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Middlesex 116 for 3 (Morgan 47) beat Essex 115 for 9 (Dexter 46, Murtagh 3-24) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Just now, Middlesex, who have done little but struggle in recent seasons, are finding cricket a rather easy game. After beating Hampshire on Wednesday, they cruised to a seven-wicket win over Essex at Lord’s with 19 balls to spare, a result which takes them to the giddy heights of the top of the South Division.Buoyed by three straight wins, Middlesex were tight in the field, capped by a string of good steepling catches, and batted with sense in a well-paced chase. Essex, however, will take nothing from a game where their batsmen perished to a series of swings and cross-batted swipes, and their fielding verged on the woeful.Essex’s innings never got out of first gear, and bar a slog-swept six from Neil Dexter, the only batsman to show any inkling of how to bat in this format, there was little to inspire a crowd of around 18,000. Ed Smith, the Middlesex captain, rotated his quick bowlers – there were five bowling changes in the first ten overs and 11 in all – and used his spinners to choke the life out of the middle overs.Tim Murtagh, Dirk Nannes and Tyron Henderson all mixed yorkers with deliveries just short of a length and the batsmen, who almost all opted not to use their feet to any purpose, showed little inclination to try to break the stranglehold. This allowed Smith to maintain attacking fields – as late as the tenth over there were two slips in place – and Shaun Udal and Murali Kartik added to the pressure with tight wicket-to-wicket bowling.Dexter played an excellent anchor innings but found nobody remotely likely to stay with him. Middlesex held all but one chance that came their way, the best being a running, diving catch at third man by the evergreen Udal, and fielded like a side who knew there was a multi-million pot at the end of the rainbow.Defending such a low total, Essex’s only hope was to take early wickets. As it was, they spilt five catches, four in the slips and even their ground fielding grew shabbier by the over.Andrew Strauss, who on Tuesday had joked he doubted he was high on any IPL wish-list, met his own expectations with a scratchy 11, dragging a drive into his stumps, but it was a success the bowlers failed to capitalise onEoin Morgan made a mockery of Essex’s earlier efforts, cracking a 36-ball 47 with some lovely strokeplay. He unleashed two textbook cuts that fizzed to the boundary and then lofted a six over extra cover. He deserved a fifty but was deprived by a misunderstanding with David Malan when the result was done and dusted.Smith was dropped three times, twice off routine catches at first slip by James Middlebrook, and did not seem hampered by a injury sustained when he slipped turning for a second run early in his innings. If anything, he batted better when hobbling with Strauss running for him.This was far from a Twenty20 classic – it was too one-sided for that. In all there were only 19 fours and two sixes. The crowd were subdued – the chilly evening did not help – and it was a far cry from the razzmatazz of the IPL.A fortnight ago disgruntled Middlesex members called for a special meeting to discuss the club’s plight. Since then the side has reeled off a series of wins and at this rate that evening could turn out to be more of a party. For now, at least, it’s happy days at Lord’s.

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.

Gloucestershire Gladiators v Middlesex Crusaders
16 June 2002Events on the Day

New Zealand’s cricket players’ association is going to be a very significant factor in the short-to-medium term on the cricket scene here, according to retired wicket-keeper Adam Parore.In Christchurch to promote his recently-released book The Wicked-Keeper, Parore said the association was long overdue and would be crucial to matters of player fitness issues, scheduling and longevity of careers.”It will be nice for players to have a voice in issues that directly affect them. There is a huge wealth of knowledge among the players now and they are New Zealand Cricket’s [NZC] greatest resource,” he said.Parore didn’t think there would be an advocacy role for the Association in the event of a repetition of problems that occurred with coaching and management when Glenn Turner was appointed coach of the side for a second term.”That was more just a mistake, a bad choice, and I don’t think New Zealand Cricket would make that sort of mistake under the stewardship of Martin Snedden and his team,” he said.Changes to the administration of the game, stemming in part from the furore that developed firstly in South Africa under Geoff Howarth but after that in India and the West Indies under Turner, had also resulted in vastly better conditions for the players.”Expectations have increased too, but players are reasonably well looked after now. We are a long way along the line from 1994/95,” he said.Such was the state of the side now that if Turner returned as coach there wouldn’t be an issue with him now, he said.”There was a lack of maturity and experience, from me in particular, and it was a volatile mix,” Parore said.Despite some of the controversies of his career, Parore does have 201 wicket-keeping dismissals to his name and anyone looking to emulate that feat will have to have done the foundation work between the ages of 15 and 22 years.That’s the time he feels is vital for players to get their bodies in shape for the role required of them.It was to do with “muscle memory” so that further down the track the work load to maintain fitness did not have to be so great.As for the future, Parore believes any hopes New Zealand have of success in next year’s World Cup in South Africa are dependent on Chris Cairns.”If he is 100% fit then New Zealand are a good show,” he said.Having Shane Bond’s speed to call on was another asset.”He is a huge factor and the sole reason for our success in the one-day series in Australia. You have just got to bowl quick in that game,” he said.Having your typical 130kph out-swinger coming in and bowling didn’t really help at all, he added.The success against Australia last summer, both in the third Test at Perth, and in the one-day series, had been especially enjoyable.”They grew up flogging us and it was nice to see the same guys who had regarded us with derision being embarrassed for a change.”It was always great to play against an Australian side, but that tour, and especially that game in Perth, got to them. They weren’t particularly happy, you could see it in Steve Waugh’s body language,” he said.While victory didn’t come in the Test matches against Australia, Parore did get the chance to finish his career with a Test victory over England, at Eden Park, a match in which he had to plead with the selectors to be included.He promised them a good performance, after he had two ordinary Tests in the first two, and he did achieve that.Asked why a good performance wasn’t the goal all the time, he said, it came down to the opposition and what they allowed you to do.But as for now, it is back to the markets in his role as an investment advisor, safe in the knowledge that 10,000 copies of his book (sales of 3500 represent a best-seller in New Zealand) have been printed and demand has been exceptional.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will welcome back Australia ‘A’representatives Jimmy Maher, Martin Love, Ashley Noffke and NathanHauritz for this weekend’s Pura Cup match against the Western Warriorsat the Gabba.All four Queenslanders enjoyed success during the ‘A’ match againstEngland in Hobart with Maher captaining the team and Love scoring hissecond double century of the summer against the tourists.They come into the Queensland team in place of Daniel Payne, ClintonPerren, Scott Brant and Andy Bichel, who all played in the Bulls’outright win over Tasmania at the Gabba last week.The twelve is the same that narrowly lost outright to Victoria inMelbourne earlier this month.Sunday is Dollar Day with patrons admitted for $1, with each patronreceiving a voucher allowing them to buy a $1 drink and a $1 pie.The Bulls and Warriors will also meet in a day/night ING Cup match onFriday next week, with the Warriors adding allrounder Kade Harvey totheir twelve man squad for the match.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Western Warriors, the Gabba, Sunday – Wednesday:Jimmy Maher, Brendan Nash, Martin Love, Stuart Law, Andrew Symonds, LeeCarseldine, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, NathanHauritz, Joe Dawes, Damien MacKenzie (12th man to be named).Western Warriors: Mike Hussey (c), Ryan Campbell (vc), Jo Angel,Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Brad Hogg, Shaun Marsh,Matt Nicholson, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Brad Williams, Paul Wilson(12th man to be named).

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."

The feast of thrill and excitement that test cricket has provided cricket fans since inception, is still going great guns with absolutely no fears of extinction. Except for the raw fans who watch cricket only for fun, the diehard lovers of the game continue to regard test cricket as the most comprehensive, scientific, technically sound and a highly competitive form of cricket.As the times change, innovations start appearing in every walk of life. They are perhaps necessary to provide some variety to people with different tastes, temperaments, hobbies and pastimes. Like other fields these innovations have affected cricket too but with no adverse effects. The changes were healthy as well as exciting and above all, were acceptable to the masses without whose support, sports could not possibly flourish.What hit cricket like a storm was the introduction of limited over matches. Pioneered by Australia’s Channel-9 boss Kerry Packer in the mid-seventies, the one-day matches spread like wildfire all over the world. Loved and cheered by the masses, they have almost become the life and soul of today’s cricket. They draw massive crowds, attract sponsors and spin money beyond imagination. Being awfully exciting and creating a festive atmosphere, these matches have become a regular feature of almost all international series. In contrast to the slow moving tests these matches started to provide immense pleasure to the people who did not possess the time and the temperament to endure a 5-day game.They say, `variety is the spice of life’. So the next variety to capture the interest of cricket lovers is double-wicket cricket with a format radically different from tests or one-day matches. The rules may look strange but are not complicated to understand. Unlike the normal teams of 11 players, the double-wicket teams have only 2 players each. Batting and bowling being the two vital elements of the game, the teams essentially comprise of the best available pair of all-rounders.Two teams ( 2 players each) are pitched against each other for a limited number of overs. A player getting out does not retire but continues to bat but penalized a stipulated number of runs for each time he gets out. Is not it interesting to find that sometimes a team may end their innings with no run or minus a few runs on the board? The local cricket association provides the fielders normally. How exciting is the game, only seeing is believing!This strange version of the game has now achieved international dimensions and Lahore will be the venue of the 4th Double Wicket Championship being held in Pakistan. While the highly energetic cricket loving pair of Syed Abbas Kazim and Nauman Badar of Interlink Worldwide is the moving force behind this venture, Pepsi Cola International is sponsoring the championship. The day and night matches will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium from 22-25 April 2001.The championship offering a prize-money of US $ 20,000 will be played on a Round Robin league basis between two groups of 4 teams each. The group matches will be of 8 overs per innings while semi finals and finals will be of 10 and 12 overs per innings.The organizers promise a highly exciting cricket fair to lovers of the game, presenting them with a galaxy of stars performing their best in a different role. The 5 foreign teams comprise of Craig McMillan and Chris Harris from New Zealand, Arjuna Ranatunga, Upal Chandana, Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold (2 teams) from Sri Lanka, Thomas Odoyo and Steve Tikolo from Kenya with Paul Strang and Craig Wishart from Zimbabwe.Pakistan has nominated 3 pairs to face the foreign teams. They shall comprise of Wasim Akram with Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir with Shoaib Malik and Abdur Razzaq with Azhar Mahmood. It may be recalled that the last international double wicket championship held at Karachi was won by the Pakistani pair of Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi.With eight world-class pairs participating in the championship, the competition is expected to be tough as well as exciting. Pakistan’s 3 pairs of available all-rounders appear competent enough for one pair to win again but in this form of cricket, fortunes fluctuate so quickly, it could be any teams’ championship. Lots of fun in store for all!

Wright’s idea of the ideal bowling attackIndian coach John Wright has said he favours two or three spinners and four seamers prior to the selection of the Indian team to the tour of Zimbabwe. Talking to reporters at the end of the second day of the preparatory camp in Bangalore on Monday, Wright said “I personally favour the inclusion of two or three spinners as well as four seamers for the team which would tour Zimbabwe. But the matter has to be discussed and gone through.”Replying to a question on skipper Sourav Ganguly’s poor run in the recent series against Australia, the former New Zealand captain said it was only a matter of time before the Ganguly would regain his form. “Sourav is a world class player. He has got tremendous average in both forms of the game. Everyone goes through a lean spell. He looks very good at the nets and is working hard at his bating,” Wright said.Laxman, Ganguly eager to win a series abroadThe highest run getter in the recent series against Australia, VVS Laxman has said he was raring to go to help the Indian side to a series win abroad. The Hyderabadi batsman said “For a long time now, I’ve dreamt of being part of an Indian side that wins an overseas series.” Talking to reporters during the training camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Laxman said “I’ll bethrilled if I could play some part in helping the team win in Zimbabwe.”Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said it was necessary for India to win away from home to establish themselves as a major force in international cricket. “We’ve got to win an away series. One win abroad will set right a lot of things,” he said.English players want Christmas breakThe England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has requested the BCCI to split the forthcoming series into two parts against India later this year. The reason cited by the ECB is that the players want a break to go home and celebrate Christmas with their family and hence the request for change in schedule.A BCCI source quoted by PTI said “The England and Wales Cricket Board has requested a 26-day break between the two series. “They wanted the Test series to be played from December 3 to 23 and leave for home on December 24 and be back in time for the one-dayers from January 22 to February 3, 2002.” He added “The proposal will be discussed at the BCCI’s technical committee meeting in New Delhi on May 16.”

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.

Scorecard
Mark Cosgrove took a pair of sharp chances as SA’s chase was bogged down•Getty Images

Tasmania outlasted South Australia in another tight limited overs encounter between the two sides at Adelaide Oval, the Tigers winning by three runs in scenes reminiscent of the tied domestic final last season, a result that had given the Redbacks the trophy.A tally of 9 for 221 had looked barely adequate for the visitors, but a penetrating spell by the off spinner Jason Krejza did major damage to SA’s chase after the hosts had begun smartly via Phillip Hughes and Michael Klinger. The captain Johan Botha was out for a first-ball duck.Dan Christian was left to hold the pursuit together with an innings of power and composure, but he fell narrowly short of the target when the last man Jake Haberfield could not get back in time to complete a second run with one ball still remaining.The Tigers’ fielding was a strong point of their defence, Mark Cosgrove taking a pair of sharp chances at slip from the bowling of the spinners.They needed to be on their toes after a halting innings in the afternoon. No batsman passed 50 as several starts were wasted, Tim Paine notably run out after spending 41 balls over 19. Ricky Ponting went closest to a substantial score but on 47 pushed back a sharp return catch to Jake Haberfield, who held the chance on the second attempt.Nathan Lyon and Botha both bowled neatly for SA, while the debutant Daniel Worrall caught the eye with his full length and outswing. Worrall’s figures lost their lustre towards the end of the innings, as Krejza and Xavier Doherty cobbled vital late innings runs to build a total that ultimately proved beyond SA’s reach.While SA’s effort was much improved on an abject defeat in the earlier Sheffield Shield match, they are now winless from three matches to start the season. The Tigers leave Adelaide with a perfect two wins from their visit.