Former New Zealand captain Lee Germon may return to first-class cricket this summer.Germon, who led the State Otago Volts in last summer’s domestic one-day series, is under some pressure to be available for the four-dayers this year.He will turn out next week for Otago in a four-day match against the New Zealand Academy side at Lincoln next week.The match is important for several reasons. It will give the Otago players a rare early chance to get some match play on grass while from a New Zealand perspective the game is part of all-rounder Chris Cairns’ rehabilitation from knee surgery.Otago coach Glenn Turner is keen for both sides to get the most from the match and there is likely to be flexibility regarding its day-to-day operation. For example, if both sides have been bowled out over the first three days there is then the option to play a one-day game.And Turner will be interested in the form of three of the Academy players as well as his own selection with the McCullum brothers, Nathan and Brendon, and Warren McSkimming all lining up for the Academy XI.The match will be played at Lincoln from October 2-5.The State Otago Volts squad for the game will be: Lee Germon (captain), Martyn Croy, Craig Cumming, Chris Gaffaney, Mike Hesson, Andrew Hore, Nathan Morland, Shayne O’Connor, Craig Pryor, Bradley Scott, David Sewell, Jordan Sheed, Scott Waide. Dick Quirk and Evan Marshall have been bracketed due to fitness concerns.Unavailable due to injury or other commitments are James McMillan, Robbie Lawson, Kerry Walmsley and Mark Richardson, who will be involved in his own programme at the academy.

Six weeks ago, Manicaland all-rounder Gary Brent was out in the cold as far as international cricket was concerned, forgotten apparently by the selectors since the tour of England in 2000. Then, when all else failed, he was recalled to the national side for the one-day series against South Africa, and immediately became Zimbabwe’s most accurate and reliable bowler. He talks to John Ward about his return.I didn’t have a very bad tour of England, although I wouldn’t call it particularly good, but I came home to find I had been dropped. I couldn’t even get into the B side from then onwards. I played a couple of A games against West Indies and India, but that was all until I got my call-up against the South Africans, which was great.Before then, I was told the reason I was out of the B side [that plays in the UCBSA Bowl competition) was that they knew what I could do and they were using the B side as a platform to look at the younger players coming through. I found that disappointing because I could never prove myself playing club cricket.IN DOMESTIC CRICKETI thought I had a pretty good season in Logan Cup; I think I was fourth-highest wicket-taker and my batting was a lot better this year. I was really chuffed with it. Manicaland nearly pulled off a historic win against Mashonaland, which wasn’t to be, but we gave them a good run for their money. I love playing for Manicaland and there is a good bunch of lads there. It’s just a pity we couldn’t have pulled off a couple more wins.My best memory is of getting five wickets in that match against Mashonaland, getting out the big guys like Grant, Andy [the Flowers] and Alistair [Campbell]. Those are always the big wickets to get, and to get them all in one innings is great. We so nearly pulled off a win but in the end we lost by two wickets. Paul Strang I thought changed the game there – he came in and ran really well with Donald Campbell, and that partnership took victory from us after we looked like taking it.BACK AGAINST SOUTH AFRICAI was picked to play in the one-day A game against South Africa in Bulawayo, but we didn’t do very well and I got smashed out of the park. I got sent home after that one-dayer, and I thought, "Oh, well, obviously I won’t get a call-up." The South Africans came quite hard at our bowlers and all of us got hit.Then I found out I was in at practice on the Monday, and I was told I was in contention to open the bowling, which was something different, as I didn’t even do that for my club. So I was very apprehensive, especially about bowling with the new ball. I’d always bowled first change for OH, and to bowl front-up to Gibbs and Kirsten is quite difficult.We had a game plan that, with the Harare Sports Club pitch being so slow, I would just mix up my pace and bowl wicket to wicket, concentrating on just bowling straight. Those batsmen thrive on width, and that was what I did. I ended up tying up the openers and I thought I came out all right.AGAINST ENGLANDThe Sports Club pitch is very much suited to my type of bowling, and I was really chuffed to take one for 29 off ten overs in the first match against England. I enjoyed that performance; you can’t really play huge shots on this type of pitch because the ball doesn’t really come on to the bat. With my mixing of my pace, it really helps me.In the second game, though, I got smashed, although it was on the same pitch – I shouldn’t have gone for 47. But I bowled badly; I bowled both sides of the wicket and bowled a bit of width, and these guys just love width. The third match was a terrible day for me personally, 53 runs off eight overs. I should never have gone for that; I don’t know what happened there.Maybe we didn’t put enough runs on the board, but they came really hard at us and we had no answer for them in our bowling. Our spinners bowled well, but we are struggling with our seamers at the moment. We’ve got a lot of injuries and it’s just one of those things.When we came to the first one-dayer in Bulawayo, I wasn’t too disappointed; I thought I bowled nicely at the death and got the ball reverse-swinging, which is quite nice to see. I got Kirtley with probably one of the best yorkers I’ve ever bowled, which was really nice. I was chuffed with our performance then.Our batting unfortunately was not very good, but I enjoyed the last one-dayer. I set myself up to bat a bit of time there and I was feeling pretty good. I was dropped off Flintoff, but I enjoyed my batting [7 not out]. I bowled all right but didn’t do anything exceptional.I thought England played very well. We did drop a few catches at crucial times of certain games, but I thought they were a good side. I thought their new guy Collingwood played particularly well; hopefully he’ll be a good future bet for England. I thought they were a good all-round side; they outbatted us and outbowled us.OUR BOWLING PROBLEMSUnfortunately we had problems with our seam attack. My game plan throughout my career has been just to bowl straight; I’ve got no pace at all, even when I bowl my quicker balls! But I have been working on my slower ball, which is not a bad ball to bowl on a slower pitch. I’m also developing an off-cutting slower ball to the left-handers, and that seems to work for me.The thing was, if you bowl from wicket to wicket it was a lot easier because you couldn’t really blast them out. Travis [Friend] bowls very quickly and he just showed that as soon as you’re slightly off line to these world-class batsmen they hit you far.PROBLEMS ON THE PERIPHERYThe atmosphere in the changing room was obviously quite downbeat after our run of defeats, but that’s something we hope we’ll put right now. We’re having a week off, which is good for us, I think. We’ve lost twelve games on the trot and I’ve played in seven of them, so something’s got to change round for us.I think there are too many problems on the periphery of our cricket, off the field of play. I know we’re supposed to be professionals but I know it does get on the minds of a lot of players, which is sad. Everyone says we should put it behind us when we walk on the field, but when it’s your livelihood and when you’re earning a living from it and you don’t know what will happen from the first thing to the next, it’s difficult. Of seven games, I only had the same opening bowling partner as in the last match once.THE NEW COACHI don’t think our senior players are suffering from burnout with so much cricket, though, but I just hope the periphery things around us get sorted out, and as soon as they are, you’ll see, we’ll be a much more relaxed squad. There are a lot of things on our minds, but we have a new coach now, and I know he’ll change a few things. [Geoff Marsh] seems a very hard man, but a very good man, and I think that’s something we need. We need to get a bit tougher.I think he’ll do wonders for us. He doesn’t take any trouble from anybody; whether you’re a senior or a junior player you get treated the same, which is good. We need to get a bit of toughness back into our game, and he tells everybody what they should do, regardless of who they are.We have a week off this week, before we travel to Sharjah next Tuesday [23 October]. I think we need it to recharge our batteries, and personally I’m absolutely knackered! In that week, though, we have a swimming session today; tomorrow we’ve got a sprint session; Wednesday a gym session; Thursday another swim session; Friday another sprint session; that’s our week off! Our work ethic is going to change with Geoff in charge, so I don’t know what a full week is going to be like!RELATIONSHIPS WITH ENGLANDThere have been stories about problems between ourselves and the England players, but personally I think it’s just one on one. As a group I think they are quite a nice bunch of lads, and I got on very well with guys like Chris Silverwood and Matthew Hoggard; they’re nice guys. It was just some of their more senior players that we didn’t always get along with.It’s tough in the field and you don’t expect us to smile about everything. Foster, it’s his first tour and he started to chirp Andy Flower; with 180 caps behind him, he didn’t need to do that.`Kirtles’ [James Kirtley] has played for us before, and he came to OGs [Old Georgians] a couple of years ago, and played for Mashonaland when they played England. He’s always had a suspect action, if you want to call it that, but it’s not up to us. It really didn’t enter into our minds at all. It wasn’t a big thing in the changing room; we know he’s a good bowler.THE TOP ENGLISH PLAYERSI really think Nick Knight is a good player. He improvises very well and he was very consistent. Sometimes I thought he played a couple of rash shots when he didn’t need to, but he’s a good player and hopefully he’ll do well.Our game plan against the England openers was to get the ball right up there with Trescothick, which I did in the first game and nicked him off early. We didn’t do it as well after that; we didn’t get the ball in the right areas, and that’s why he scored runs. Nick Knight likes to drive, so we tried to get him on the back foot, but he cut and pulled well, and drove well off the back foot. We needed two different lengths to them, but the big thing was that it didn’t matter whether we bowled short or full – if you gave them width, you’re going to fetch it.That was the key. They’re good players and they hit the ball hard, and you go for four if the ball isn’t right.Ramprakash is also a very good player. In the third one-dayer he came in number three and took the game by the scruff of the neck, played a couple of superb shots. I just remember a couple of shots off me, and he did really well. I think he’s a very good player when he leaves his sweep behind!I think Flintoff has the makings of a good player, but I think mentally he’s not strong enough yet. He’s a very strong man and hits the ball particularly well, but he’s his own worst enemy. He gets above himself and a bit overconfident. He’s a bit like Andy Blignaut in that, but I think Andy Blignaut has a lot more talent than Flintoff has. It’s no fun bowling to him when he wants to hit you.MUSINGS ON BOWLINGIt was such a long time from when I last played a one-day international in England to this time, and from not playing at all to suddenly playing in one-dayers – it felt like a long time! I hadn’t been playing bad cricket since then, and I haven’t been playing wonderful cricket lately, so it was good to be back.Bryan Strang is another bowler similar to me; he hasn’t any pace at all but if you bowl a length and line, you’re always going to make batsmen struggle. Pommie Mbangwa is another; I’m surprised he’s been put on the rack. We’ve no bowlers as it is, with all these injuries; he’s played lots of Test matches and one-dayers and taken good wickets, so I don’t understand it.Just because we haven’t got pace doesn’t mean we can’t bowl, and now that Andrew Flower has started standing up to the wicket the batsmen can’t run down on us like they used to. I think it’s something to look at.Henry [Olonga] and Travis [Friend] are both aggressive bowlers who seem to be a bit off form at the moment, but when you’re bowling that sort of pace it’s much more difficult to get the ball in the right areas. And when the ball does come off the bat it seems to go that much further because you’re bowling so much quicker. The ball gets hit a lot harder.LOOKING FORWARDI’ve never been to Sharjah before, and I’m looking forward to it – if I go. Apparently the pitches there are slow, which is good for me. Against the Sri Lankans and the Pakistanis it will be a different kettle of fish. I’ve bowled well against the Sri Lankans before – that’s when I started my career and it really took off. I haven’t really done well against the Pakistanis but I’m really looking forward to it.

With the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka by the West Indies cricket teamless than two weeks away, and with concerns in the Caribbean high overthe safety of the West Indian players, assurances have been receivedby the sport’s governing body in the West Indies. These assuranceshave come from the Chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in SriLanka (BCCSL), the Chairman of BCCSL Mr. Vijaya Malalasekera.The BCCSL Chairman gave those assurances to the president of the WestIndies Cricket Board (WICB), Rev Wes Hall. The officials of bothcricket boards held bilateral discussions while attending the recentlyconcluded International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia. As a result of these discussions, the BCCSL chairman saidthat the BCCSL and the people of Sri Lanka will undertake measures toguarantee the safety and comfort of the West Indies cricket teamduring its tour to Sri Lanka scheduled for November to December 2001.The BCCSL officials have also informed the WICB that nationalelections have been announced for 5 December,2001, and, if required,match fixtures will be adjusted marginally to avoid interference withthe elections.Meanwhile, during joint discussions, President of the Zimbabwe CricketUnion (ZCU), Mr. Peter Chingoka, has assured the WICB that the ZCU issatisfied with the arrangements in place for team safety and the ZCUwill be participating in the Tri Nations One-Day Internationaltournament between Zimbabwe, West Indies and host country Sri Lanka,scheduled for December.The three countries will continue to liaise with each other to ensurethat player safety remains assured.

The rain arrived about an hour too late to save Victoria here today as New South Wales scored outright points in their Pura Cup cricket match at Punt Rd.The Blues finished on 3-117, chasing 115, thanks to a brisk 76-run stand between Test opener Michael Slater (58no) and Mark Higgs (32no) which rescued themfrom a shaky 3-41.Higgs scored the winning boundary under grey skies, about an hour before steady showers again returned.It was NSW’s second outright win of the summer, while the result left Victoria with no wins from three four-day and four one-day games so far this season andbottom place on the two competition tables.”I thought it (the weather) might have played a bit more of a part this afternoon, I was expecting a couple more showers,” said NSW captain Shane Lee.”We just had to go out there and try to play positively, but not too aggressively and throw too many wickets away – I was happy with the way it turned out.”More than an hour’s play was lost earlier today because of the rain, which caused several stoppages through the weekend.The grey weather matched the mood in the Victorian changerooms, where captain Matthew Elliott offered no excuses for his side’s poor form.He praised NSW, saying the Blues had out-bowled and out-batted his lineup, and added “you don’t need to be Einstein” to work out the Bushrangers needed somematch points quickly.But Elliott also stressed there was no point in last season’s Pura Cup runner-up panicking, saying the side had to concentrate on ball-by-ball play rather than trying to win again.In particular, he said Victoria had to hold more catches – Slater’s let-off when he was three today was a particularly costly miss.”I don’t know how much longer you can keep saying you’re on the verge of it (good form) if it doesn’t happen for you,” he said.”We have played a bit of cricket (this season) and guys have really got to stand up….we just don’t seem to have the spark we had in past years.”Victoria resumed on 4-69 this morning and reached 193, with Ian Harvey making 48 and Elliott, batting at No.7 because of a stomach virus over the last three days, reaching a top score of 50.Once again, no Victorian could build a big score after making a start.Opening bowler Stuart Clark snared 5-47, his second five-wicket bag of the season, while Stuart MacGill’s 4-54 gave him 8-125 for the match.Damien Fleming (3-34) gave Victoria a sniff of at least holding NSW until the rain returned when he picked up first-innings century makers Michael Bevan (10) and man-of-the-match Michael Clarke (second-ball duck) within three balls of his ninth over.But Slater and Higgs then combined to take the match to the fairest conclusion, given the Blues’ domination over the four days.

Somerset Chief Executive was relieved at the news that the problems surrounding to the forthcoming Test series against India had been resloved and the first Test match will get underway as planned on Monday December 3rd.Earlier this morning Mr Anderson had expressed his concerns over the retaliatory action that would inevitably follow any decision by England to pull out of the tour should the Indians select Virender Sehwag.The Chief told me, “the Somerset finances rely on 53% of what we need to run the club coming from the proceeds of international cricket. If there was to be no international cricket in England in 2002 the financial implications for the club would be serious.”Mr Anderson went on, “We are also waiting to see whether or not Richard Johnson has overtaken Jimmy Ormond and is selected for the first Test.”He continued,”Player availability and putting a competitive team into the field are issues that could arise should Richard Johnson establish himself in the England team. If he does then all to his credit, and we wouldn’t want to prevent that, but if it means Johnson and Caddick missing regularly then on paper our opening attack could look threadbare.”He went on, “that said it provides opportunity for Matt Bulbeck, Joe Tucker, Peter Trego and Simon Francis to stake a claim for a place which they must grab with both hands. Youngsters are always complaining about the lack of opportunity, now here is there chance.”The Chief Executive concluded, “if Ormond suddenly says that he is joining Somerset that will be a bonus, but that is looking increasingly unlikely.”

As a rampant Sri Lankan side romped to a predictable series win against Zimbabwe, captain Sanath Jayasuriya warned of tougher challenges ahead in 2002."Performing overseas is very important for us and we now have some tough series coming up against England and South Africa," he warned. "There is now a big responsibility on all of us to continue are success there.""You never know when the side will have a bad day but at the moment the team is on the way up, heading in the right direction and performing well," he added.Coach Dav Whatmore was delighted with the team’s newly found consistency: "We have always had the ability to be as good as anyone in the world, but in the past we would throw away Test matches with bad sessions and days."It’s reassuring, for the players and the Sri Lankan public, that we are now putting together consistent performances," he said."Admittedly, all seven wins have been made at home, but you can only beat the opposition put in front of you."Life is good at the moment and the players have the right to enjoy this victory.""Nevertheless, the players now that there are some greater examinations to come and their feet are firmly on the ground."We have set the objective of being in the top three Test teams and by an large we have achieved that – we now need to maintain it."Muttiah Muralitharan, the man of the match after his 13 for 115 match-haul, believes that the side can now be successful overseas."At home I think we are second only to Australia now, but we have to prove ourselves in England and South Africa," he said."I think we can seriously think of winning overseas because the side is playing as a team and a number of good fast bowlers are now coming through."Stuart Carlisle was also impressed by Sri Lanka, though he had reservations as to how they will fare overseas."They are a really good unit and have a balanced young side," said Carlisle. "However, it’s not easy to place them because all seven wins have been at home, where they are extremely hard to beat."The big test will be when they go overseas. In England and Australia where the ball moves around a bit off the seam I think they could be in a bit of trouble."He wished he had someone of the caliber of Muralitharan in his side."Murali is a world-class bowler," he said. "There are plenty of strategies about how to counter him, but at the end of the day he is very hard to play."I wonder what would have been the result if we had him in our side. He is a real asset for Sri Lanka and they should be really proud of him."Carlisle admitted it was difficult captaining a losing side and didn’t hide his disappointment with the team’s performance."It was very disappointing. There were a couple of careless shots but on the whole I think we were a bit too tentative and sometimes negative."In the bowling department we have got to learn from Sri Lanka. They bowled to a plan, were tight and got the ball to reverse swing. In contrast, we bowled far too many four balls."But I do think the talent is there. We have the players but not the self-belief."We now have to use the final Test as preparation for our tour to India and try to put together a decent first innings score."Jayasuriya appeared reluctant to make changes for the final Test."We need back-up players but we cant make any big changes because there is only one Test match left at home and we need to give the players as much confidence of possible," he said.He expects Muralitharan to be fit: "Murali didn’t have any problems in the second innings. In fact, he was troubled more with his spinning finger than the dislocated one. He now has a chance to take 400 in Galle and he will play."

Chris Cairns’ match-winning century in Brisbane tonight highlighted the sheer quality of his batsmanship under the severest pressure.This was an innings to savour.His fourth ODI century, the first against someone other than India was achieved under outstanding circumstances. It ended a six-game losing streak to South Africa. It took New Zealand to the head of the VB Series and one game away, with four games remaining, from a place in the finals.New Zealand were in strife when he arrived at the wicket, the top order having failed to get a good start yet again. Just how much Nathan Astle is central to New Zealand’s opening play in ODIs has never been clearer.But there was something about Cairns’ attitude from the minute he strode to the crease. Whether it was intentional or not, there was an air of a job needing to be done and him being the man to do it.It is the sort of approach he showed during his last ODI century in the ICC KnockOut won by New Zealand over India in Kenya. It has been seen on other occasions as well, such as when he scored his maiden Test century, against Zimbabwe in the summer of 1995/96.When the mood takes him, and the elements of his batting come together, he is fit to rank among the highest order of stroke players to have graced the game. There was nothing of the bludgeoner about this innings. It was classical in its execution, timing and pacing as the overs wound down.His control in the dying moments of tonight’s game was especially outstanding.Having earlier added 62 runs by sensible, and unpanicked accumulation for the sixth wicket with Chris Harris, who scored 24 off 42 balls, Cairns then combined with Adam Parore, playing the sort of support role that was ideal under the circumstances, while 84 unbroken runs were added. Parore fed the strike to Cairns as often as he was able while making the odd decisive blow himself.As the pair got the required runs down to parity with the balls left, there was an inevitability about the win, especially with the wickets in hand.However, New Zealanders have been too long denied consistency of excellence under pressure in these matches in Australia to ever take anything for granted.They needn’t have worried. The coolest person in the middle was Cairns.In the space of 20 balls, he raced from 67 to 102 with nonchalant ease. A four to long off from Mikhaya Ntini warned the South Africans that the charge was on.In the 46th over, bowled by Steve Elworthy, the first ball he faced, the fifth of the over, was speared to third man where Boeta Dipenaar committed himself to trying to catch the ball. He didn’t get to it, nor did he cover it, and the ball went for four – a bonus from a calculated risk.A four off Jacques Kallis in the 47th over to midwicket took him to 84. Shaun Pollock bowled an eight-run over then off the fifth ball of Kallis’ next over, the issue was put beyond doubt – a straight six, the Cairns special, back over the bowler’s head.Cairns pinched a single off the last ball to face the next over from Pollock. He was on 98 when he faced Pollock for the last over.A four to wide long on from the first ball gave him his deserved century, New Zealand the win and further cemented Cairns’ place among the genuine matchwinners of the game.Cairns hit three sixes and nine fours in his innings and provided his side with an example that must surely see a strengthening in the batting approach in the latter half of this series.The batting came on top of an outstanding effort by the bowlers earlier in the game to pull South Africa back from a galloping score that looked capable of getting close to 300.The South Africans lost six wickets for 37 runs as Cairns and James Franklin broke through and then allowed Shane Bond to come in and tidy up the tail with a fiery spell.This New Zealand side is shaping impressively. It hasn’t fired all its shots yet and has plenty to aspire to. If it can arrive at the finals tuned to a peak then better things can yet be expected of this side.And if that means more batting of the quality exhibited by Cairns tonight, then this already outstanding series has yet more heights to scale.New Zealand have broken through the South African psychological barrier they have built up. But the real test is to do it consistently and reverse the process so the South Africans feel the heat.

Despite its poor start to the VB Series, Australia is right back in the thick of finals contention following a resounding win over South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground today. In reaching a meagre victory target of 107 in just the 19th over of their innings, the Australians have swept past the South Africans into second place on the competition points table.That Mark Waugh (55*) and Ricky Ponting (33) were able to combine in a 77-run second wicket partnership and make short work of the chase also ensured that the Australians secured a potentially vital bonus point in the first five-point result of the triangular tournament.The secret to the Australians’ success was not the play of their batsmen, though. Instead, it was destructive pace bowling from Andy Bichel (5/19), Glenn McGrath (3/29) and Jason Gillespie (1/27) – on a pitch both captains initially believed would play in favour of their strokemakers – which lay at the core of the home team’s win.Before rain sent the players scurrying from the field for 41 minutes, McGrath did the early damage, removing Herschelle Gibbs (0) and Boeta Dippenaar (0) in his two opening overs to have the Proteas precariously placed at 2/5.For the second time in the series, Gibbs fell in the first over of the match – feathering a catch to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist off an outside edge ashe drove at a leg cutter of perfect length. Dippenaar then played a similarly ill-advised shot, cutting at a delivery too close to his body and spearing the ball off a top edge to Shane Warne at slip.The tourists managed to stage a mini-recovery as Gary Kirsten (44) and Neil McKenzie (18) doggedly built a 37-run union around the difficultiespresented by consistently seaming deliveries.But, when McKenzie played around an inswinging yorker from Bichel to be bowled, it set the tone for a dismal collapse. The Queenslanderpromptly roared through the defences of Jonty Rhodes (1), Mark Boucher (1) and Shaun Pollock (0) as well, having the former caught behind as hefended uncomfortably at a rising delivery and trapping Boucher and Pollock in front of their stumps.He later returned to crown his first five-wicket haul in one-day internationals with a brilliant one-handed catch as he leapt across to his right tointercept a drive from Makhaya Ntini (0). But it was his first spell that settled the fate of the game.He claimed figures of 4/7 in the space of 14 balls, prompting a collapse that saw the Proteas slump from 2/42 to 7/50 and surrender virtually allaspirations of posting a competitive score.”Sometimes it’s good to have a pitch which gives bowlers a bit of assistance because generally you get a very flat wicket with quick outfields andsmall boundaries,” said Australian captain, Steve Waugh, as he conceded that he would have done exactly the same as rival skipper Pollockin choosing to bat first upon winning the toss.”It was another excellent wicket … I don’t think South Africa would have been that pleased with the way they batted; it probably wasn’t a 106wicket and (at least) 150-160 would have been a more realistic score on that wicket.”Kirsten was typically defiant but South Africa’s woes were mounting everywhere one looked. Only minutes before the innings ended at a paltry 106- the country’s third-lowest score in one-day international history – tailender Steve Elworthy (18) ducked sickeningly into a McGrath thunderboltdown the leg side. He batted on gamely but, upon his dismissal, was taken to a local hospital for scans and observation.Gilchrist (8) was dismissed early in Australia’s reply as he defended off an inside edge at Pollock (1/36), and Ponting fell much later as he met thesame fate in playing down the wrong line at Lance Klusener (1/28). But bad news continued to unfold for South Africa.Mark Waugh, whose hold on a position in the Australian line-up has been the subject of intense scrutiny in local media circles in recent weeks,survived a series of close shaves early in his innings, even being dropped twice in successive deliveries at one point.Missing Allan Donald and Jacques Kallis because of ongoing injury concerns, and suiting up for their third game in the space of four days, thetourists played like a jaded team.Having now tumbled into last place on the competition table with eight points – one behind Australia and four behind New Zealand – they will behoping for a revival when the series moves to Adelaide this weekend.

Indian coach John Wright, captain Sourav Ganguly, Man of the match Anil Kumble and Zimbabwean captain Stuart Carlisle spoke to the press after India’s comprehensive innings and 101 runs win in the first Test at Nagpur.Deep Dasgupta’s continued poor showing behind the stumps has been a matter of concern in recent times. Speaking about the Indian wicket-keeper, Wright said, “He has to perform better. It is understandable that it is not easy to keep wickets like these which turn to this extent. But we have to perform better at the end of the day, he (Deep) has to take the chances.”A `keeper has a very important role when he is in a side which has quality spin bowlers. He has improved himself while standing behind, but standing up he has to improve drastically. He will be getting another chance and should work hard at doing better.”I don’t want to go into the selection matters, but at the end of the day, I would tell you, you should have your best `keeper in the side.”Fielding was one area in which the Zimbabweans proved to be better than the Indians and this did not escape the keen eyes of Wright.”As far as fielding is concerned, we have a long way to go. I’m very much impressed with the way Zimbabweans fielded and if we have to play overseas and against quality teams then I’m sorry to say, we have a long way to go. At the end of the day I would like to say that some of our best players are our worst fielders, that’s a fact,” the straight-talking Indian coach said.”I don’t know how I could change that. Basically, they need to field a lot better but sometimes people are at this part of their career that it is difficult to teach someone who has played for ten long years, how to dive,” he added.Wright also lauded Sanjay Bangar, who made a Test hundred in just his second Test at about the same time that another No. 7, Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, made the fastest double-hundred in Test history. “It is a nice thing for a team for the number seven batsman to come out and score a hundred.”Bangar might have succeeded in the most glorious fashion but VVS Laxman’s failure meant that a number of people were calling for the Hyderabadi stylist’s head. The former New Zealand captain was rousing in his defence of the star of India’s famous Test series win over Australia.”He is too good a player and there is no question about his ability. If you look at his last fifteen matches, he has an average of 43-44 but you have to look at his statistics. That delivery to which he got out in the first innings was very good. I have no doubts about his potential,” Wright said.Ganguly, for his part, agreed with his coach’s views, saying, “John has said it all, so I don’t have to go on saying something on the same topic.”Talking about the competition between Bangar and Sehwag, the skipper said, “Well, it is for the selection committee to decide. However, with Bangar serving us as an all-rounder, it will always be of great help.”Kumble, meanwhile, was happy with the way in which he and his colleagues bowled. “I think we did really well in the first innings. The second innings just happened to us. We had 280 odd runs to defend. I have always said that if the batsmen perform well, it makes our job that much easier.”It is good to bowl with Harbhajan in tandem. Like partnerships help a lot in batting, it is also the same for bowling. With Harbhajan and myself bowling from two ends, the task was much easier. bowled really well, though going wicketless. However, he got his rewards on the last day, scalping four wickets.”Carlisle, though, had no reasons to be as effusive as Kumble. His team’s batting failed twice on a batting paradise and that saw the Zimbabweans being thrashed. “Our batsmen have to get bigger scores. The Flower brothers have been struggling. They have to work hard and come back to their own selves.”The Zimbabwean captain was liberal in his praise for his left-arm spinner Raymond Price; the latter, if you remember, claimed 5 for 182 in India’s only innings.”I am very happy for Price. Streak bowled well too and full marks to (Trevor) Gripper in the second innings. Price is young and inexperienced but he did well. He should be getting to learn more and improve during the rest of the series. That’s one of the positives of this Test.”

After a drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka in their last match, to say nothing of defeat in the final Ashes Test, Australia got back to winning ways in the latest VB Series encounter with a tense victory over England in Hobart. With a hundred from Damien Martyn, and some wayward English bowling, Australia managed to get just enough to withstand an opening partnership of 165 by Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight that appeared to have put England right on course for a win. Then a mid-order collapse left the later batsmen with just too much to do and Australia got home by a mere seven runs.The Australians had suffered a collapse at the start of their innings. They were reduced to 53 for three in the eleventh over, having lost Adam Gilchrist – given out lbw despite an inside edge – and Ricky Ponting to Jimmy Anderson before Matthew Hayden gave a return catch to Steve Harmison’s second ball.It was a day, however, when Harmison’s radar proved to be on the blink. He bowled five wides in that first over, and 11 in total during his eight overs. The total of 22 wides in the innings proved to be England’s undoing. The Australian bowlers delivered only two wides and six no balls throughout the England innings and England coach Duncan Fletcher will no doubt impress on his attack that in this form of cricket such indiscipline can prove to be costly, as it did here.After the dismissal of Hayden, Martyn began to stage the recovery, featuring in century partnerships with both Michael Bevan and Jimmy Maher. Bevan is as adept as anyone in world cricket in these situations. He was ruffled by being hit on the grille by Anderson, but came through to restore Australia to a competitive position.When Bevan fell for 52, edging a ball from Ian Blackwell onto his stumps, Australia were 171 for four after 35 overs, allowing the new batsman, Maher, to play with more freedom. But while he was seeing the innings through with a run-a-ball 49, Martyn was also becoming more expansive so that 89 runs came from the final ten overs.Martyn was dropped by Paul Collingwood off Anderson when he was on 51. It was one of a number of missed opportunities by England, but this proved to be the most costly by far as Martyn steered Australia towards a defendable total. After facing 113 balls and taking nine fours, he turned the last ball of the innings off Andrew Caddick to fine leg for another boundary to bring up his fourth one-day international hundred.Glenn McGrath was back in the Australian attack but he suffered like all the bowlers as Knight and Trescothick got the innings away to a perfect start for England. However, it was not his bowling that proved painful to McGrath for he was not leaking runs at the same rate as the others. It was his back, and he was forced to limp from the field after bowling seven overs.After such a good start, it was the fall of Knight’s wicket when he was bowled by Andy Bichel for 85 that began a collapse that saw seven wickets fall for the addition of 99 runs inside the last 20 overs of the innings. Left-arm wrist-spinner Brad Hogg picked up three of those wickets, including Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood in one over as England lost the momentum given them by the openers.Nasser Hussain stayed to anchor the innings, but found nobody to support him and inject the necessary acceleration as overs ran out. There was a brief period when Alec Stewart appeared to be doing just that, adding 41 in five overs with Hussain for the sixth wicket. Had this pair been able to bat through to the end in this fashion, England would have got home with something to spare.Australia’s fielding had not been flawless, but Martyn made no mistake when holding Stewart off the bowling of Shane Watson. Watson, given the last over, then bowled Hussain for 43 with the 38th ball the captain had faced. Caddick took two off the next ball but two swings and two misses off the final two balls saw England’s total remain seven runs short of Australia’s and it was the home side who secured their place in the finals.