The Chairman of the Tasmanian Cricket Association, Denis Rogers AO was honoured in a private ceremony at Bellerive Oval on Saturday 1st November 2003.The Chairman’s Room, Board Room and Viewing Area at Bellerive has been re-named the "Denis Rogers Suite" in honour of Mr.Rogers’ contribution to Tasmanian, Australian and International cricket.Mr. Rogers’ family, friends and close associates, attended the function.In unveiling the plaque to re-name the room, Brent Palfreyman, Deputy Chairman (TCA) spoke with enormous warmth and respect as he outlined the vast contribution made by Mr. Rogers.Mr.Rogers said in response; "It is always one of the greatest honours that can be bestowed upon someone, being recognised in your own State and I feel very humble."He paid tribute to his family, friends and acknowledged the hard work of all those involved throughout his long career as a cricket administrator.Denis Rogers AO was appointed to the TCA Committee of Management/Board of Directors in June 1986 and elected Chairman in July 1986.Denis has been instrumental in a number of landmark actions including:

• The restructure of Tasmanian cricket in 1991.
• International cricket coming to Tasmania.
• Securing Tasmania’s 1st Test match in December 1989.
• Securing Commonwealth and State Government support to enable the re-development of Bellerive Oval.

Denis was elected as Tasmania’s representative to the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) from 1989 to 2002. During that time he served with distinction as Chairman for two three-year terms from 1996 to 2002.He is recognised as a national leader in sporting administration and has made significant contributions to the advancement of World cricket.

Lance Klusener’s hopes of being recalled to the South African side were dashed when he was not included in the squad for the first Test against West Indies at Johannesburg, which starts on Friday (Dec 12). There was also no room for Paul Adams and Boeta Dippenaar, both of whom played in the second Test against Pakistan in October.Omar Henry, the convener of selectors, explained that Adams had recovered from injury but it was not felt that the conditions at the Wanderers would suit him. He added that Dippenaar had “shown fantastic form in both international and domestic limited-overs cricket, but his form at Test level has been patchy. Having said that, Boeta is certainly not by any means completely out of our plans for the future.”Gary Kirsten, whose wife is expecting the couple’s first baby any day, will make a decision on Monday about his availability. Should he withdraw, Martin van Jaarsveld will play in his place.As for Klusener, he didn’t even come close according to insiders, despite turning in some good performances for KwaZulu-Natal this season. The general feeling was that he had not done enough to warrant his inclusion.Henry also said that Mfuneko Ngam would join the squad for the three days leading up to the Test before returning home at the start of the match. “Mfuneko has shown signs of returning to his best form this season,” Henry explained. “The selectors feel that he would benefit from being involved with the squad.”The one surprise was the inclusion of Garnett Kruger, a 26-year-old right-arm fast bowler from Gauteng, although his good performances for South Africa A helped his cause. “Garnett will benefit from being involved in the national team set-up,” said Henry. “We are continuing to broaden our search for quality fast bowlers, and we are giving ourselves every chance of finding the right mix.”South African squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Gary Kirsten, Jacques Rudolph, Martin van Jaarsveld, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Robin Peterson, Garnett Kruger, Makhaya Ntini, André Nel.

Adam Gilchrist: up off his sickbed © Getty Images

Steve Waugh has dropped a hint that Stuart MacGill is likely to be named in Australia’s XI for the first Test against India at Brisbane which starts tomorrow (Thursday).Although the Gabba track is green and widely expected to favour the seamers, Waugh argued that it was vital to have a balanced attack. And he added that MacGill will still get turn even on a grassy pitch.Waugh’s views were shared by Kevin Mitchell, the groundsman, who said there was a “real good even grass coverage” that should produce “good bounce and pace”. But he added that there would be enough in the pitch for the spinners.MacGill’s inclusion would probably mean that Nathan Bracken would be left out of the side.Australia were boosted by the sight of Adam Gilchrist at training after he missed Tuesday’s session because of a viral infection. “He’s a bit run-down but he should be fine,” Errol Alcott, the team’s physiotherapist, told reporters.And Brett Lee joined in the practice, although he is unlikely to be fit until the third Test. He has recovered from strained stomach muscles and ankle surgery, and will make his return for New South Wales at the weekend.Australia (probable): 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Simon Katich, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Andy Bichel, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11 Brad Williams.

The WA Selectors today released a 14-man Retravision Warriors squad for the ING and Pura Cup matches against News South Wales beginning this week.Left-arm fast-bowler Michael Clark has been included in the squad and is in line to play his first match of the season.Clark has been hampered by chronic back complaints since the middle of 2003 but has now fully recovered. He has been bowling for Subiaco-Floreat in the Vodafone Cup and declared himself fit for selection for the NSW fixtures.Clark was the Warriors leading wicket-taker in the Pura Cup last season with 38 wickets.The Retravision Warriors 14-man ING and Pura Cup SquadJustin Langer (C), Michael Hussey (VC), Jo Angel, Ryan Campbell, Beau Casson, Michael Clark, Ben Edmondson, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Scott Meuleman, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, John Taylor and Paul Wilson.The ING Cup team will be finalised at Warriors training on Monday evening. Details of training will be released tomorrow morning.The ING Cup match starts at 2.30pm this Wednesday with gates opening at 1.30pm. The Pura Cup match starts this Friday at 11am with gates opening at 10am.Ball by ball coverage of each match will be available on ABC 720AM and Radio Fremantle 107.9FM. 882 6PR will provided a comprehensive score update service.The first innings of the ING Cup match will be broadcast live on Access 31. The coverage will begin at 2.00pm and end at 6.00pm.

Simon Jones’s hopes of making the full England tour of the West Indies will be given their most serious test yet this weekend when the A side begin their first-class leg in India.Jones, who is currently on standby for the Caribbean, is likely to play in the four-day game against Tamil Nadu at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, which begins tomorrow.Since Jones tore his cruciate ligaments in the Brisbane Test in November 2002, he has been on the sidelines working his way back to fitness. He suffered stiffness after bowling only 13 overs in two matches in Malaysia before the team arrived in India.However, after plenty of treatment to get fit for the final two one-dayers of the three-match series with India A, he bowled at about 90% of his full pace without further discomfort.”We were being cautious and didn’t expect any reaction,” insisted Stuart Osbourne, England A’s physio. “He’s good as gold.”

Sri Lanka’s coach, John Dyson, had his chin up as he spoke about the team’s performance in the first one-dayer. But he felt that the dismissals of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana were a bad setback. “I thought we did a terrific job to restrict them to 262 after their start on what was a good wicket,” Dyson said. “It was a great tragedy though to lose both Sanath and Romesh like we did at the start. They’re the kind of players you want to hang around for a few overs. We’re not too disappointed, though. Mahela and Kumar batted well and so did Dilshan. It’s just a shame that the lower order couldn’t stay with him any longer.””We came back well after the initial assault and 250-odd on this track was very gettable,” Marvan Atapattu said, sharing Dyson’s views about the loss of the openers. “We had a shocking start though and never recovered from that loss. It was a tragedy because we know the firepower that they have. Australia played really well and are a very good side. They did very little wrong and bowled extremely well. We will have to consider our line-up for the next game and make sure we minimise our mistakes.”

Michael Vaughan"It still hasn’t sunk in. It’s just an amazing achievement. It’s all down to a lot of hard work going back before Christmas. There’s also a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Duncan Fletcher, the coach, and Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, have been great, as have the physios and the masseuse. I’m also pleased for the five guys who didn’t play. They’ve put in a lot of hard work. It was a team effort.""We were looking down the barrel yesterday, but a great innings from Graham Thorpe got us back in the game. I’m delighted for Matthew Hoggard too. To get a hat-trick in Barbados is something special and to finish the game in three days with 10 to 20,000 Brits behind us was fantastic."Graham Thorpe"It probably rates second behind my hundred at The Oval [against South Africa last summer] on my comeback. This is as good as it gets, we’ve played well as a team with a good blend of youth and experience. To get a hundred at Barbados is a fantastic achievement. I was grateful to them [Simon Jones and Stephen Harmison] for helping me to my hundred. All in all, it was a great team effort."Brian Lara"We need to get back to the nets. Again we didn’t bat very well. We struggled with the ball swinging in and away from us and we need to work on it. We now have to regroup. The guys are in shock. We haven’t lost to England here for 36 years and the guys will be hurting. We need to get it together and get going in Antigua."

Rahul Dravid has been in fine form all series. Shutting out one end or pushing for runs, Dravid has shown the ability to change gear and control the tempo of the game. On the eve of the final match, he was relaxed and composed, and looked forward to yet another thriller. Yousuf Youhana and both coaches also faced the press:

Rahul Dravid: “I hope their bowlers will continue giving us extras!”© AFP

Rahul Dravid
On losing in tournament finals
The fact is that we lost to Australia in these encounters. They are the best in the world, but we are proud that we made it to finals so many times. We are trying to improve – in the last match here on Sunday, we bowled well and I am confident that we will improve further.On the fact that the last match is a virtual final
We want to win, though I will not call it a final. It is a last match of the five-match series, and because we are level at 2-2 it becomes important.On whether the Indians were focussing on Pakistan’s strengths or weaknesses
Well, we are not focusing on what they are doing. We are focussing on our weak and strong points. Our bowlers bowled well in the first 15 overs in the last match, but we gave away too many runs in the last ten overs. This is the area of concern and we are trying to improve upon it.On the importance of the toss
If we don’t win the toss, it is not going to make much difference. I did not notice much dew when we were batting second on Sunday. Dew here is less than what we have seen and played under in places like Chandigarh and Cuttack. In Cuttack the ball had turned into soap, that is not the case here.On Tendulkar’s non-performance in finals
It is not a question of one individual. We all have not done well [at times]. We play so much one-day cricket nowadays that not getting runs in two or three matches is not surprising. Sachin, being a high-profile player, gets more attention – but others also fail.On Pakistan’s bowlers
They come hard at us but we are not complaining. They have conceded a large number of extras. More extras help us, and I hope they will continue giving them to us!On whether India missed Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh
We do miss bowlers of the experience of Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan and to some extent Srinath [retired]. Their absence pushes us back, but that is no excuse. In international cricket you have to take such things in your stride.On why Zaheer Khan was being used as first-change
Zaheer is a good bowler and has done well as a third bowler, but why we are using him as third bowler is a matter of tactics and strategy, which I cannot explain. This may not be a satisfactory answer, but it is like that.On whether India are overwhelming favourites
Definitely not. We never thought we were favourites, leave aside overwhelming favourites. We have no illusions about ourselves. We know our strengths and weaknesses.On the wider importance of this game and this series
From the players’ point of view it is only the game. We go to play and win. This is our objective and we are focussed. We are not carrying any baggage. We will try to win the series.Pakistan’s vice-captain Yousuf Youhana
On whether there would be a change in the bowling attack
I don’t think we will make any change. They [the seamers] have done their job well, though wides and no-balls remain the area of concern. I am sure they will get over this problem. We are not missing Saqlain [Mushtaq], in the sense that Shoaib Malik is bowling well and besides that is also a good fielder and a useful batsman. I see no point in making a change for the sake of change.On whether there was extra pressure because Shahid Afridi had not delivered
I don’t think so, because in Rawalpindi he [Afridi] made things easy for the team and me. He is a batsman who can change the complexion of the game in few overs.On Shoaib Akhtar’s fitness
He is fit. There is no problem with him. He is a matchwinner and I am confident he will deliver tomorrow.Pakistan’s coach Javed Miandad
On Sunil Gavaskar’s comment that the Indians were chokers
I hope they continue that way [laughs]. We never underestimate the opposition. Let us see what happens tomorrow.On the Pakistan batting
I never expected my team to do so well in batting. India have been playing well and put up a commendable show in Australia recently.On the series
I have played long enough and seen matches all over the world, but I can say with authority that never before has such a series been played. So far it has been good and positive cricket, but tomorrow is a crucial game and I am sure the boys know the importance of the game. Everybody is looking forward to this match.On the fact that Pakistan’s bowlers have gone for runs in this series
The Pakistani fast bowlers are the best in the world. The series is not over yet and we have a long way to go. So it is too early to predict about the series or comment on the bowlers.On the big scores in this series
This is now the trend all over. The wickets tend to help batsmen. The Indians played on different wickets in New Zealand, which were criticised all over, and even New Zealand admitted that those pitches were not up to standard. There are no such tracks here. The runs have been scored and chased. It has been a thrilling and entertaining cricket, though I admit that bowlers have suffered.India’s coach John Wright
On the importance of this series
Winning a series in Pakistan will be a big achievement for India, because India has never won a series in Pakistan.On the extra pressure of playing against Pakistan
It is not an ordinary series, and also playing in Pakistan puts a lot of pressure on the players, but so far they have withstood the pressure well.On India’s fast bowlers
Of course, there are various opinions that India has a tradition of producing world-class spinners, but no-one can say the same about fast bowlers. I think that this impression has to change, and the young fast bowlers have to change this thought-process. I am sure the Board of Control for Cricket in India will take a note of this.On what he expected from his team
I can tolerate lack of performance but I will not tolerate lack of effort. I have no time for people who fail to prepare for an innings, and also do not have the energy to sustain a fightback. I have great difficulty with short-cuts and cannot compromise on effort.On what he was thinking when India were 95 for 4 in the last match
It is irrelevant what I was thinking. The players spoke to each other and discussed the great wins they had in the recent past. There was a self-belief in the camp that they would actually make it in the end.On the efforts of Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif
I am always in favour of taking people with big hearts and courage in the team. I am also glad that some of the players have the elements to do well consistently. If you are working with the team, you know who can work under pressure and who can come out successfully. The greatest frustration is when the selection panels do not listen to these views and sometimes ignore them.On India being a side in transition
We are only halfway through the process of making a world-champion side. We still need to improve a lot. The good news is that the boys are extremely hungry for success. They share a very cordial relationship among themselves. The senior players, the captain and the other members in the side are always together, and make an effort to extend helping hands to each other. In other words, we keep it very simple.

Sri Lanka 456 for 7 (Atapattu 170, Jayasuriya 157) lead Zimbabwe 199 by 257 runs
Scorecard

Sanath Jayasuriya: raced to his 12th Test hundred© AFP

Sri Lanka, as expected, took little mercy on Zimbabwe’s inexperienced bowlers on the second day of the first Test at Harare. The highlight was a superb opening stand of 277 between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, who both passed 150. But it did not go all Sri Lanka’s way, as Zimbabwe had a few surprises for their middle order in the final session. However, Sri Lanka closed a good day’s work on 456 for 7.Atapattu and Jayasuriya provided the backbone of Sri Lanka’s innings. They batted throughout the morning session and Zimbabwe were firmly on the back foot. But just as minds started to wander about record team and individual scores, Zimbabwe did at least gain some pride as the last four wickets of the day fell for only 27 runs.The opening pair chose to compile their total by steady accumulation rather than the explosive power for which Jayasuriya, in particular, is renowned. He reached his half-century from 56 balls, and it took him only another 34 to reach his 12th Test hundred. In that time, he suddenly decided to erupt when in the 70s, hitting Mluleki Nkala for 18 in one over and racing to his hundred off only 90 balls.Atapattu was not to be overshadowed, and in a less spectacular way he too began to accelerate after reaching his half-century, having been dropped on 43. He made Zimbabwe pay, reaching his 13th Test ton in the last over before lunch. Accuracy of bowling may have saved this Zimbabwe team from too much pain during the one-day series, but it was proving totally inadequate on a good pitch against quality batsmen with time on their hands.It was Tatenda Taibu, the captain, who surprisingly made the breakthrough after he handed over the wicketkeeping duties to Alester Maregwede and came on to bowl. Jayasuriya hit his first ball past midwicket for four, but perhaps a touch of complacency set in as he misjudged the third ball and played an indeterminate shot which lobbed off his gloves to Douglas Hondo in the gully (281 for 1). His 157 came off only 147 balls, including 28 fours and three sixes.Kumar Sangakkara, the most successful batsman on tour until now, may have been hindered by his long wait, as he had made only 11 when he top-edged a sweep off Stuart Matsikenyeri’s occasional offspin to give Taibu an easy catch at backward square leg (312 for 2).Taibu should have taken the gloves back, as Maregwede dropped both Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene shortly before tea. But after the interval, the bowlers rocked the Sri Lankan middle order, due partly to their own efforts, and partly from complacency by the batsmen.

Douglas Hondo: took the big wicket of Marvan Atapattu© AFP

Jayawardene was the first to go, pulling a short ball from Elton Chigumbura a little carelessly directly to Prosper Utseya at midwicket for 37 (369 for 3). Shortly afterwards, Zimbabwe took the second new ball which triggered a minor collapse. With his fourth ball of a new spell, Hondo took the prized wicket of Atapattu for 170, clean bowling him as he played a loose shot without any footwork. However, it was a magnificent innings of 170 from 253 balls, including 24 fours.Tinashe Panyangara then chipped in with two wickets in quick succession. Good outswingers accounted for Thilan Samaraweera, caught behind by Taibu (399 for 5), and Prasanna Jayawardene, who was bowled (403 for 6). Tillakaratne Dilshan then fell in the same manner as Mahela Jayawardene, pulling a short ball from Blessing Mahwire straight to Utseya at midwicket (414 for 7).Although Sri Lanka were by that stage over 200 runs ahead, play continued as if Zimbabwe were on top, with Chaminda Vaas and Farveez Maharoof playing very carefully before the close.

Shaharyar Khan is being asked some tough questions© AFP

Testifying in front of a senate committee instituted to look into Pakistan’s failure in both the Test and one-day international series against India, Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman said that while Inzamam-ul-Haq was a decent man, he lacked inspirational qualities. Shaharyar, Rameez Raja, the chief executive, and Wasim Bari, the chairman of the selection panel, testified for several hours in front of the committee.”The Indians played to their true potential while our strong point which was bowling let us down and our team was found to be lacking in unity and national spirit, especially in the Tests,” said Shaharyar, offering his views on the debacle. “We lost narrowly; however we have reviewed our cricketing failures and the PCB advisory council will analyse these further.” Pakistan lost the one-day series 3-2 and the Test series 2-1.”I do not want to give excuses and as chairman I accept full responsibility,” said Shaharyar. “I admit there were faults.”When the members asked how the media was able to predict the results of the matches quite accurately, Shaharyar ruled out match-fixing. “The ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit was here during the series and they gave us a clean sheet. There was no evidence of match-fixing,” he said.Rameez came under fire for continuing to do television commentary despite holding a full-time job at the PCB. “You cannot go on doing commentary and be the chief executive at the same time,” said Muhammed Enver Baig, a Pakistan Peoples Party senator, and pointed to the clause in the PCB constitution which says that the chief executive has to work full time. But, Rameez was quick to counter that. “Cricket is my bread and butter and besides I am not contracted by any company; also I have dropped my commentary assignments a number of times when there is work to be done in the PCB.”The three office bearers of the PCB were asked to submit their explanations in writing. The senate committee will meet again in Lahore or Karachi to review the submissions of the board.