Bihar surprised fancied Andhra Pradesh, who finished third last year,by nine wickets in the quarterfinal of the CricInfo Trophy SeniorWomen’s National Cricket Championship at the Gymkhana Ground in Jorhaton Tuesday.Chasing a paltry 45 for victory, Bihar reached the target in 15.4overs. They lost Neetu Singh (3) with five runs on the board, but theother opener Kamini Kumari (5) and Geeta Samantrai (26) finished thematch quickly in Bihar’s favour.Earlier, electing to bat, Andhra Pradesh caved in meekly and were allout for 44 in 32.4 overs with only Sree Rekha (13) reaching doublefigures. Bihar’s Kavita Roy (2 for 9), Sanjeeda (2 for 12) and AshaKumari (2 for 2) ran through the Andhra side.

Yorkshire improved their chances of securing the runner’s-up slot in the county championship first division after securing a 32-run win over Kent in Canterbury.The Tykes looked likely to coast to their victory after reducing the hosts to 67 for seven by lunch, but a century eighth wicket stand between home skipper Matthew Fleming and pace bowler Martin McCague, who hit a career-best 72, kept the white rose county waiting.Gavin Hamilton, who went to school in Kent, did the early damage with three wickets in five balls as the hop county lost six wickets for 18 in a disastrous first session.Matthew Hoggard weighed in with two for 48, including the scalp of Paul Nixon (19) the first Kent bat to reach double figures.McCague’s selective hitting, he clubbed 12 fours and a six in his 80-ball stay, then gave Kent the chance of pulling off an unlikely win as he and Fleming posted 102 in 26 overs.Left-arm spinner Ian Fisher came on to polish off the innings with three for 45, bowling McCague, having Fleming caught at deep cover before plucking out the middle stump of Martin Saggers to secure Yorkshire’s sixth win of the term and their first double.Kent now need three points from their final championship match starting at Grace Road on Wednesday to avoid relegation, while a Yorkshire win in Southampton could see them pip arch rivals Lancashire for second spot.

Geoff Allott showed tonight that while his bowling has become a limited resource, something to be rationed, it is the more precious for it as he took 4-23 to propel Canterbury to a four-wicket win over Wellington in a Shell Cup match at the WestpacTrust Stadium.Allott operated in three short spells in the heart of Wellington’s innings, taking the wickets of internationals Chris Nevin and Roger Twose, those of Stephen Mather and Richard Petrie to restrict Wellington to 184 as they batted first after winning the toss.Though Canterbury’s chase for victory seemed leg-weary at times – their middle order perhaps lulled by the diminutive nature of the target – they finally struck off the winning runs with four wickets standing and a handy 10 balls to spare.Allott’s opening spell of five overs was his most destructive and most influential on the game’s outcome. Though his first over cost nine runs and his second six, he returned with vigour to claim Mather for nine, Nevin for 50 and Twose for the eight – all in the space of 15 runs – to set Wellington on a downward spiral.He rested briefly the returned to bowl two consecutive maidens and to snare Petrie’s wicket with a screaming yorker, leaving Wellington 91-6 at the start of the 26th over. By the end of his seventh over, Allott had 4-17 and he ended with an analysis of 4-23 from 10 overs – his best in 25 Cup matches.Wellington’s innings was once again brightest at its beginning, with Nevin imposing a galloping tempo. He was only eight when his opening partner, Richard Jones, was out for 2 but he was 43 when Allott provoked a self-destructive shot from Mather which cost his wicket and had Wellington 58-2.Nevin went on to 50 from 52 balls but couldn’t add to that score before he was out, caught in the gully while driving at Allott, eight balls later in the 16th over. Then Twose followed for eight when only one more run had been added and Wellington were 73-4, their innings showing signs of a rapid decay.There followed wickets at 89, 91, 108 and finally 120 and Wellington had lost sight of any kind of substantial, demanding total. Matthew Bell, their captain, tried to hold together the fraying ends of the innings and found an unusual partner in that enterprise in No 10 Carl Bulfin, who joined hin in a 57 run stand for the ninth wicket.Bulfin didn’t react to Wellington’s batting crisis as he might have done, with circumspection. Instead, he took the attack to Canterbury, hitting four sixes – two in succession from Mark Hastings in the 45th – to reach 44 from only 37 balls before being run out. His defiant stand with Bell occupied only 40 minutes and he provided all but 13 of those runs.Bell ran out of partners – he batted from the 16th till the 49th overs – when Jeetan Patel was out for four with an over and a ball remaining.Canterbury’s chase progressed at a pace very similar to Wellington’s though they were shaken by the loss of three wickets in the first 10 overs and while they had only 50 runs to their name. They were 53-3 after 10 overs, where Wellington had been 48-1, and 71-3 after 15 overs, where Wellington had been 71-2.But their innings meandered through the middle stages as they fell prey to a contagious lack of urgency. Gary Stead faced 43 balls for 26 runs, Chris Harris 82 balls for 39 and Michael Papps 38 balls for 12 runs. They slumped to 138-6.Canterbury’s mindset was understandable – they believed if they kept wickets in hand the runs would come but that policy, like any policy taken to extremes, almost became as reckless as its opposite course.Finally Warren Wisneski and Aaron Redmond saw them to their winning target , achieved when Wisneski struck Mark Jefferson for four from the second ball of the 49th over. They had needed 40 from the last 10 overs and there may have been alarms when Matthew Walker discharged his 10 overs for only 24 runs, bowling three consecutive maidens, between the 18th and 40th overs, but eventually Wellington’s total was shown to be as flimsy as it had first seemed.This did not at its outset seem likely to be a match of milestones, of ringing achievements but it was eventually Allott’s performance, completed before the floodlights took effect, that rose above the commonplace.He may never play again unburdened by injury but he showed tonight that, treated with sense and delicacy, he can still be a potent force.

In a game that included more shocking collapses than the Kobe earthquake,and more fighting comebacks than George Foreman, Canterbury came away withfirst innings points.Beginning the day on 22/3, Canterbury looked to be in for a tough fight toforce a draw. But Chris Harris batted like a millionaire throughout thefirst hour, hitting seven fours as he guided Canterbury out of the custard.The former Mr New Zealand candidate was severe on a slightly wayward NDattack, hooking and pulling the quick bowlers and lofting the spinners downthe ground.Night-watchman Carl Anderson proved a useful foil and looked competent as heheld up an end through to the lunch break. With Northern unable to breakthrough in the morning session, and Canterbury increasing its lead to 130,any prospect of an outright result had gone by lunch.Interest in the middle session centred on whether Harris could bat on andrecord the first century of the match. But he appeared disinterested,turning three’s into two’s with some ambivalent running between the wickets.It came as no surprise when he was run-out for 79 attempting a silly single.However, the fourth wicket partnership of 122 had ensured the match wouldend as a draw and likely be called off early.For the second match in succession Canterbury had to settle for firstinnings points, despite scoring over 300 in its first innings. The perennialShell Cup champion hasn’t managed a trophy victory since beating Northern inMarch 1999 – a winless streak now extended to eight matches.By contrast ND came to Rangiora in search of a record eighth consecutivewin. But while the young Canterbury side has not yet found a winningformula, it is growing in experience and is no longer an easybeat.Both Auckland and ND have come to Canterbury and toiled for four days onflat tracks without reward. An exceptional bowling effort is required todismiss sides twice on the benign pitches in this part of the country.For Canterbury, Stephen Cunis made the most of his late inclusion to capturehis maiden first-class five-wicket bag.Matthew Hart’s gritty, undefeated 72 was the standout ND performance, takingthe defending champions from the brink of disaster to within 15 runs offirst innings points.Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey and James Marshal were at the ground today andlook set to come into the ND side for tomorrow’s round three Shell Cupone-day match.

The name of Mohammed Sharif was quite alien to the viewers of Bangladesh. He came into sight after his stupendous performance in the Green Delta National League 2000-2001 when he listed 49 wickets besides his name-the second highest wicket taker. Few days ago I came to know from a renowned sports periodical that one Mr. Nasiruddin, from Matlab, a village of the district of Chandpur, had the good fortune to be in the field in a local match where he acted as an umpire. He was fortunate because star cricketer Mohammed Sharif played that match. But it was back in 1997 and Sharif, at that time was an unknown cricketer who used to accept proposals to play as a hired man. This event took place in Chandpur where two minor clubs were rivaling each otherone of them hired Sharif and won the match by dint of his scintillating performance. A blasting knock of 48 off 24 balls with three wickets taken giving away minimal runs-were enough to outdo the opponents. Sharif’s side won the match and eventually he was declared as the man-of-the-match. Sharif commended over Nasiruddin’s umpiring skill.Now in 2001, Nasiruddin recollects his sweet memories when he sees the brat bowling frontline with Manjurul against Zimbabwe-thinking this is the bowler once he saw in a minor match in a suburban township. Now that Sharif is picking praise from celebrities like Botham or Amir Sohail far away from his home. Really an unforgettable episode in the life of Nasiruddin, Isn’t it?Mohammed Sharif still lives with his parents in Narayanganj, a district town about twenty kilometers away from Dhaka. He has to follow a very hard routine-being three days in BKSP for practice session and three days in his hometown for workouts. The Asian Test Championship is not that far and there are bowlers like Bikash , Hasibul or Taposh are waiting. Sharif will have to fight hard with them to hang on to the squad. So, an arduous road is ahead of Sharif where there is no occasion for relaxing; except the single day in the week he spends with family members.Thinking Bikash is a real threat to his position, Sharif reveals that he has all kinds of respect for Bikash Bhai who is undoubtedly one of the best bowlers of Bangladesh. They all are competitors but the competition is healthy. To-day cricket has risen to a level where fitness is emphasized more than anything. Sharif agrees-yes, it’s the time of power cricket and the gym workouts are inevitable. He had a first hand experience from his fresh visit from Zimbabwe where he noted that the hosts were physically more robust and fit as well than Bangladeshis. If we want to do better in future, we have to have a chiseled shape. Survival for the fittest! No doubt!

A daunting target of 362 runs proved overwhelming for Nottinghamshire as they went down by 174 runs in a Benson & Hedges semi-final which was totally dominated by the opposition who registered their biggest win, in terms of runs, in this competition.Their middle order batsman, Kevin Pietersen fought a lone battle as wickets tumbled at the other end. Their only stand of some substance was for the fifth wicket when Usman Afzaal, 37, helped to put on 68.The hopelessness of their task, if not already clear by then, was made so when the next wicket fell in the following over, the 20th, reducing them to 120 for six and still needing 242.Nottinghamshire were, in effect, played out of the match as early as the ninth over when they were 47 for four. Later, after their token effort for the fifth wicket was ended, they lost five wickets for 28. By then it had become increasingly clear that it was just a case of going through the motions with their target beyond them.Pietersen, however, went on regardless, not just putting up resistance but, indeed, playing his shots defiantly. This tall, South Africa-born all-rounder who will be 21 on Wednesday, appears to have a full range of strokes and with his performance this season he has to be regarded as a great prospect for Nottinghamshire.When Surrey wrapped up the visitors’ innings in the 32nd over on 187, Pietersen, was left unbeaten with 78 from just 67 balls. Richard Stemp, with 29, had helped him to add 44 for the last wicket. Alex Tudor finished with three wickets for 52 while Martin Bicknell and Ed Giddins had two each.Earlier, Surrey could hardly have wished for a better start to their innings after deciding to make first use of their home pitch from which came a record-breaking proliferation of runs.The left-handed pair of opening batsmen, Mark Butcher and Ian Ward had the measure of the Nottinghamshire attack from the first over and it came as no surprise that the 50 was posted as early as the eighth over.Their progress to the hundred was almost precisely at the same rate of scoring, in the fifteenth over, by when the visitors had tried four bowlers.The conditions were perfect for batting and Surrey’s batsmen ensured the fine attendance on the lovely sunny morning were not deprived of entertainment.Ward was the first of three Surrey batsmen to reach half-centuries, his came from 42 balls as he drove Gareth Clough to wide mid-wicket for his seventh boundary. Man-of-the-match Butcher reached his 50 with the same number of boundaries, having faced 54 balls.Their strokeplay was delightful, both driving on either side on the wicket for most of their runs as the length maintained by Nottinghamshire’s bowlers did not allow for too many cuts and pulls at that stage.Surrey lost their first wicket when Ward was stumped from a ball that was fumbled by the wicket-keeper and then rebounded on to his stumps. From 112 for one they moved quickly on to 160 before the second wicket fell; Nadeem Shahid contributing 32 from only 21 balls.Butcher went on to pile up the runs until, on 84 from 86 balls, he mistimed and skied to mid-on. A 98-run stand for the fourth wicket between Alec Stewart and Alistair Brown came to an end on 304 with Brown, one short of 50 from just 37 balls, being held from a juggled return catch by Usman Afzaal who then claimed his third victim in the same 44th over with Stewart top edging behind the stumps.It had been a hard-hitting 67 at the rate of a-run-a-ball and after his dismissal there was one final display of aggressive batting to come. It was provided by Ben Hollioake who remained unbeaten with 39 off 23 balls. The second of his two sixes took Surrey past their highest score of 350, in the two knock-out limited-overs competitions.By the end of their 50 overs they had reached an awesome total of 361 for eight. Afzaal and Greg Blewett finished with three wickets each from 51 and 41 runs respectively.

Cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council, needs to keep up with the times in its handling of issues like matchfixing.New Zealand Cricket’s chairman and ICC board member Sir John Anderson said today the issues of past illegal activities were, in some ways, something of a distraction and cricket needed to ensure such matters were handled in keeping with the times.”The world we live in today is different to the world of a decade ago. Television is different, finance is different, and now we have to handle issues in a different way,” he told CricInfo.Anderson likened the matchfixing situation to the banking industry he is involved in as chief executive of the National Bank of New Zealand.”We have 25,000 employees who have had to change and understand security matters, and we have to do the same in cricket.”We are looking at the security and safety of players as recommended in the Condon Report,” he said.An awareness programme was needed so that players knew the requirements of them. Problems of the match-fixing kind did not happen in the United States, the archetypal market for professional sport.Instituting such a programme would be a major step forward and New Zealand’s method of introducing that would be discussed at Friday’s board meeting of NZC.If the Indian bookmaker, Mukesh Gupta, failed to meet the ACU’s Sir Paul Condon’s July 1 deadline and agree to give evidence then he would be regarded as a hostile witness and boards would be left to await the result of their own enquiries of his allegations against individual players.Anderson did say that if Gupta didn’t front then NZC would want to have the allegations against Martin Crowe tidied up.Awareness was something that would also extend to the requirements of players in relation to drug abuse.In his report, Condon highlighted examples of drugs being carried across national borders by secretive means and Anderson said that drug testing would become “very much a part of the game” in the future.Players could expect that random drug testing could be applied. New Zealand has had its own system in place for at least five or six years and a number of tests were carried out at various levels of the game each year.Anderson also confirmed that he has continued to work on the restructuring of the ICC’s internal make-up.He had already rewritten the Council’s articles and he has rewritten the committee manual for the body and was awaiting Malcolm Speed taking up his position as chief executive officer next month to determine what his requirements would be for his internal structures.The cricket committee management is made up of the CEO’s of the Test-playing nations with three associate members representatives who are responsible for running cricket matters.The cricket committee playing is made up of mainly past players who are responsible for looking after playing matters while the executive board was responsible for governance matters.Other committees are also involved in the likes of development, finance and marketing, a medical committee and a members’ disputes committee.Having them in place under an overall structure allowed management the power to be able to act on their own initiative and to respond to the needs of the game quicker than had happened in the past.

Though India and Sri Lanka played their first Test match only in 1982,cricket relations between the two nations stretch back to fifty yearsbefore that. That was when Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was known then)visited India to play two unofficial Tests in Lahore and New Delhi.In succeeding years, the ties were maintained with frequent visits byboth countries. The teams also met in the 1979 World Cup where SriLanka scored a notable upset victory over India in the group match. Inmore ways than one then, India had reason to back Sri Lanka for fullTest status, which the island nation achieved in 1981, playing herfirst Test against England at Colombo the following year.Sri Lanka acquitted itself creditably in their drawn first Testagainst India at Chepauk in 1982-83. Over the next three years,however while Australia and New Zealand followed England to play Testmatches in Sri Lanka, India did not. It was felt then that Indiashould make a trip to the island nation to encourage the game thereand so a visit was hastily put together to be made in August -September 1985.Indeed, for some time even after there had been talk of the tourtaking place, it was not clear whether the Indians would make thetrip. The unsettled situation in Sri Lanka made many believe that thetour would be cancelled. Finally the visitors landed in Colombo on theeve of their opening first class game.All this was clearly a mistake from India’s viewpoint. A tour so earlyin the season meant that the Indians could not prepare themselvesadequately. Many in the team had not played for months and therewasn’t even a camp ahead of the tour for the squad since everythingwas arranged in a bit of a hurry. And then of course there was afeeling of complacency amongst the visitors who reckoned that SriLanka, still without a Test victory after 12 matches, would be a cakewalk. Another factor against India was Sunil Gavaskar’s decision tobat lower down in the order. This naturally upset the balance of thebatting for the new opening pair of K Srikkanth and Lalchand Rajputwere far from successful.The net result of all this uncertainty and lack of planning was thatIndia, against all expectations, went down to a shock defeat. Theylost the second Test of the three Test series and that was enough forSri Lanka to wrap up the series as well. No praise can be too high forthe Lankans who had trained assiduously for months and were fiercelydetermined to register their maiden triumph in Test cricket. Thismotivation was as much a factor in the Sri Lankans’ victory as thecomplacency displayed by the Indians.The Indians came to Sri Lanka riding a wave. They had notched up twonotable one-day triumphs in Australia and Sharjah earlier in the year.In the Test arena, they did not have an enviable record since 1982 butthen over the same period, novices Sri Lanka too had lost eight of the12 Tests it had played.Two three day games and a one day international was hardly the kind ofpreparation to find form before the three Tests which were played onthe trot. Indeed, the Indians came close to losing the first Test atthe SSC in Colombo. The visitors were all out for 218 to which SriLanka replied with 347. It took a gallant unbeaten 98 in six and threequarter hours by Dilip Vengsarkar to stretch the Indian second inningsscore to 251. Besides Vengsarkar’s efforts, rain which cut short asession’s play on the final day also saw Sri Lankan victory hopesbeing dented. Ultimately, the home team were set to get 123 runs ineleven overs. Changing their batting order, Sri Lanka showed awillingness to chase the difficult target but were 61 for four aftereight overs when bad light brought about an early finish.The warning signals had by now been posted loud and clear. But theIndians did not heed them and some more loose batting and bowling sawSri Lanka register their historic triumph at the Saravanamuthu stadiumin Colombo a week later. Wicketkeeper Amal Silva, with a stroke filled111, gave the necessary impetus at the top of the order and stylistRoy Dias followed with 95. A Sri Lankan total of 385 was always goingto test the Indians, who under pressure were all out for 244. Eventhis represented a recovery for they lost their first three batsmenwith just three runs on the board. Sri Lanka could now call the shotsand, declaring their second innings at 206 for three, set India avictory target of 348 in 333 minutes and 20 mandatory overs. At 98 forseven, the Indians were hurtling towards a big defeat before a gallant78 by the captain Kapil Dev took the final total to 198, reducing thevictory margin to 149 runs. Silva followed his century with ninevictims – an unprecedented feat for a wicketkeeper in a Test matchwhile Rumesh Ratnayake had a match haul of nine wickets. Scenes ofjubilation followed culminating in nationwide celebrations and apublic holiday the following day.The Indians could at best hope to salvage some pride by winning thefinal Test at Kandy and squaring the series. They did have anexcellent chance but squandered it. After scoring 249, enough for themto take a first innings lead of 51, the visitors, aided by an unbeaten116 by Mohinder Amarnath – the only hundred for the Indians ascompared to five for the Sri Lankans – declared their second inningsat 325 for five. A victory target of 377 in 420 minutes and 20mandatory overs was never really on and indeed the Sri Lankans faceddefeat when they lost three wickets for 34 on the fourth evening.However a 216-run partnership in 285 minutes between Sri Lanka’s twomost accomplished batsmen, captain Duleep Mendis and his deputy RoyDias steered the home team to safety. Both got hundreds and SriLanka’s closing score of 307 for seven was enough to ensure a seriestriumph.As if this was not enough, India’s image as world champions in one daycricket was dented with the three match series ending one all. Indiawon the first, lost the second and the third ended in no result. Onthe whole, it was a traumatic trip, marred also by unconvincingumpiring, about which the Indians stated their misgivings inunambiguous terms.

England’s paceman Alex Tudor, rated uncertain for the Third Test yesterday with a side strain, has been passed fit after a work-out this morning, only hours before the Trent Bridge Test, which England must win to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes from Australia.With Chris Silverwood pulling out yesterday with a back injury, England had called in Somerset bowler Richard Johnson as eleventh-hour cover for the bowling attack. However, with Tudor now fit to play, it is probable that he will miss out on a Test debut.After all England’s injury difficulties leading up to each of the Ashes Tests this summer, the news on Tudor will come as welcome respite to a side missing several key players. Tudor has already tasted success against Australia’s much-vaunted middle order, taking four wickets on his debut at Perth in 1998.If England are to retain an interest in this series, similar heroics will be needed from Tudor as the home side attempt to topple the mighty world champions.

Four of the most distinguished names in cricket – Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Richard Hadlee, Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar – have accepted invitations to become international ambassadors for the 2003 Cricket World Cup, it was announced on Monday.All four volunteered their services after being approached by 2003 CWC executive director Ali Bacher and will visit South Africa for a two week-period during February and March 2003.They will visit schools, conduct coaching clinics, assist sponsorship drives and generally promote cricket during the tournament.Another "three or four" international ambassadors are to be invited, said Bacher, along with 20-25 prominent current and former South African sportsmen and women who will perform similar roles.Also announced on Monday were the venues where the various World Cup teams will be hosted during the tournament.The venues are: South Africa in Cape Town; West Indies in Bloemfontein; Sri Lanka in Kimberley; England in Port Elizabeth; Kenya in East London; India in Durban; Bangladesh in Pietermaritzburg; Pakistan in Johannesburg; Canada in Johannesburg; New Zealand in Centurion; Australia in Potchefstroom; Holland in Paarl; Namibia in Benoni; Zimbabwe in Harare/Bulawayo.Bacher said that hosts South Africa had been placed in Cape Town because they would be playing in the opening match of the tournament against either England or the West Indies on February 6.He said England would go to Port Elizabeth because of the historical associations of the city – South Africa played its first Test match against England in PE in 1889 while Australia had asked to be billetted in Potchefstroom at the recommendation of Allan Border who coached the Australian team in South Africa during the 1999 Youth World Cup.In other announcements on Monday, the names of 10 team liaison officers for the tournament were announced. The liaison officers are: Patrick Steytler (Kwazulu Natal), Collin Dettmer (Northerns), Michael Kaplan (Kwazulu Natal), Haroon Nosarka (Gauteng), Bruce Risien (Western Province), Lux Qoboshiyana (Border), Leon Coetzee (Eastern Province), Fezele Mguqulwa (Western Province), Pankie Mangisa (Gauteng), Sundra Reddy (Kwazulu Natal).A further two liaison officers have still to be appointed, said Bacher, and all would receive intensive training from Doug Russell and Gulam Rajah before taking up their positions.Bacher said that the World Cup policy committee had approved the following budgets: R8-million for safety and security during the tournament R6.9-million to improve playing and practice facilities at the 12 World Cup venues in South Africa R5.6-million for the improvement of the sound systems at the 12 venues. R650 000 for the provision of emergency electricity generators at the venues in the event of power failures.He also said that the International Tour Operator for the tournament would be a consortium consisting of Gullinjet Sports Travel (London), Edusport Travel (South Africa) and Autshumatu Investments Pty Ltd (South Africa). Autshumatu Investments is a black empowerment company and will provide the executive director of the consortium.