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On the 40th anniversary of Garry Sobers hitting six sixes in an over, Floyd Reifer, the former West Indies batsman, has emulated the feat during a match in the Barbados Cricket Association’s Twenty20 league. On August 31, 1968, Sobers, batting for Nottinghamshire, had smashed every ball of a Malcolm Nash over for six in Swansea to become the first man to do so in first-class cricket.”One thing I always wanted to do in my cricket career was to hit six sixes in an over and I was delighted I achieved it on Sunday. To be honest, I did not really sink in,” Reifer was quoted as saying in the . “Then to hear that I did it on the anniversary of Sir Garry’s achievement is even more amazing. I have the greatest respect and admiration for Sir Garry. This feels really, really great.”Simon Steel, a part-time offspinner, was the bowler at the receiving end as Reifer eventually finished on 88 off 26 balls to set up the University of West Indies’ win over Wanderers.”I was in a groove and everything just worked in my favour. When I came in we only had five overs left so I had to have a go. The first ball went straight and the second went straight. I went to Simon and told him ‘I think this over will go for six sixes . . . you or me’.”The third ball was a lovely hit over midwicket, the next went over long-off, fifth over ‘cow corner’ and the last went straight and far. I played good cricket shots – there was no swiping.”

Sri Lanka will field a full strength side during the ICC Champions Trophyafter a last minute deal was struck between the Board of Control for Cricketin Sri Lanka (BCCSL) and the players, ending a potentially embarrassingdispute for the host nation.A BCCSL statement, issued from Colombo, said: “Discussions between the BCCSLand the Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association (SLCA) regarding the participationof Sri Lankan cricketers in the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 were concludedsuccessfully today.”The players, represented by former Sri Lanka fast bowler Graeme Labrooy onbehalf of the SLCA, had demanded 30% of all revenue accrued by the BCCSLduring the tournament if they were to sign a controversial ICC contract.The ICC contract prevents the players from endorsing products that mightconflict with official ICC Champions Trophy sponsors for a period spanningnearly three months.The BCCSL, however, refused the players’ demands on Wednesday, claiming thatthe cricket board was facing a cash shortage in light of there being so fewincoming tours to Sri Lanka during the current financial year.Agreement was reached after the BCCSL promised to pay the players an”undisclosed lump sum” as compensation for the use of their player rights.Although the players failed to get the 30% that had been demanded, Labrooy was satisfied with the final outcome: "Both parties compromised and we reached a win-win situation with the players being fairly compensated, so we are happy."An more open dialogue with the cricketers is now expected in the future: "The players were hurt that their rights had been sold without proper consultation, now the board has agreed to be more open and we will discuss a longer term plan, including the ICC World Cup next year, after the tournament.According to Labrooy, the national players are not the main beneficiaries of the deal: "90 percent of money provided by the BCCSL in this agreement will be redistributed to Sri Lanka’s first class cricketers."The 12-team tournament starts on Sept 12 when Sri Lanka take on Pakistan.

LAHORE, May 29: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wednesday named players for the regional academies at Karachi, Muridke, Rawalpindi and Peshawar that will begin June 3.Haroon Rashid and Rashid Khan were named coaches for Karachi; Azhar Khan and Aaqib Javed for Muridke; Masood Anwar and Naveed Anjum for Rawalpindi and Farrukh Zaman and Ehteshmauddin for Peshawar.KARACHIBatsmen: Asha Sabir, Saqib Zia, Wajid Ali, Khalid Latif, Atif Ali Zaidi, Asim Kamal, Ariz Kamal, Mohammad Farooq, Faisal Iqbal (all Karachi), Manzoor Ahmad, Arun Lal (both Quetta), Hameedullah (Pishin), Taj Wali (Hyderabad), Syed Rehan (Mirpurkhas).Pacers: Tabish Khan, Sharif Asadullah, Adeel Malik, Owais Athar (all Karachi), Mohsin Razaullah (Sukkur)Spinners: Ali Zafar, Azam Hussain, Irfanuddin (all Karachi), Abdur Sattar (Larkana), Agha Tahir (Mirpurkhas), Pir Zulfiqar Dadu), Mohammad Qasim (Quetta)Wicketkeepers: Amin-ur-Rehman, Naeem KHan (both Karachi)Local boys: Mohammad Umair Shahzad, Danial Ahsan, Noman Alvi, Umair Mumtaz, Fahad IqbalMURIDKEBatsmen: Salman Butt, Khaqan Arsal, Adnan Raza, Kashif Mahmood, Kamran Sajid (all Lahore), Naeemuddin, Kamran Younis (both Gujranwala), Javed Husain (Sheikhupura), Shahid Yousuf (Sialkot), Mohammad Ali (Multan), Asif Iqbal (Bahawalpur)Pacers: Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Raza, Arslan Mir, Junaid Zia (all Lahore), Tanvir Ahmad (Sahiwal), Nadeem Javed, Mohammad Yasin (both Sheikhupura), Samiullah Niazi (Sargodha), Farhan Ahmad (Multan)Spinners: Hafiz Bilal, Raza Ali Dar, Azhar Ali (all Lahore), Majid Majeed (Rahimyar Khan), Mobashir Ahmad (Bahawalpur), Manzoor Amjad (Sialkot)Wicketkeepers: Adnan Akmal, Shahbaz Iqbal, Zulqarnain Haider (all Lahore).Local boys: Irfan Haider, Shahid Siddique, Khalil Ahmad, Mohammad IshaqueNWFPBatsmen: Zeeshan Mohsin, Aftab Khan, Mohammad Fayyaz, Mohammad Idrees, Yasir Hameed (all Peshawar), Abid Khan, Sajid Khan, Mumtaz Khan, Mohammad Shaique (all Fata), Mohammad Faheem, Mohammad Naeem (D.I.Khan), Akbar Badshah (Nowshera)Bowlers: Kamran Ali, Shehryar Khan, Abdul Nasir, Dilawar Khan, Manzoor Khan, Umar Gul (all Peshawar), Hilal Afridi, Riaz Afridi, Shakir-ur-Rehman, Imran Khan (all Fata), Aizaz Khan (Bannu), Abid Iqbal (Kohat), Imran Durrani (Nowshera), Yasir Shah (Swabi)Local boy: Ahmad JanRAWALPINDIMasood Asim, Nauman Awan, Shoaib Jan, Zahid Mehmood, Salman Saeed, Osama Shabbir, Ameer Khan, Shahid Mehmood, Saad Altaf, Haseeb Amjad, Muneer Ansari, Najaf Shah (all Rawalpindi), Mohammad Altaf, Mohammad Fayyaz, Zeeshan Nadir, Saifur Rehman, Raja Kashif, Talat Hussain (all Islamabad), Sohrab Aslam, Afaq Rahim, Mir Usman, Abdul Shakoor, Yasir Ali, Nadeem Sikander (both Attock), Amjad Waqas (Haripur), Imran Khan (Haripur Hazara), Naved Latif (Sargodha).Local boys: Yasim Murtuza, Sohail Akram, Zaheeruddin Babar, Danish Hanif, Riaz Afridi, Atif Khan.APP ADDS: The executive council of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), that met on Wednesday, decided to launch academies in each of the seven zones of Karachi and one at KCCA Cricket Academy.The council decided to ask the zonal office hearers to submit their proposals in this behalf to secretary KCCA by June 10.The council also decided to launch the KCCA annual talent hunt program. Inter-zonal U-15, U-17 and U-19 tournaments will be organized after conducting open trials in each zone.The council also decided to the start of inter-zonal U-19 cricket tournament from June 9.It also approved the plan to start the construction work at the KCCA Stadium in the right earnest from early next month.

India captain Sourav Ganguly hailed his team after they secured victory in a fantastic final to win the NatWest triangular tournament at Lord’s.”I thought we played fantastically well and deserved to win,” Ganguly said. “We have played well throughout series. We did not bowl well in the first half today but we batted like champions.”The batters were brilliant. Yuvraj and Kaif batted have batted well, but the way those two guys batted today was unbelievable. When we got to 100 in 15 overs I knew we had a chance because it was a good wicket and a fast outfield.””It was fantastic to see so many turning up at Lord’s. I would like to thank everyone for supporting us throughout the series.”England’s Marcus Trescothick, who made a century for England and was voted player of the series, said: “Personally I’ve played pretty well this summer and I`m looking forward to carrying it on – but I’m very disappointed today, although it was a fantastic game for the crowd to watch.”To score 100 at Lord’s is a special thing – but the boys are distraught at the moment. It’s going to take a bit of time to get over this.”England skipper Nasser Hussain, who made 115, said: “We are very disappointedbut you have to give credit where it’s due and they played out of their skins today. Congratulations to them – they batted brilliantly.”You can’t point fingers in the dressing room – you’ve got to say `all credityou’ve tried hard throughout the tournament’.”We’ve got to improve a few things but we’re a much improved side. It’s hard to swallow going from not winning a game to today – but this Indian side keeps coming at you – they played really well.”Ronnie Irani, voted the fans’ player of the series, echoed the disappointment in the England camp, despite his personal achievement.”We’re hugely disappointed – but we’ll live to fight another day,” he said. “It’s great as a player to know the fans support you and I hope I can give them some more entertainment in the future.”

Mashonaland look set to wrap up their 15th successive Logan Cup victory at about lunchtime on the third day, as Matabeleland finished the second day 149 runs behind the champions with four second-innings wickets down.The predictable highlight of Day Two was the batting of the Flower brothers, who ran up their 31st (Andy) and 17th (Grant) career centuries and made it look all so easy. Their fourth-wicket stand eventually realized 272 runs, just beating their fraternal Test-record 269, although Andy was probably unaware of it when he perhaps allowed boredom to end his innings at 115.Grant, who soon followed him for 150, was for once the dominant partner, playing some sparkling strokes, while Andy never moved into top gear and never really tried to. He appeared to be little more than a jogger doing his regular ten-mile run for the exercise; sure, he needed skill to counter some quite impressive spin bowling from Gavin Ewing, but after facing the likes of Muralitharan, Harbhajan and Saqlain he well knew what was needed against lesser mortals.The second new ball was taken soon after his departure, and Mluleki Nkala bowled impressively with it, dismissing Grant and Tatenda Taibu in quick succession, and then the prolific Craig Evans for 21. The strong Mashonaland tail did not really apply themselves, and Matabeleland must have been relieved to dismiss them for a mere 415; in their meeting in Bulawayo earlier this year Mashonaland exceeded 600.The last thing Matabeleland needed as they went in 274 runs behind was a run-out, but some superb fielding from Andy Blignaut quickly removed Gavin Rennie this way for just 7. Charles Coventry was bowled by a superb yorker from Gus Mackay, perhaps the best no-ball of the year, but then two balls later was trapped lbw for 4 by a legal delivery. Barney Rogers (24) again got a good start without reaping a harvest, and Andre Hoffman’s reluctance to leave the crease when given out lbw for 10 would have earned him a hefty fine at Test level.Matabeleland have little real hope of avoiding defeat with no rain for hundreds of miles around, but their main hopes of respectability rest on Mark Vermeulen, a man who knows how to score big hundreds and was still there with 74 at the close. He was dropped at slip by Andy Flower as soon as Brian Murphy came on to bowl, and so lived to fight another day as Matabeleland finished on 125 for four.

A cultured hundred from Yuvraj Singh failed to prevent India ‘A’ from slumping to a eight-wicket defeat on the final day of their four-day match against South Africa ‘A’ at the Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein.The tourists, who began the day on 87 for three, lost vice-captain Mohammad Kaif with the score on 107. Kaif made 46 off 106 balls with eight fours.Yurvaj, however, continued to blossom, building on his overnight score of seven. But at the other end the wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as South Africa ‘A’ began to close in on victory. Abhijit Kale departed for 15, Parthiv Patel made just 12, and India ‘A’ were soon reduced to 171 for six.Lakshmipathy Balaji, who made a gutsy 37 in the first innings, could not reprise his daredevilry again, being dismissed for just four. Murali Kartik, meanwhile, failed for the first time in the match as India sank deeper into the mire.Yuvraj, who had played with commendable application and patience in the midst of all this, then revived Indian hopes in the company of number 10 Amit Mishra. The duo put on 51 runs for the ninth wicket, Mishra contributing just nine of those runs.Yuvraj brought up his hundred during the course of the partnership, showing yet again that he is now ready for higher honours. But after Mishra’s dismissal, followed by that of Yuvraj, the Indian second innings ended at 251.For South Africa ‘A,’ fast bowlers Dewald Pretorius and Andre Nel claimed three wickets each.The home team, who needed just 74 runs to seal an outright win, eased past the target for the loss of just two wickets.

A day after seeing its hopes of hosting next week’s Pura Cup final against Queensland snuffed out, Victoria today seemed to loseinterest in its final round match against Western Australia at the MCG.The Vics went into the match needing to win outright, but also needing the Bulls not to take a point in their match against New South Wales, to host the final for thefirst time in ten years.But the two first innings points secured by Queensland yesterday put paid to that.And knowing they had to travel to Queensland, where they have not won outright since 1983-84, for the final for the second successive year clearly seemed to affectthe Victorian effort today.Not only did the Bushrangers allow the Warriors to reach a respectable 215 in their first innings, after they resumed at 8-164 on day two today, but then the homeside batted as slowly as Western Australia did yesterday before a late flurry saw them reach 5-143 at stumps.The Vics’ scoring rate was not helped by a slow MCG pitch and outfield, but it was hardly the sort of display to inspire confidence ahead of next Friday’s dauntingtrip to Brisbane.After taking nearly an hour and a half to wrap up the Warriors’ innings, thanks to Matthew Nicholson’s highest first class score of 48, the Vics made a disastrousstart when Matthew Elliott was out for 10 in the final over before lunch in bizarre circumstances.The former Australian opener edged Brad Williams to Brendon Julian at second slip but the ball deflected off his knee and ballooned to Marcus North at third slip,who took a great diving catch.Resuming at 1-15 after lunch, the Vics managed only 55 runs in a middle session notable for the slow batting of No. 3 Matthew Mott.Mott batted the entire session for only 21 runs and was eventually out for 23 off 99 balls, not one of which he appeared likely to middle.However, the wicket the Warriors most needed was that of Brad Hodge, but he was dropped on 32 and 39 by Julian at second slip and North in the gullyrespectively.And the little right hander made the Warriors pay by finally picking up the run rate in the final hour to end up unbeaten on 52 at stumps as he passed the 1000-runmark for the season.If the Warriors can pick up Hodge’s wicket early tomorrow they will still have a chance of upsetting the Vics, who on today’s performance appear to be alreadythinking about next week’s final.

Pakistan had gone into the final at Sharjah having won all its leaguematches while Sri Lanka had won only one and had qualified for thefinal by virtue of a better run-rate. Obviously Pakistan was the firmfavourite. But cricket often confounds the experts. Sri Lanka playedits best cricket and Pakistan its worst, leaving the Pakistan cricketpublic both disappointed and bewildered.Did Pakistan wilt under the pressure of being favourite or was therean element of cock sureness that induced complacency? One thing iscertain. Sri Lanka looked fired up. It also looked a team that haddone a lot of soul-searching and a lot of planning. Pakistan it seemedwas going to play it by the book.Once Sri Lanka got over early nervousness and went on a run spree,Pakistan did not appear to have a back-up plan. Pakistan’s fieldinghad earned it fulsome praise and there was effusive mention of “younglegs” dashing around. There are two aspects of fielding. You are notonly expected to stop the ball but to catch it when hit in the air. Itis this second aspect that seemed to have been forgotten.At a conservative estimate, four catches were dropped plus a couple ofmissed stumping. Forget about the half-chances the Sri Lankans,miraculously, snapped up. You drop a catch and that is unfortunate,you drop two and that is a misfortune but four? That is unpardonable.It represents a break-down of focus and concentration.And they were relatively simple catches and not blinders. GeoffBoycott’s Mom would have caught them! The Sri Lankans did not evenbother to say “thank you” and they took the gift and rode their luckand piled on a score of 298, well beyond their wildest dreams. SriLanka had planned to pace its innings and had started slowly, gathermomentum and then go for the big shots. But with catches beingdropped, the batsmen just made hay as the Pakistan bowlers appeared tolose heart.Still, an asking-rate of nearly six an over was not impossible on thatshirt-front wicket and there was no need for a mad rush. All Pakistanhad to do was to bat sensibly, the urgency needed did not amount topanic not to treat all the 50 overs as slog overs.Shahid Afridi plays the way he does. He hit the first ball he receivedfor six but was “suckered” into hooking and getting a top edge. ImranNazir seems to have his feet in concrete blocks or someone has toldhim that the laws of cricket do not allow a batsman to use his feet.He has no footwork. Surely he would have seen how Marvan Ataputtu andMahela Jayawardena batted. I was surprised to see Humayun Farhat comein instead of Saeed Anwar. Saeed Anwar was the in-form batsman. Heneeded to bat through the innings. He played beautifully but Pakistankept losing wickets regularly including that of Inzamam-ul-Haq, a softdismissal.The team to tour England will have been selected by the time thiscolumn appears but I would certainly have Moin Khan in the team andgive some serious thought to Ejaz Ahmed and even Aamir Sohail. Ipresume that Wasim Akram, Azhar Mahmood and Yousuf Yohanna areautomatic selections. Or are they?This brings me to Shoaib Malik who has been reported for a “suspect”bowling action. Michael Holding made a meal of it while doing thecommentator and he was completely out of order. It is not the job of acommentator to act as judge, jury and executioner. Television sloweddown the pictures, froze them while Holding explained in painfuldetail why his action was illegal.It is the job of the umpire to report the bowler to the match-refereeand until the ICC decides, the matter is sub-judice. Television iswatched by millions of viewers and the commentators would be mindfulof their responsibilities. They are there to describe the proceedingsand they are not expected to be judgmental. There should also be acode of conduct for the commentators.Cricket is already plagued by tabloid or ‘pop’ print journalism. Iexpected better from Michael Holding. Even Ravi Shastri got in a cheapshot when Afridi came to bowl in one of the league matches. Hisfellow-commentator mentioned something about Afridi’s change of paceand Ravi chipped in “and also change of action.”The Indian Sports Minister got all tangled up when trying to justifywhy India was not playing against Pakistan at cricket but was playinghockey. She made the rather alarming disclosure that many of India’sTest cricketers supported the Indian government’s refusal to allow itsteam to play against Pakistan.She did not disclose their names and I am surprised that she was notpressed to do so. I would certainly like to know the names of theplayers who do not want to play against Pakistan. I think she would bebetter advised to say nothing on the subject.Silence is golden. But I am sure the Indian cricket public must havewatched the Sharjah final on television and in their hearts had wishedthat their team was playing. Still, the tournament in Sharjah was ahuge success. And that should give India pause for thought.

Everybody at Somerset County Cricket Club has hailed the Queens Golden Jubilee Day as a great success.From the time that the day began in the morning with the Jubilee Service at St James Church, where John Barclay was the guest preacher to the time that the last ball was bowled, from which Steffan Jones could sadly only manage to score two runs, everyone who attended enjoyed the day.Thankfully the weather was perfect for such an event, in fact too hot for the club’s new dragon mascot who on a couple of occasions had to sit in the shade to get his energy back! The large a crowd of nearly 5000 people helped to make the occasion one to remember.The County Ground also looked a picture, with celebratory flags flying all around the ground and bunting adorning the front of the Colin Atkinson Pavilion.Before the start of the match the players and the crowd all gave three cheers for the Queen, and during the tea interval the fifty recipients of the Golden Jubilee awards were presented with their medals.Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson was delighted with the Golden Jubilee Day and this morning told me: "What a fantastic cricket match to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. As always there had to be a loser, and it’s just a pity that it had to be Somerset, though the boys played well chasing a very big target."The chief concluded: "On behalf of the club I would like to thank everybody who attended match and everybody who helped in anyway to make it such a success, cricket was the winner on the day."

Former USA Cricket Association executive secretary Kenwyn Williams has launched legal action for damages against the board, seeking in excess of $1.5 million for what he claims is action which exposed him to “public contempt, ridicule, aversion and disgrace”.The papers, published by Williams himself, say the defendants – which include various USACA officials as well as the board’s legal representatives, McGuire Woods – “individually, collectively, wrongly, maliciously and scandalously [acted] to injure Plaintiff’s sterling reputation and good name”.Williams was suspended by the USACA board, and subsequently dismissed, for a series of posts on USACA branded sites on Facebook and Twitter operated by him which attracted widespread media comment and ridicule. He is also accused of leaking confidential information and of acting in a way McGuire Woods told him was “recklessly [putting] USACA, its board, staff and yourself in contempt of court”.Williams continues to challenge the legality of the board’s decision.