease before the season starts is a wise one. His performances so far this season clearly suggest that he is lacking form; not only did he struggle against pace, he was also far from his usual confident self against spin, being dismissed by Ramesh Powar in the Irani Trophy match. VVS Laxman’s sparkling 99 in that game indicates that he is in fluent touch and has sealed a place for the Test team. It makes sense for Laxman to sit out of the warm-up at Visakhapatnam, allowing Ganguly another chance to find form.

Cricket Australia today announced that wicket-keeper/batsman Adam Gilchrist will not take part in Australia’s VB Series matches in Adelaide (26 January)and Melbourne (29 January) later this month.Gilchrist will instead remain in Perth throughout that time, before rejoining the squad in the lead-up to Australia’s match against India at Perth’s WACA Ground on 1 February.Twenty-six-year-old New South Welshman, Brad Haddin will be added to the squad for the two matches.The decision to leave Gilchrist out of the Adelaide and Melbourne matches was made by National Selection Panel Chairman Trevor Hohns in conjunction with Australian Team Management and Cricket Australia General Manager of Cricket Operations, Michael Brown.Trevor Hohns said: “As selectors we believe this break will benefit Adam as he sets himself for the rest of the VB Series and the challenging period that lies ahead.”Given the sheer intensity of his position, this break should present him with the chance to freshen-up and take stock from the stresses and strains that are part and parcel with a wicket-keeper’s job,” he said.Haddin, who is currently playing for New South Wales’ Speed Blitz Blues in Perth, has made just the one appearance for Australia at one-day international level, replacing Gilchrist for the Carlton Series match against Zimbabwe at Hobart in January 2001.He also toured with the Australian Test side in India in 2001, playing a first-class match against the Board President’s XI at Delhi as a replacement for Gilchrist who had suffered a hip injury.Upon Haddin’s selection, Hohns said: Jimmy Maher has performed well as a fill-in for Adam Gilchrist on recent Australian tours, but on this occasion we have decided to go with a recognised wicket-keeper.Brad Haddin’s all-round game has improved immensely over the past 12 months and we felt that he deserved this chance.

Glamorgan lost a dramatic floodlit National League match against Worcestershire at New Roadby 3 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method after being set a revised target of 126 to win in18 overs. Steady rain throughout the afternoon, meant that the start was delayed until 7.15pm,with the match being initially reduced to a 23 overs a sidecontest.Robert Croft then won an important toss, and elected to bowl first witha side showing one change from the team on Sunday, with Owen Parkin replacing DeanCosker. It was Parkin who opened the bowling with Michael Kasprowicz, and the Worcestershireopeners Anurag Singh and Vikram Solanki got their side off to a rapid start, striking8 boundaries in the first 27 balls.But Kasprowicz, bowling from the Diglis End, then took 3 wickets in five balls withoutconceeding a run, as Solanki was caught at slip by Michael Powell, before Graeme Hick fendedoff his second ball into the hands of Jonathan Hughes in the gully. Then in hisnext over Andrew Hall was also caught in the gully, this time by Jimmy Maher, as Worcestershireslumped from 36-0 to 40-3.Worcestershire captain Ben Smith made his intentions clear right from the outset, twicecutting Alex Wharf, who had replaced Kasprowicz at the Diglis End, over the pointboundary for six, but Adrian Dale then replaced Wharf and immediately deceived Anurag Singhinto chipping the ball into Powell`s hands at short mid-wicket with the score on 69-4.Smith and David Leatherdale had added a further fifteen runs when a further rain interuptiontook place, and the game was further reduced to an 18 overs contest. Aftera thirty minute delay, the Worcestershire batsmen came back out to face a further 15 balls.Leatherdale was dismissed from the first delivery, but Smith and Gareth Batty added 32 runsas Worcestershire finished on 117-5 from their 18 overs.After the recalculations had been done, Glamorgan`s target was 126, but they made a poor startlosing Robert Croft to the second ball of the innings. Jimmy Maher and Matthew Maynard thenadded 38 before Maher was caught and bowled by Mason, but Maynard kept Glamorgan in the huntstriking six crisp boundaries before chipping Mason to Kabir Ali at mid-on.Worcestershire came back into the match as Jonathan Hughes departed for 1, but Michael Powelland Adrian Dale put Glamorgan back in front, adding 24 in three and a half overs before the playersleft the field as the steady drizzle turned into heavy rain with 13.3 overs having been bowled.At the time, Glamorgan were narrowly ahead under the Duckworth-Lewis method, but the stoppageproved to a very brief one, and the players returned. With the game still on a knife-edge,Dale and Powell added a further 13 runs, before Powell was bowled by Leatherdale, and then MarkWallace was run-out.Dale then top-edged the next ball from Kabir Ali into his face, and with blood pouring from a cut, Dale wasforced to retire hurt, with Glamorgan still needing 15 from the last 10 balls. Wharf struck his firstball for four to briefly raise Welsh hopes, but only 1 run was added from the next three balls toleave Glamorgan needing 10 from the final over from Leatherdale.Wharf scored 3 from the first couple of balls, before Kasprowicz was bowled by the third ball.David Harrison then scrambled 3 from the next two deliveries, leaving Wharf to score 4 from the final ballto win the game. However, the burly Yorkshireman could not make contact with Leatherdale`s last delivery,and Worcestershire had won a dramatic game by 3 runs.

It didn’t take long for the battle lines to be drawn after the United Cricket Board (UCB) today announced a dramatic restructuring plan for South African domestic cricket. From the 2004-05 season, only six teams – down from the current 11 – will contest the first-class SuperSport Series and the Standard Bank limited overs competition.The six will represent professional franchises rather than provinces. The UCB’s 11 affiliates, or groups of them, may tender for a franchise from Cricket SA (Pty) Ltd, which will control the as yet undecided franchising process. The 11 affiliates will be joined by teams representing Limpopo, Mpumalanga, South Western Districts, Border-Kei (formerly Transkei) and KwaZulu-Natal Inland to contest amateur competitions.Players from the 16 amateur teams will feed into the sides operated by the six franchises.The decisions were made by the UCB general council at a meeting in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon, and before the sun set, the first salvos were fired in what promises to be a time of noisy debate in South African cricket. “Financial concerns are an important element, and we also need to formulate a strength-versus-strength system to ensure that our domestic cricket is strong to help us reach our goal of becoming the top cricketing nation in the world,” Gerald Majola, the UCB chief executive, said.Ray Jennings, who coached the unfashionable and impoverished Easterns to the first-class championship last season, was passionately opposed to the move. “It’s mind-boggling to try and understand the logic of this decision,” Jennings told Wisden CricInfo. “How do you decide who the six franchises are? Do they do it on the basis of results on the field, or is it done in the boardroom? What entitles someone to become part of South African cricket? Simply being the highest bidder? We could end up with five franchises in Gauteng, or one in Kimberley, which would have to be the worst place for it.”Jennings thought the impending changes represented the top of a slippery slope for domestic cricket. “I think this could be the start of the erosion of South African cricket,” he said. “You could find 30 or 40 first-class players giving up the game.” Jennings supported the concept of strength-versus-strength, but felt the marked departure from the status quo was ill-considered. “We’ve shown at Easterns that you can take cricketers from the bottom to the top,” he said.Newly-elected UCB president Ray Mali said the planned restructure was the crucial to the future of the game. “This is one of the most difficult and critical decisions to have been taken in South African cricket since unity in 1991, and it is one we have debated at all levels for two years,” Mali said. “We needed to make a tough business decision to ensure the survival of the game we love and to ensure that we can develop that game and pursue excellence.”We rely largely on the professional level of cricket to bring in the income we use to develop the game for all. Without restructuring that level into a stronger option, which can attract more crowds, sponsors and revenue, and which also does not drain funds, we would not be able to develop the game at all. We would barely be able to survive.”

Stephen Fleming battled through searing heat and sappinghumidity to score 274 not out, the second-highest score by aNew Zealander in Test cricket. It was a patient marathonspanning nearly ten hours, and it left New Zealand in acommanding position against Sri Lanka at the close of play onday two.After four sessions of plodding Test cricket, the game turneddecisively as Fleming pressed down on the accelerator in thesecond afternoon. He added 157 in 272 balls with Scott Styris,playing as a specialist batsman after injuring his shoulder in thewarm-up games, and then 72 in 108 with Jacob Oram.New Zealand piled up a massive 515 for seven before declaring -the third-highest total against Sri Lanka by New Zealand -twenty minutes before the scheduled close. Fleming selflesslydenied himself the chance to surpass the 299 scored by MartinCrowe against Sri Lanka in 1990-1, the highest score by a NewZealander in Test cricket.Left with a tricky six overs before the close of play, withthunderclouds gathering around the ground for the first time inthe match, Marvan Atapattu was trapped lbw for a duck byDarryl Tuffey. It was a poor decision by Darryl Harper – the ballwas slanting down the leg side. Fortunately for Sri Lanka, furtherdamage was prevented as bad light forced the players from thefield in the second over.Sri Lanka’s hopes of a tenth consecutive Test win on home soilwere thus extinguished. Their objective now was to avoid defeat- and before that, to avoid the follow on.Fleming admitted that he could not read Muttiah Muralitharan,Sri Lanka’s star offspinner, but he grew more dominant againsthim as the day progressed. After hours of reaching forward andsmothering the spin with bat or pad, he started to attack: acrisp cover-drive in the first over after lunch was followed by astraight six in Muralitharan’s next over.He enjoyed his fair share of good fortune. Sri Lanka’s fielding wasatrocious, with a total of eight clear catches being floored in theinnings. Mahela Jayawardene, considered one of the safest pairof hands in the side, was the chief offender, spilling three in theday and four in the innings.Had Jayawardene held on to his juggling effort runningbackwards from gully when Fleming was on 121, Sri Lanka’spredicament might not have been so gloomy. He missed out on achance to redeem himself, failing to hold onto a tougher chanceat slip when Fleming had made 141.Fleming found a willing partner in Styris, who raised the tempowell. Actively searching out opportunities to score, he used hisfeet well to the spinners, hitting two straight sixes. He made 63from 139 balls before lofting a catch to Chaminda Vaas on thelong-on boundary (392 for 4).Muralitharan, exasperated on Friday after three catches weredropped off his bowling, claimed his first wicket in his 55th over,when Oram, looking to score quick runs before the declaration,top-edged a sweep and was caught at deep square leg (471 for5).Muralitharan then mopped up Robbie Hart, who was caught by adiving Jayawardene at short leg, to finish with two for 140 from58.5 overs. His fellow offspinner, Kumar Dharmasena, chipped inwith the wicket of Daniel Vettori to finish with 3 for 132 from 40overs – the best figures among the Sri Lankan bowlers.The only wicket to fall during the morning session had been thatof Matthew Sinclair, who looked uncomfortable against Vaas.Armed with a new ball just seven overs old, Vaas had an edgefall short of Romesh Kaluwitharana, and then watched in horroras Sinclair squirted a low catch to gully only for SanathJayasuriya to do a Jayawardene. Finally, as Tillakaratne turnedback to his spinners, Sinclair offered a dolly catch to short leg(235 for three).