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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.

The World Cup plot begins to thicken as the pool phase ends and the SuperSixes begins. Like Australia did four years ago, this is when you want tobegin peaking.There are only two changes to this Super Six from the last one. Sri Lankaand Kenya come in at the expense of South Africa and Pakistan. Pakistan miss out on qualifying for the next phase of the tournament for the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1975.Kenya may be present due to the beneficiaries of circumstances outside theircontrol but in their next three games they have the chance to prove they arethere on bona fide grounds.Kenya are the Zimbabwe of four years ago. The surprise packet of thetournament and like Zimbabwe of four years ago they only require one victoryto advance to the semi finals.Notwithstanding the controversy and politics, Zimbabwe will be ecstatic theyhave made it to their second consecutive Super Sixes, proving that the lastone was no fluke.Australia are the red hot favourites. Like true champions, they are winningeven when they are not playing well or look like they are up to their necksin trouble. Their flexibility and versatility is the key. Which other teamin world cricket could be without players the calibre of Warne, the twoWaughs and Gillespie and find such wonderful replacements that you don’teven know they are gone?The Australians are playing like the West Indians of the first two WorldCups where the Calypso cricketers were on a different dimension. They wereuntouchable and defeating them was an impossible task. In the first WorldCup, Pakistan set the West Indies a challenging 267 runs to score from 60overs. At 166 for eight and later 203 for nine, it looked like a Pakistani victory, butDeryck Murray and Andy Roberts combined for a last wicket partnership of 64to steer the West Indies home with just two balls to spare.Australia’s victory against England at Port Elizabeth was reminiscent ofthis game.Advancing to the Super Sixes from Pool B was a struggle and it doesn’t getany easier for Pool B teams wishing to make it through to the final four.New Zealand and Sri Lanka have to play the two form teams of the tournament;Australia and India while Zimbabwe can make some ground on New Zealand andSri Lanka as they get to play Kenya.For New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka to qualify they basically need towin every one of their Super Six games.There is a lot to play for. Australia don’t just want to qualify for thesemi-finals, they want to finish first (or fourth) so they play in the daysemi-final at Port Elizabeth and avoid the crapshoot which faces the teamsin the day/night semi-final at Durban.After some confusion about the format four years ago when it was firstintroduced, the Super Sixes is now being embraced.It is a great system asit forces the top teams to play each other at least once. It also means thateach of the next nine games is an ‘eight point game’ and a must win one atthat. All this should mean for fantastic cricket as the remaining sixnations fight it out for cricket’s glittering prize.

A finger injury to Shane Warne dominated the news from Centurion where the Australians beat Northerns by five wickets. Warne left the field after being hit while fielding and received treatment on the fourth finger of his bowling hand. He returned to the attack but 21-year-old Jacques Rudolph smashed 150, including six sixes and 14 fours, to help the hosts make 277. There were four wickets for Brett Lee, but Warne could only manage one for 70 in eight overs.The Australian reply was led by Jimmy Maher with 78 not out. Maher was keeping wicket in this match while usual `keeper Adam Gilchrist, who was skippering the team, contributed a characteristically rapid 70.The South Africans enjoyed a revenge win against Western Province after suffering a defeat in their first warm-up match. Gary Kirsten and Andrew Hall reached a hundred and then retired as the national team reached 327 for seven in their 50 overs. Andrew Puttick top-scored for Western Province with 78, but once he was out the innings went into decline and the South Africans won by 92 runs.There was no such joy for the Indians in Durban. KwaZulu-Natal won this match by 32 runs, despite only reaching 190 for nine in their 50 overs. Doug Watson reached a fifty for the home side who were not helped by three run outs in their innings. Despite a run a ball 40 from Virender Sehwag, the Indian batting failed miserably and they were bowled out for 158 with nearly 12 overs unused.It was much the same story in Benoni where the Pakistanis lost to Easterns by 26 runs. Easterns only managed 215 for nine in their innings, but with Pierre De Bruyn taking four wickets, the Pakistanis could not match that. There were scores of 40 from Shahid Afridi, Abdur Razzaq and Younis Khan, but they were still bowled out for 189 inside 37 overs.The New Zealanders enjoyed a 116-run victory over Gauteng in Soweto. With 122 from captain Stephen Fleming and 70 from Chris Cairns, the visitors rattled up 306 for five before restricting Gauteng to 190 for eight.There were few problems for the Sri Lankans as they overcame the Free State total of 182 for seven. Jonathan Beukes made a fifty for Free State, but that was matched by Mahela Jayawardene as the Sri Lankans eased home by five wickets.The Kenyans did well to beat Eastern Province by four wickets in Port Elizabeth. Collins Obuya took four for 27 as the home side were bowled out for 130 in their full 50 overs and despite losing six wickets, the Kenyans reached their target with nearly ten overs to spare.There was no luck for the other minnows. The Dutch lost by 85 runs to Boland at Paarl. Boland reached 272 for seven, with a hundred from Benjamin Hector and 73 from Henry Davids. Several Dutch batsmen got a start with no fewer than six getting to 20, but they could only muster 187 between them.The Canadians reached 215 for seven against North West at Klerksdorp. The Canadians recovered well from 53 for five, led by 51 from Nicholas de Groot. However, seventies from both James Henderson and Arno Jacobs took the home side past their target for the loss of only three wickets.England were the first side to record a result in this round of matches. They breezed past Border in East London, winning by 8 wickets. Despite an innings of 90 from Steven Pope – a nephew of former South African batsman Kenny McEwan – Border could only manage 202 before they were bowled out.England took only 37 and a half overs to knock off the runs. Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick put on exactly 100 for the opening partnership before Trescothick was out for 58. Knight was on 81 not out at the end.

HOBART, Jan 18 AAP – A former junior basketball star who’s become Tasmanian cricket’s find of the year, today bowled the Tigers to their first Pura Cup win of the season.Adam Griffith, exploiting his six foot six inch frame, took the key wickets as Tasmania dismissed Victoria for 255 to win by 87 runs on the final afternoon at Bellerive Oval.But Tasmania almost fumbled victory into defeat as they dropped three catches that were costly enough and could have been fatal.The result extends Victoria’s winless Hobart hoodoo to 18 years and dents its hopes of hosting the final, although it did take two points for the first innings lead.Relieved Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox praised Griffith, who took eight wickets in the match, and Scott Mason, whose second innings 174 was the one really big innings of the match.He said they’d both produced “career defining” performances.Victorian captain Darren Berry said he was disappointed to lose the match after bowling Tasmania out for 120 in the first innings.The Bushrangers started the last day at 4-82 in their second innings and needing an unlikely 262 more runs to win.Their hopes should have been extinguished in the first half hour. But Jon Moss, on 11, and three balls later Ian Harvey, on 13, were dropped.The pair, batting positively, proceeded to put on exactly 100 runs until Damien Wright had Moss caught behind for 45.At lunch Victoria was 5-197 and still a chance. And the fumbles continued when, shortly afterwards, Cameron White was dropped on 28.But then Griffith, with his ability to make the ball rear off a good length from his great height, took over with the second new ball.Harvey, on 74, left a ball that seamed back and hit his off stump. Shortly afterwards Griffith bowled White for 41 and that was effectively that.With Andrew Downton mopping up the tail, Victoria lost 5-58 after lunch to subside to a decisive defeat.Griffith, 24, is a former Tasmanian under 18 basketball representative who moved from Launceston to Hobart to try to break into first class cricket several years ago.There were doubts whether he had the stamina to bowl at pace over a four day game, but he’s worked hard on his fitness and been helped by Tasmania’s boom allrounder Shane Watson, whom he lives with.He was given his chance mid-way through Tasmania’s season and in his last two matches has impressed with his control and ability to exploit his height.

From November 1st 2001, Graham Walker takes over as Chief Executive of Hampshire County Cricket Club now a Limited Company. During his career in sports management he was the Football League’s first marketing manager, introducing commercial sponsorship into the world of football, and more recently, was commercial and marketing director of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.Graham takes over from Tony Baker, who has stepped down after 15 years in the post – a period of great change which culminated in the move to West End, a project with which he has been closely involved from the outset. However, Tony will continue to advise the club on cricketing issues in a part-time role.Remarkably, Graham is only the fourth head of Hampshire cricket since 1946, following Desmond Eagar, Jimmy James and Tony Baker.

Still smarting from the nine-wicket loss at Bloemfontein, the Indian team will take the field at Buffalo Park, East London, on Saturday hoping to iron out some glaring flaws in a first-class match against South Africa A.Deprived by rain of their earlier preparatory fixture at Chatsworth before the first Test, the visitors sorely lack match practice, especially in the longer version of the game. Barring Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the Indian batting creaked with rust, as did much of the bowling attack.Sourav Ganguly, lambasted in recent times for his weakness against the short ball, has opted to place work above family. With his wife Dona giving birth to the couple’s first child, Ganguly initially was to have flown home for a brief visit. The Test loss, however, has forced a change of plans; maybe an opportune one, for the skipper now has a valuable chance to sort out his technique ahead of facing Shaun Pollock and Nantie Hayward at Port Elizabeth.The East London match will also give off-spinner Harbhajan Singh a chance to test his fitness in a match situation. A groin infection forced him to glumly watch the equally glum Bloemfontein proceedings from the pavilion, and there is no doubt that, as India’s intended trump card, Harbhajan will be raring to confirm his participation in the second Test.One player who will not be putting on his whites at Port Elizabeth is Sameer Dighe. It seems now that the selectors’ decision to pick two wicket-keepers, which appeared foolish and unwarranted initially, has paid unexpected dividends. Dighe’s back spasms, which were to have kept him out of just the first Test, have now been diagnosed as more serious, with doctors stating that he would not regain match fitness before the start of the third Test.There has, meanwhile, been no call for a replacement to fly out from India. In the words of Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah to PTI, “The team management in South Africa has not asked for any replacement for Dighe, who will be flying back home soon, and as of now we will not be sending any player.”The retention of Deep Dasgupta for the Test series has now proved fortunate, especially from the point of view of the young Bengal ‘keeper. Although he showed some nerves behind the stumps on Test debut, he also displayed pluck and sense in his first-innings knock of 34, giving fellow rookie Virender Sehwag the needed support to reach his century.South Africa, meanwhile, have named an impressive-looking second-string team in spite of some players dropping out with injuries. Captained by Dale Benkenstein, the side includes Jacques Rudolph, mightily successful against the Indians in earlier tour matches, contortionist chinaman Paul Adams, all-rounder Justin Kemp, and tearaway Andre Nel.The most significant name in the line-up, however, is that of Daryll Cullinan. Returning to first-class cricket last weekend after a several-month hiatus due to knee surgery, Cullinan is pushing for a Test berth ahead of relative newcomer Boeta Dippenaar. If included, he will only strengthen a South African batting line-up that displayed clinical efficiency in demolishing India earlier this week.India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Shiv Sunder Das, Connor Williams, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Deep Dasgupta (wicket-keeper), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh, Venkatesh Prasad, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish NehraSouth Africa A: Dale Benkenstein (captain), Jacques Rudolph, Graeme Smith, Martin van Jaarsveld, Daryll Cullinan, Justin Kemp, Kruger van Wyk (wicket-keeper), Paul Adams, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Garnett Kruger, Gulam Bodi

Australia is set to shelve its controversial player rotation policy and field its strongest possible side for Thursday’s tri-series cricket match against New Zealand in Sydney.But the Aussies will be without vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, who pulled out of the team tonight for personal reasons.Gilchrist will be replaced by West Australian wicketkeeper Ryan Campbell.All eyes will be on the XI named to play the Kiwis after chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns today indicated rotation of the 14-squad members was likely to be set aside as the world champions attempt to get its spluttering tri-series campaign back on track.Opening losses to New Zealand and South Africa at the MCG have left little other option – it’s the first time Australia has lost its first two games since the series began in 1979-80.Hohns said he would speak to skipper Steve Waugh and coach John Buchanan about team selection and player rotation tomorrow.”We’ve got to try to put a winning team on the park,” Hohns said.”I’ll be speaking to the captain and coach once I arrive in Sydney.”It’s fair to say we’ll be certainly trying to put on the park the best side we can.”Hohns defended the rotation policy, designed to keep all squad members match-fit and in form, and said it was likely to be retained in the longer term with nextyear’s World Cup in mind.He reminded doubters of its success last season when Australia went through the home tri-series undefeated against the West Indies and Zimbabwe.”It’s something we did last year, so it’s not new,” Hohns said.”Last year it was very successful in the one-day games and we had our most successful series ever.”It’s early days in this tournament, but obviously as soon as there’s a couple of losses, people start asking questions.”There were four team changes – two forced by the suspension of Glenn McGrath and injury to fellow paceman Brad Williams – for the second clash which SouthAfrica won yesterday, leaving the world champions languishing in last place in the series.McGrath backed the rotation policy today even though the lack of Ian Harvey’s tight bowling at the death appeared to leave the attack somewhat thin in his ownabsence yesterday.”You look at the squad we’ve got. I think it doesn’t matter which 11 we put on the field,” McGrath said.”I think it’s equally as strong so it’s good to give everyone a go and get them playing at full match fitness and ready for the next game.”McGrath said there were positive signs in yesterday’s loss after a disappointing first match against New Zealand.”We haven’t really sort of clicked, batting or bowling, but there’s good signs there, we’re improving every game,” he said.”It’s a bit like the (1999) World Cup. We started off very slowly but we got better every game, so if we continue to do that then we will be pretty happy.”Another big plus for Australia was the form of speedster Jason Gillespie who made a strong case for his retention with 2-28 off his 10 overs on return from injury last night.Australia’s usually reliable and high-scoring batting spluttered in both tri-series to date, mustering modest totals after failing to kick on in the closing stages.”The batsmen haven’t given our bowlers a great deal to bowl at, so we’ve got to bat better and then I think it will turn around,” opener Matthew Hayden said.

Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge ground will have a new stand to accommodate 2,500 people in time for the NatWest one-day international between England and Sri Lanka next June.Planning permission for the development, which will cost £1.9 million, was granted last night, and work will begin at once.Notts chief executive David Collier said: “We are delighted about the outcome. The new stand will increase the seating capacity 15,400.

Chetan Sharma scored 148 off 355 deliveries to help Delhi gain thefirst innngs lead against Haryana in the North Zone U-22 tournamentmatch at Gurgaon on Sunday. Delhi gained five points and Haryana tookthree.Batting first, Delhi scored 320 off 127.5 overs, opener Sharmasmashing 16 boundaries and one six. He was well supported by halfcenturies by Sandeep Rana (55) and Sonu Vaid (62). Saurabh Virmanibagged four for 94 and Deepak Sain picked up three for 75.In reply, Haryana were bowled out for 261 in 117 overs. Puru Singh andAmit Suman picked up three wickets each for 43 and 71 runsrespectively. Opener Praveen Sharma (48) played a patient 90-ballinnings. Anuj Sharma (56) and Pradeep Sahu (55) made valiant halfcenturies but could not prevent Delhi from taking the first inningslead. Delhi batted out the second innings for 22 overs scoring 95 forthree.

On losing two late wickets
We would’ve loved to have gone in just two down. But we do have a lead of 9, and six wickets in hand. And there are three quality batsmen left – [Damien] Martyn, [Darren] Lehmann and [Michael] Clarke. It will be a good test for them. We’ll be looking to establish a total that makes it difficult for India.On what he considered a total that Australia could defend in the fourth innings
Eight, and we’ve got nine (laughs). No, it’s very hard to set totals. Many recall that last time we played here when 160 was almost too many. We’d love to set them 250 or 300, but for that to happen, the batsmen need to do what [Mohammad] Kaif and [Parthiv] Patel did – get in and stay in. The objective is to get at least one decent partnership and have others play around that.On how his team have coped with the oppressive heat and humidity
We’ve had good recovery procedures. And we’re certainly ahead of India in that we haven’t had a player get crocked yet.On employing a night-watchman
Stephen [Waugh] changed that, he wanted to demonstrate that the Australian team was different. Ricky [Ponting] has the same bent of mind, as does Adam [Gilchrist], but we will use night-watchmen if we need to. This evening, Jason survived with the aid of two glorious byes (smiles).On Gilchrist coming in at No.3
Let’s hope we can keep everyone guessing here in India. It was discussed in the build-up to the tour, and there was an option to move him up the order. It was a move supported by everyone, and he did really well, but unfortunately for us, he’s no longer at the crease.On whether the sameness of the pace attack might result in Brett Lee being given a go later in the series
This sameness you talk of brought us a stunning victory in Bangalore. During the break, we’ll reassess the situation to see where we’re at, and revisit the selection process. But I’m happy with the way the three quicks are going. They’ve been a foil of sorts and also penetrative, allowing Shane Warne his first five-wicket haul in India. Brett [Lee] is champing at the bit, like our other support players. But we’ll only decide once we get to Nagpur.On how the fielding let his side down
We made a number of errors yesterday. If we’d taken even 50% of those chances, I believe the two first-innings totals would have been comparable. We compounded the errors of the first day when we didn’t bat as we should have done.On whether the Indian tail’s defiance surprised him
We bat all the way down, the Indian players know how to handle the bat so it wasn’t a surprise at all. But whether they continue to be effective for the remainder of the series remains to be seen.