South

Surrey maintained their 100% record with a thumping defeat of Kent at The Oval in one of the most one-sided match in the competition’s history. James Benning led Surrey’s charge with 88 and Mark Ramprakash chipped in with 58 as they posted a daunting 198 for 6. Kent started well, reaching 40 for 0 before collapsing to 91 in 11.4 overs as Nayan Doshi and Ian Salisbury shared five wickets in less than four overs.While England were in freefall, Darren Gough, who many think should still be in the side, helped Essex to a resounding 87-run win over Sussex at Chelmsford. Set a target of 197, Sussex were on the ropes from the first over when Gough took two wickets with successive balls, and Andy Bichel (4 for 23) ensured that there would be no fightback, although Sussex’s tail at least saw them to three figures.

Midlands/Wales/West

Glamorgan were another side to maintain a winning start with a six-wicket win over Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Glamorgan had seemed to be slipping to defeat when they slid to 15 for 3 chasing the home side’s 170 for 9, but then David Hemp (60*) and James Franklin (69*) saw them home with ten balls in hand in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 106.

North

Durham subsided to their second defeat in as many days as they never challenged Nottinghamshire’s 175 for 7 at Trent Bridge, going down to a 52-run loss.

The Champions Trophy is only three months away and the World Cup a little more than seven, but the ICC’s thoughts have already turned to the subject that gave it so much adverse media during the last two such tournaments – ambush marketing.The confiscation of drinks made by rivals to the official sponsors from spectators was one of the least edifying images in recent years, and the whole subject resurfaced during the football World Cup when fans were forced to remove trousers carrying the logos of a beer company not approved by the organisers.ICC officials are in India to prepare for the Champions Trophy, and they have warned that any infringement of copyright or trademark would be severely dealt with. “Worry may be too strong a word to describe our concerns, but we are aware of the potential of ambush marketing and prepared to safeguard the interest of official sponsors and advertisers,” Brian Murgatroyd, ICC media manager, explained, adding that official partners and sponsors would get “value for their money by investing in cricket.”The ICC is working out ways to circumvent potential issues but Murgatroyd simply said: “Just suffice to say that everybody would be watching and monitoring.”However, the ICC also acknowledged that endless commercial saturation on TV and at grounds also posed problems. “It’s all about striking a balance between commercialism and giving value to the viewers and cricket lovers,” Murgatroyd added.

With 200 days to go before the start of the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, all 12 stadiums in the region are looking in good shape – except one.There are great doubts over the readiness of the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago, and officials have put authorities there on notice. The facility – which will host pre-tournament matches – is behind schedule. A Cricket World Cup (CWC) inspection team will visit the ground on September 7 and a decision is expected by mid-month.Organisers are looking at several options as backup in case the ground cannot meet the required standard for a global event the size of the World Cup. As it stands, the ground will now only be used for the four scheduled matches. It will not be used as a back-up venue as part of the contingency plan.It is understood that the problems are not with the actual development, but that the powers-that-be in Trinidad took a long time to decide on the scope and size of the project. As part of the rush to get ready, GL Events, the French firm contracted to build temporary facilities at all 12 venues in nine countries, might take on a major portion of the work at the stadium.In recent weeks Don Lockerbie, venue development director of the CWC, repeatedly expressed concerns over the proposed 15,000-seat facility.When asked about the situation, Lockerbie was direct. “It’s the one stadium we have concerns over as we reach 200 days to go”, he said at the Hilton Barbados. “The stadium will not be complete in legacy format. We are doing everything we can to get ready.”We want to make sure that pre-tournament matches remain in Trinidad and we are working with the local organising committee and the government to get it done. We are considering all options. It took some time to get the master plan in place to have the stadium ready in its most effective state. The time span affected the CWC schedule, but we are confident that with GL Events coming in, all will be ready.”Lockerbie added: “We have some issues in every territory, as we are still not precisely where we want to be with pitches and fields, but that’s one area we can catch up on.”

Scorecard

Sussex surged to their second Championship title before lunch on the third day at Trent Bridge, led by Mushtaq Ahmed’s magic career-best haul of 9 for 48 which carried him past the 100-wicket mark. For a moment Mushtaq threatened to take all ten, but that was about the only honour that eluded a Sussex player.Mushtaq, though, was quick to turn the attention away from his performance: “It’s not an individual game it’s a team game and you can’t win things on your own. We are a united team and credit goes to everyone.”The bowling and batting has been so good, Jason Lewry has taken wickets, James Kirtley has bowled well. I can name everyone from the management point of view to the supporters – this is a family club and everyone plays for each other.”We had good plans and we had belief and it paid off. I would like to thank the Sussex staff and all my team-mates, they are about me like a family.Chris Adams praised his side’s efforts over a long season and said the title was nothing less than they deserved. “It’s a magnificent feeling to do the double. 2006 is Sussex’s year, we’ve won it because we were the best team.”It was hard because it has come down to the wire. Notts are a good side and to break them down was tough. In the end it came down to a good toss, which we won, the Richard Montgomerie and Michael Yardy battled brilliantly on the first day when we were nervous then Mushtaq did the rest.”Bad light and drizzle delayed the start by 45 minutes, but there was so much time remaining that all it did was keep the champagne on ice for a few moments longer. Once play started, the ball went straight to Mushtaq, although he took a few overs to crank his weary body into gear. The end of the season has been a battle of mind of matter for Mushtaq.He was helped along the way by some shocking stokeplay from a disinterested homeside. David Hussey failed to pick a googly – certainly not the first – but Samit Patel’s slog across the line was an insult to his tag of professional cricketer.Mushtaq had six wickets in six overs and the prospect of a 10-for was looming. James Kirtley put an end to that dream when he brought one back into Paul Franks.No one, though, was going to deny Mushtaq a century and when Ryan Sidebottom missed a sweep the Sussex team converged to celebrate the masterful legspinner. It is the second time in four seasons he has taken 100 wickets, following his haul in the previous Championship-winning campaign of 2003.Mushtaq duly wrapped up the tail by trapping Mark Ealham and Andy Harris in front to spark the celebrations. Sussex closed for a team huddle before Mushtaq lead them off, arms aloft.Moments before getting his hands on the trophy, Adams made special mention of their coach Mark Robinson: “The team go out there and get the trophies and medals, but there are a huge number of people working off the field to help us and they deserve it just as much.”

On a sultry Mumbai afternoon, the cop-turned-fast-bowler Shane Bond hit the sluggish wicket at the suburban ground trying to hunt down a few weapons that had slipped from his grasp during the lengthy recuperation period from a back injury. Rhythm, pace, line, and length. Especially rhythm, the others usually come as free accessories with it. He left the arena a tired man, still in search of them.Only three balls beat the bat in his first spell that yielded 26 runs in five overs. The first one kicked up from a length to bruise the right hand, the second whizzed past the outside edge after landing on a length, and the third got an edge, but flew to the third-man fence, when the batsman tried to force a short-of-a-length delivery. Though he was more fluent in later spells he didn’t look threatening at any stage. But New Zealand would not have expected any miracle from him on this slow pitch and would be satisfied that he had clocked some miles under his belt.Faces peered eagerly through the fence at the far end as Bond, sporting a black wristband on his left hand, ran in 13 paces before arching back his upper body to release the ball. However, today, it didn’t usually land where he wanted. First over was spent in search of both line and length as he threaded on either side of the wicket, sometimes short, sometimes full. However, he ended it with a snorter that hurt the right hand of Rishikesh Parab, the plucky opening bat. Maybe Bond has found his rhythm now and will dismantle the first-class batsmen from Baroda. It was not to be. His next ball was slashed over point by Parab. Hmm… a bouncer or a yorker, now, surely? A length ball followed and Parab took a single off the next.At the start of the third over Vettori, the captain, moved out the second slip to gully. A gully and a point were now in place. In better times, Bond would have kicked it up from short of a length outside the off stump, got an edge out of the startled batsman and either the gully or point would have come into play. He attempted straightway but to Bond’s surprise, it flew off the middle of the bat and sailed over backward point. Parab had reproduced a Virender Sehwag special. There was a buzz around the arena. Now we had a real contest on the cards. Unsurprisingly, a bouncer followed. Parab calmly swayed away. Then another one, banged in short, was punched down on the off side. A fullish one was served up next which was driven powerfully and if not for an agile cover, it would have been a four.Vettori ran across to hand over the goggles and a pat on the back as Bond trudged back to his fine-leg position to attend to his end-over ritual. Some chilled water would go down the throat, some down the back of his neck and he would then grab a towel to wipe his perspiration away. The heat was truly on.Early in his next over, Parab edged a short-of-a-length delivery to the thirdman fence to produce a shake of the head from the bowler. The next one flew at the throat of Parab who swayed away quickly. A couple of balls later Parab tried to whip a ball on the legs to the on side but got a leading edge that fell short of mid-off. That ball didn’t deserve a wicket but neither was lady luck smiling on the tired fast bowler. A series of balls that were banged in short of length were served up in the next over, all of which was pushed away without any fuss. Off his penultimate ball of the spell, Bond sent one full and on the middle and leg, hoping to trap an lbw decision but it was nonchalantly flicked past the square-leg. And that was that.When he came back for his second spell in the 34th over, he operated on two lengths – bouncers and just short of driveable length. He even attempted a yorker, his first of the day, in his eight over.However the dark clouds cleared for him even as the sun was setting in the western sky. Off the penultimate ball of the 47 th over, his ninth, he finally got one to pitch full and just short of driveable length to clean up a tailender. He looked more relieved than happy as he slowly halted his follow-through, came to a stop somewhere in the middle of the pitch and just stood silently. His team-mates, however, realised the importance of the wicket and ran towards him to high-five. Slowly, the hand stretched out and the tired lips spread into a smile. Bond had found his first clue and his hunt will continue another day.

Mahela Jayawardene made no excuses after his team was shot out for only 141 and lost to South Africa by 78 runs, virtually ruling them out of a spot in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy. Instead, he complimented the South Africans on their bowling performance. “The wicket had something in it for the fast bowlers. It was definitely good bowling from South Africa,” said Jayawardene at the post-match press conference. “They bowled to a good line and length and kept the pressure on us. It is not that the batsmen played bad shots and got out. But none of us could stay at the wicket for any length of time.”However, Sri Lanka are still hanging on to the slender hope that Pakistan can win their matches against South Africa and New Zealand – and do so convincingly – bringing a three-way tie into place for the second semifinal spot and reducing it to a matter of net run rates.Graeme Smith, for his part, did not specifically think that this was a good toss to lose. “It was still a good wicket to chase on. With the dew it was difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball and bowl,” he said. “We always knew that 220-230 was a good total and we wanted to knock a few over in the first fifteen overs. There was a bit of juice for the first 10 overs and Makhaya [Ntini] and Shaun [Pollock] bowled really well and got us the important breakthroughs. After that everyone got aggressive and we kept the pressure on them till the end.”The combined performance of Ntini, Pollock and Nel – they picked up seven wickets between them – meant that there was no need for Smith to even use Robin Peterson, the young left-arm spinner. “It was going to be very difficult for him to bowl after the ball had got wet in the dew,” explained Smith. “The fast bowlers were bowling really well. It was a risk to keep bowling the pacers because we would run out of them by the 40th over. But luckily it paid off.”Smith also suggested that it was the preparation that the South Africans had done in the days leading up to the game, combined with the manner in which they executed their plans, that made all the difference on the day. “We wanted to win the first 30-35 overs of the [second] innings because we had done a lot of homework and knew that Sri Lanka score a lot of runs during that period,” he said. “It was important for us to get people like Sanath early. Makhaya and Shaun bowled really well first up and Nel continued from where they left off.”The ageless Shaun Pollock, who walked away with the Man of the Match award for his superb spell of 10-0-21-2, said South Africa’s success was not a result merely of his own efforts, but also that of his new-ball partner, Makhaya Ntini. “We were really good together,” he said in typically understated fashion. “We had looked at videos in the last few days and sorted out the areas where we wanted to bowl to them. It was good that we carried out the plans we had devised. After myself and Makhaya did our bit, Nel also did his job. It was great for us that he managed to dismiss [Marvan] Atapattu with a great delivery in his first over because Atapattu is the kind of batsman who can play the anchor.”

VVS Laxman was delighted with the efforts of his pace bowlers, who set up the 96-run victory over Rest of South Africa with an inspired showing on the second morning, but admitted that the batting continued to be a worry as India head into the first Test of the series at Johannesburg in less than a week’s time. With Rahul Dravid almost certain to return for that game, Laxman could look back with immense satisfaction on a job well done as captain.”All of them bowled well, according to the plans we had discussed at the team meetings,” he said, when asked to assess the pace trio. “They bowled the length we needed to bowl and they hit the right areas. It will give them a lot of confidence heading into the first Test.”He said that the weather had played its part in the declaration on the second morning. “We were looking to bat on after the first day,” he said. “But with the overnight rain and the moisture on the pitch, we decided to make use of that.”All the bowlers impressed, but there was a special mention for VRV Singh, who returned figures of 5 for 76 in his first game in South Africa. “He bowled amazingly well,” said Laxman. “He was the quickest of the lot, and showed lots of energy and enthusiasm.”Irfan Pathan was man of the match for his first-innings century, but Laxman insisted that he would primarily be picked as a bowler. And on that front, the news wasn’t quite so heartening, with the Rest of South Africa batsmen singling him out for heavy punishment in both innings. “He’s going through a lean patch as a bowler, but the way he batted was just amazing,” he said. “You have to give credit to him. The hard work is beginning to pay off. The partnership between him and Sourav [Ganguly] put us in a position of strength.”The batting woes were glossed over – “No doubt it’s a big issue, but having achieved a 96-run victory gives the team a lot of confidence” – and he expressed his disappointment at not having made a big score himself. “I was playing well in both innings,” he said. “I was middling the ball, and I’m happy that I was able to occupy the crease for quite some time. Unfortunately, I didn’t carry on. When you play in Australia and South Africa, it’s very important that once you get in, you go on to get a big score.”Both Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag had poor outings, but Laxman said that it was too early to press the panic button when it came to the opening slots. “Both are world-class players, and we’re confident that they’ll come good in the first Test,” he said. “So far, we haven’t thought about tweaking the batting order.”Jacques Rudolph, who led Rest of South Africa, was downcast at the manner of the defeat, especially after Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Justin Kemp had rattled the Indians with a rollicking century partnership. “We had them on the rails at one stage,” he said, “but a silly run-out stopped our momentum.”

Morne Morkel rocked the Indian top order in the first innings, and it was Alfonso Thomas’s turn in the second, and Rudolph said that pre-match plans on the bowling front had been satisfactorily implemented. “Before the game, I told the guys that the way we bowl will send a message through to the Test matches. In both innings, we had them 90 for 5 or so, and had we not dropped a catch [van Jaarsveld dropped Ganguly] in the first innings, it could have been 100 for 6. I think the South African side will be looking forward to bowling to them.”When asked about Zaheer Khan, who carried his excellent one-day form into this game, Rudolph said: “You can clearly see that he’s leading the attack. He has the experience and the skill, and he gets it in good areas. He’ll be a man to watch.” He wasn’t quite so kind though when asked about the various on-field incidents, which had seen parts of the game played in a heated atmosphere not usually found at tour matches.”Sometimes it’s a bit of stupidity,” he said. “The inexperience of Sreesanth showed at times. Hopefully, he can back it up in the Test matches with the ball in hand, and not necessarily his mouth.” As far as India are concerned though, they won’t care what their bowlers mouth off, as long as they bowl as they did here. A few runs from the batsmen would help too.

A team of Royal Marines were emphatically beaten today by the Afghan National Army, in a match to celebrate New Year and Eid.Members of 45 Commando Group, who are currently based in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, were bowled out for a paltry 56 in 14 overs. Their opponents knocked off the required runs in just 12 overs.”The skill level of the Afhans was brilliant,” Lt Rob Cooper told . “We soon realised we were in trouble when they opened the bowling.”Afghanistan enjoyed a successful tour of England last summer – their first – in which they also beat the Officer Cadets of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. Cricket is enjoying a boom in Afghanistan, ever since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001, thanks to the refugees bringing the sport home from the camps in Pakistan. The game continues to be well supported by the government and has spread to over 16 provinces, where it was once banned by the Taliban to just four.”Obviously, we were disappointed to lose as badly as we did,” added Cooper, “but we still managed to enjoy the encounter. It certainly provided a good break from the operational work being done on a daily basis out here.”

Just before leaving for Canada’s trip to Kenya, national coach Andy Pick passed on some of his thoughts. Overall he was upbeat and looking forward to a busy tour.”As time ticks down to the World Cup, we have to look at and identify roles for the personnel in this team; to see who fills each role best. The importance of the World Cricket League with a Twenty20 Championship place in to be won (and the $250,000 from the ICC that goes with it) means we must go out and try to win. We can’t use this event to experiment with players.”Some of the Associate coaches control player selections, but this is not the case in Canada. Pick admitted: “It is frustrating that we cannot name our World Cup squad now (before the WCL trip). Time might be spent on a player or players in Kenya who are not named for the World Cup. It’s very frustrating, but the bottom line is it is very prestigious to qualify for the Twenty20.”Looking beyond the Kenya squad, he said: “there are a couple of the overseas batters not available for Kenya who are likely to be in the World Cup squad.” I am sure he was thinking in terms of opener Geoff Barnett (contracted to Central Districts) and Ian Billcliff (personal reasons – his wife is expecting a baby).””We can look at the encouraging performances in South Africa and look to players to step up again and look for continuing improvement through to the World Cup.”12 of the 13 named for South Africa are in the 15-man squad for the Tri-Nations and WCL series in Kenya. Given limited facilities for other players to prepare adequately, especially those outside the Greater Toronto area, it seems imperative for the core squad to do at least as well in Kenya as in South Africa.That still leaves some additional steps to climb when it comes to the likes of New Zealand and even England. But the core players have been working hard and, in my opinion, deserve their chance at the World Cup. Even so, there may be some disappointments for some of the current squad when it comes to the World Cup.

The ICC chief executives’ committee has recommended a change in the playing conditions so that only the match referee can terminate a match and not, as is the case at present, the on-field umpires.The proposal, which came after a two-day meeting of the committee in the UAE, will be considered by the full ICC board when it next meets in March.The meeting also considered a range of issues relating to anti-doping, and agreed that the ICC should take an active role in monitoring the anti-doping programs of its members.The review came in the light of the Oval Test last August when Mike Procter’s role in events that led to the abandonment of the match was criticised in a number of quarters. Procter seemed a virtual bytstander on the fourth afternoon of the game.”It’s often perceived that the referee is an official of a type used in many other sports,” said Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager – cricket. “The reality is that [he] is the ‘chief executive’ of an international cricket match who is responsible for liaising with the teams, the boards, the venue and other stakeholders to ensure the smooth running of a match.”It is therefore suggested that while the on-field role of the umpires shall not be undermined, the referee should have the final say on the termination of a match.”