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Both Durham and Hampshire made inroads into the interrupted Championship match at Riverside on Friday. By lunch the home side had scored 141 runs, with Hampshire taking three wickets.With the crowd anticipating the approaching seasons 1,000 from Australian Simon Katich, he cut at a ball from Dimitri Mascarenhas as was caught high up at first-slip by Shane Warne, just four runs short of the magical target.Katich had batted for nearly three hours, sharing a 125 run partnership with makeshift captain Jon Lewis.Paul Collingwood was well held low down at second slip to give Hampshire their first bonus point of the match.Lewis who had batted patiently for four hours, finally fell when he played on to Shane Warne, but by the lunch interval on the second day Daley and Speight had added a further 74 in 15 overs.Rain and thunderstorms predictably arrived during the lunch break. By three pm, the deluge of hailstones, very heavy rain and thunder and lightniing gave umpires Benson and Steele little option but to abandon play for the day.

South African cricket has always wanted to be a little Australian, especially in terms of success. When Australia introduced player numbers to their kit, South Africa followed suit. When Australia added a coloured stripe to their Test whites, so did South Africa. When Australia won World Cup after World Cup after World Cup, South Africa, and a few others like New Zealand and England, wished for just one.But now Michael Hussey, who has been seconded to the South African camp for a sprinkling of days at this tournament, has advised them against trying to copy their Antipodean counterparts.”The thing that’s stood out about South Africa is that there is no ego, there is no arrogance, it’s very much a family feel. Everyone treats each other with a lot of respect,” Hussey said. “It would be fantastic for a young player to know that they would feel accepted from the word go whereas certain teams that I have gone from, in Australia, there have been big names, big egos, big personalities. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing but it’s quite different. It’s quite refreshing to come into an environment where you feel respected.”As if on cue, some members of the Australian media called Hussey out for joining what they called “the enemy camp”, but he laughed it off as disguised insecurity. “Since it became public, there has been a bit of criticism and I think that’s because the Australians have a real respect for the South African cricket team and they see them as one of the big threats in this tournament,” Hussey said. “We want a strong world game and we want strong competition, and I don’t have a problem working with other teams.”So what is Hussey sharing with South Africa that may have Australia worried? “From a technical point of view, it’s about watching some of the batsmen and seeing if I can pick up anything. And then also talk a bit about the Australian conditions,” he said.Neither of those is as important as Hussey’s first-hand experience as a World Cup-winning player, which not even Gary Kirsten can provide, and that’s what South Africa are really after. Hussey was part of the victorious 2007 Australian outfit that blew South Africa away in both the group stage and the semi-final, and has been called on to explain how that was done.”To win World Cups, you need world-class performers but quite often you need some unsung heroes as well,” he said. “I think back to 2007 where we had our world-class players like Ponting, Hayden, Gilchrist and McGrath but we also had a lot of unsung heroes like Brad Hogg and Nathan Bracken come in and do a really good job as well.”Look down the list of this South African team and you see a lot of those world-class stars – AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, JP Duminy, Morne Morkel – and there might be some unsung heroes like a David Miller or one of the other bowlers can come in and do a job as well like Imran Tahir.”Miller and Tahir were two of South Africa’s stand-out performers in their opening match against Zimbabwe, when they were under pressure after falling to 83 for 4 but scored over 300 and defended it. Although South Africa were not expected to come under pressure against their neighbours, who have had not had much in the way of regular cricket and went through a change in coaching regimes six weeks before their campaign kicked off, both de Villiers and coach Russell Domingo drew positives from the experience.Domingo said that South Africa wanted to be tested – and had even tried their hand at make-believe when playing bilateral series and pretended games were World Cup quarter-finals – so that when they get to the knockouts they will be prepared. There’s nothing like the real deal though, which Hussey knows, and that is why his advice in that area may be most important to South Africa.”In those pressure moments, your mind is racing. You’re thinking about so many different things, most of them negative,” he said. “It’s about somehow being able to let the doubts go out of your mind and concentrate on what needs to be done. Generally it’s trying to play the next ball as best you can and, from a bowling point of view, trying to execute your skill as best as you can. And if you do that ball after ball, you can overcome those pressure situations.”Ultimately, Hussey conceded it also takes a little of something nobody can control, not matter how well-drilled they are or how good their personnel is. “South Africa have the definitely got the squad to do it but you probably do need a bit of luck as well,” he said. As much as Australia had? South Africa only want a little bit.

Let me begin by saying that, sadly, crowd invasions seems tobe an integral part of this West Indies tour of India. Inthe second one-dayer, which West Indies won easily by sevenwickets, once again bad behaviour by the crowd ruinedthings. At one point so much rubbish was thrown on the ropesthat the fielders all had to gather in the centre of theground for their safety. This resulted in a considerabledelay and an over was even lost in the process.Crowd trouble apart, the second one-dayer produced a greatwin for the West Indians. Their plan of pitching the ballshort of a length and directing it to the rib cage area paidrich dividends when it came to getting rid of Sehwag early.The explosive opener, who is a compulsive strokemaker,pulled the ball straight to deep fine leg and got out injust the second over.Although the West Indians enjoyed early success, they couldnot cash in on it, as Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman battedwell. To start with the pair played within themselves, butthen opened up. It must be said, though, that two decisionswent against the visitors, both involving Laxman and thishelped India wrest the initiative from West Indies.The promotion of Harbhajan Singh has been a cause for quitea bit of talk and conjecture. I can only say that it givesme the impression that either the Indians are so confidentthat they can retrieve any situation or are just practicinga rotation policy in the batting line-up.Another point that bears mention is the wicket at Nagpur. Itwas much better than the one at Jamshedpur where the firstone-dayer was played. It was superb for batting and I mustgive the groundsman full marks on this count.Two partnerships – first between Ganguly and Laxman andlater on between Laxman and Dravid – helped the Indians putup 279, by all accounts a fighting total.Overall, the West Indies bowling was good despite the factthat they could not really pick up wickets at regularintervals. This was the only thing that came in the way ofthe West Indies implementing their game plan. Although theywere restrictive in the middle overs, and that is alright,taking wickets is the bottom line if a side has to be in thegame.Nowadays limited overs cricket is primarily loaded in thebatsman’s favour, but unless bowlers change their attitudefrom a negative approach to an attacking one, the game willalways remain a batsman’s game.To the end, West Indies played like champions. Inparticular, I am very impressed with Marlon Samuels. Hisstyle reminded me of some of the great West Indian batsmen Ibowled to in my time. He is always calm and collected at thewicket and this is an important thing for any batsman. Heseems to be very confident when playing Harbhajan andKumble, while on the other hand, the Indian spinners do notseem confident at all of bowling to Samuels!

With Javagal Srinath not bowling well at all, compounded bythe fact that he has lost his pace and is bowling veryslowly, there is a problem at hand. I don’t know how Gangulyis going to handle this delicate situation. With our bowlingdepartment lacking in every angle, the Indian skipper andcoach John Wright need to come up with a quick-fix solution.Secondly, I have my doubts about whether Harbhajan’s arm isok. His bowling action seems to have changed and there isstrain at the time of delivery. For his part, Kumble is notthreatening and his bowling has become a little stereotyped.He has to vary his line and length and of course turn theball if he wants to continue succeeding.All said, having gone 2-0 down in this seven-match series,the Indians will have to do a lot of homework before thenext one-dayer in Rajkot.

Scorecard

Martin van Jaarsveld produced the kind of all-round day that would have England salivating if it came from Andrew Flintoff, as Kent turned the tables on Surrey at The Oval. Kent started the day simply trying to reduce a hefty deficit but they closed it 92 runs from victory with five wickets in hand and van Jaarsveld at the crease on 70 and Geraint Jones on 5.van Jaarsveld was almost singlehandedly responsible for the turnaround, although he had some assistance late in the day from Darren Stevens (63) as they compiled a 95-run stand that rescued Kent from 28 for 3 chasing 258. Earlier, van Jaarsveld claimed a scarcely believable career-best 5 for 33 as Surrey capitulated for 130, and even earlier again he had completed his second century of the season as Kent lost their final three first-innings wickets to finish with 270 and avoid the follow on.After the first two days brought 17 wickets on a flat pitch, the tally of 18 breakthroughs on the third day might have suggested to those not at the venue that overnight a confused groundsman had accidentally run over the pitch with a plough. In fact the surface was not that bad; certainly there was plenty of turn but as Scott Newman and then van Jaarsveld himself proved, runs were still available if the batsmen applied themselves.The tight contest had been set up by the bowling of van Jaarsveld, who in 191 previous first-class appearances had not managed more than two wickets in an innings and had not been called upon at all this season. But bowling his offspinners in tandem with the more familiar tweaker James Tredwell, van Jaarsveld soon discovered it was to be his day.Playing further back than he needed to against the gentle slow bowling, Matthew Spriegel stepped into his stumps while working the ball through the leg side, handing van Jaarsveld his first wicket. Then came Mark Ramprakash, who must have thought the cricketing gods were smiling on him as he continued to search for that 100th first-class century that has eluded him for nearly two months.Here he was at his home ground, facing a part-time offspinner on a pitch that looked innocuous enough, with his team nearly 200 in front. But perhaps too eager for that milestone knock, Ramprakash got slightly ahead of himself and tried to go over midwicket first ball, instead lobbing a catch straight to Ryan McLaren.Finding himself in the middle of a van Jaarsveld hat-trick would have provided Ramprakash with a career lowlight at the same time as he was looking for an all-time highlight. Fortunately for him van Jaarsveld’s next delivery was safely wide of off stump and left alone by Jonathan Batty.But the first-innings centurion Batty soon risked being another hat-trick contributor when he was bowled trying to drive a big-turning Tredwell delivery through the off side and was followed next delivery by Usman Afzaal. Again the hat-trick was not to be, but Surrey were soon 78 for 6 when Abdul Razzaq padded up outside off to van Jaarsveld.All this time Newman, who had belted Yasir Arafat into submission in the early overs, cruised and registered a comfortable half-century. As if to confirm in his own mind that it wasn’t really that hard, he lofted Tredwell beautifully over his head for six and must have wondered what his team-mates were finding so difficult. But he did have a life on 55, dropped at slip by Justin Kemp off Tredwell, and he was finally trapped lbw by van Jaarsveld.The scoreboard proved what a one-man show it had been for Surrey. When Newman was out for 72, his side was 99 for 7. From there a steady descent was inevitable and despite a late 20 from Chris Schofield, Surrey could only manage to set Kent 258 to win. It was a target that by the end of the day looked distinctly gettable.

SYDNEY, Oct 12 AAP – A Law-less Queensland will be out to heal an eight month old scar when it plays defending ING Cup champion NSW in the opening interstate cricket match of the new season at North Sydney Oval tomorrow.Three changes were made to both the teams which contested last season’s final back in February with each side under new leadership.Former Western Australia skipper Simon Katich was immediately installed as NSW captain and came into the side for Mark Higgs, who moved to South Australia.Spinner and last summer’s leading ING wicket taker Stuart MacGill and paceman Don Nash were recalled to the NSW side after missing the final while fast bowler Stuart Clark was unavailable due to injury and batsman Matthew Phelps dropped.One day international batsman Jimmy Maher took over as Queensland skipper from Stuart Law who stood down at the end of last season, and then lost his place in the side to Brendan Nash.Young pacemen Scott Brant and Damien MacKenzie, both of whom made their debuts for the Bulls last season, were also recalled to the side in place of fast bowler Joe Dawes and Nathan Hauritz.All-rounder Andrew Symonds made it clear Queensland was still smarting from its 19 run loss to NSW in last season’s final at the Gabba back in Feburary.”We didn’t play real well, it was just one of those days, they got the better of us. We’ve still got a scar which we want to stitch up and fix and hopefully we can do that on Sunday,” Symonds said.”We’ve had a good preparation, a good camp on Stradbroke Island last week and we’ve got a couple of new faces which should be refreshing for us and hopefully we can lead the way in this competition.”While Law failed to score a single 50 in each of the Bulls’ last two ING campaigns, both of which he only averaged 14 in, his demotion came as a shock to team mates and opponents alike.”He’s obviously been a fantastic player for them and their most successful captain in state history, so he will be a big bit out of their side because he’s a very good one-day cricketer and proven himself over many years,” Katich said.”But I guess that gives an opportunity to one of their younger guys, so it will be interesting to see how they go without him.”NSW all-rounder Shane Lee, who captained the Blues to back-to-back ING titles over the last two seasons said the Bulls would still be very competitive and well organised without Law.”They’ve got plenty of depth, so we definitely have to be on our game. Looking at the teams on paper we probably go in as favourites, but in-one day cricket that doesn’t mean too much,” Lee said.The teams for tomorrow’s match are:NSW: Simon Katich (captain), Corey Richards, Brad Haddin, Michael Bevan, Michael Clarke, Shane Lee, Dominic Thornely, Don Nash, Stuart MacGill, Shawn Bradstreet, Nathan Bracken, Grant Lambert.Qld: Jimmy Maher (capt), Martin Love, Lee Carseldine, Clinton Perren, Andrew Symonds, Brendan Nash, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, Scott Brant, Damien MacKenzie.

Scotland’s first full-time training academy is being run at Edinburgh’s Telford College in partnership with Cricket Scotland. It is intended that the year-long course will become an integral part of the treadmill from school cricket to the national level.Bursary-funded, the course develops practical skills in all aspects of cricket, including speed development, strength and conditioning, flexibility, psychological skills, sports massage and physiotherapy, as well as offering academic SQA Higher National Units in fitness testing, resistance training and sports coaching theory. As part of the course students will also have the opportunity to attend an overseas academy.”We feel that the Cricket Performance Course, in conjunction with the Academy structure, will provide our best young cricketers with a well structured, varied and focused 12 month programme which will give them the best opportunity to maximise their potential and gain some valuable life experience at the same time,” said Craig Wright, the former Scotland coach who now heads development at Cricket Scotland. “On completion of the Academy year, players can progress in further education, into employment, or perhaps into careers as professional cricketers.”Eddie Pollock, Sport and Fitness Lecturer at Edinburgh’s Telford College, said: “We are delighted to team up with Cricket Scotland to offer Scotland’s first ever Cricket Performance course, and help the country’s talented young players develop their skills in the sport, while also gaining SQA qualifications at the same time. It’s an exciting prospect to potentially have the professional cricketers of the future in our midst.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board has allotted more than Rs 500 million to upgrade the facilities at the three Champions Trophy venues – Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore – ahead of September’s Champions Trophy, despite security fears over the tournament.”We are putting our best foot forward,” Mansur Sohail, PCB’s media chief, told the . “Whether its security arrangements or upgrading the facilities, nothing is being left to chance. We are confident of delivering a successful Champions Trophy to the cricket world and all possible steps are being taken to ensure it.”In 2006, Pakistan won the bid to host the Champions Trophy and decided to upgrade and expand the facilities at three of its major cricketing centres for the tournament last year.While the National Stadium in Karachi didn’t need any major changes, a lot of construction and renovation work had to be carried out at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.A total of Rs 240 million will be spent at Rawalpindi alone. Though a Test venue, it hasn’t staged an international match since December 2006. At the Gaddafi Stadium, the board will spend Rs 210 million. “The Gaddafi Stadium’s seating capacity will be raised by 6500 for the Champions Trophy,” Mansur said.The PCB had given six months to the contractors to finish work at the two venues and is now expecting the facilities to be fully ready at least ten days before the start of the tournament, which runs between September 12 and 28.