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New South Wales 4 for 255 (Bevan 110*, Katich 53) trail Tasmania 322 (Dighton 69, Clingeleffer 53, Mason 51, Lee 5-124) by 67 runs
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A Michael Beavan hundred put New South Wales in a solid position at the end of the seocnd day of their Pura Cup match against Tasmania at the SCG. Bevan hit an unbeaten 110 to guide NSW to 4 for 255 in reply to Tasmania’s first innings of 322.As debate rages over whether Martin Love, Michael Clarke, Darren Lehmann or Brad Hodge should replace Steve Waugh in the Australian Test team next summer, Bevan proved he remained one of the most prolific batsmen in the country.He’s never even mentioned as a Test candidate these days, but with an average of 76 in the Pura Cup last season, a wealth of international one-day experience, more than 9,000 first-class runs, renowned calmness under pressure and limitless ambition, his claims are probably as good as anyone’s.Supposedly suspect against the short ball, Bevan pulled a bouncer from the sharpish Andrew Downton to reach his 59th first-class century. It was his 25th first-class ton at the SCG, three more than Sir Donald Bradman and Alan Kippax.Still a regular in the Australian limited-overs side, Bevan said at the start of the season he hadn’t given up hope of wearing the baggy green cap again. He’s probably on the wrong side of 30 years of age, though. While Steve Rixon, NSW’s coach, can count on Bevan in a mini-crisis, he must be pulling his hair out over Mark Waugh.Waugh, having one last season before retirement, came up with another frustratingly short but sweet innings when his side needed something more substantial. Blessed with all the natural talent in the world and a long and illustrious Test career, Waugh was expected to be a force to be reckoned with as NSW attempted to defend the Cup this season.Arriving at the crease at 3 for 99, Waugh got off the mark first ball with a trademark flick off his legs to the fence, then peeled off four more quick boundaries to reach 20 in a hurry. He didn’t have a hair out of place.But on 28, when he was making it all look so easy, he missed a seemingly innocuous ball from medium-pacer Adam Griffith to be clean bowled.NSW were rescued from the perils of 2 for 29 by Simon Katich (53) and Bevan in a 70-run partnership. Bevan and Waugh put on 61, then Bevan and Dominic Thornely conspired to put on 95 runs late in the day.Brett Lee finished with 5 for 124 from 30 overs in a promising effort ahead of his certain Test recall next week. Rightly or wrongly, there’s little hope of Bevan joining him.

Annual General MeetingNotice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union will be held in the VIP Pavilion, Harare Sports Club on Saturday 26 July 2003 at 9.00 am.Agenda1. To record attendance / apologies2. To receive delegates’ credentials3. To read and confirm or otherwise deal with the minutes of the last annual general meeting held on 27 July 2002.4. To receive and consider the annual report5. To receive and consider the audited balance sheet and accounts6. To consider applications for affiliation (if any)7. To receive the names of the board of directors as per the constitution.8. To elect a patron, life presidents and life vice-presidents.9. To appoint auditors10. To receive nominations from affiliated associations for the selection committee.11. To transact such special business of which due notice shall have been given.12. To transact general business

Frizzell County Championship Division OneWarwickshire v Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston
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Kevin Pietersen and Chris Cairns carried on where they left off yesterday, with more brutal batting as they launched a huge first-innings score of 646 for Nottinghamshire. Both batsmen were not out overnight, and they shared a mammoth 273-run partnership for the fourth wicket as four Warwickshire bowlers went for 90 or over. Collins Obuya was one of those, but he did eventually have Pietersen caught and bowled for a whopping 221, including 27 fours and four sixes. Cairns went soon after for 104, and then Paul Franks had some fun with 62 not out from 77 balls. Starting their second innings 295 in arrears, Nick Knight led the Warwickshire fight-back with 85 not out as they closed on 138 for 1, with Ian Trott the one casualty.Kent v Sussex at Tunbridge Wells
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A rapid 45 from Robin Martin-Jenkins late in the day, along with another five-wicket haul from Mushtaq Ahmed (5 for 70), gave Sussex the edge in a tight game against Kent at Tunbridge Wells. Resuming the day on 188 for 5, Kent’s Geraint Jones carried on his good batting form with a quickfire 46 not out before he ran out of partners, three of whom fell victims to Mushtaq’s legspin. With a 36-run head-start in their second innings, Murray Goodwin (58) and Toney Cottey (52) built a solid lead for Sussex, but after those two fell in quick succession, Sussex lost to their way to 131 for 4. However, Martin-Jenkins got them back on the right path with a few lusty blows, as Sussex ended the day with a lead of 224 runs and 5 wickets remaining.Lancashire v Leicestershire at Liverpool
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Lancashire closed in on their second straight win of the season, against Leicestershire at Liverpool. After play eventually began in the afternoon session, both the Darrens – Maddy (85) and Stevens (65) – showed spirited resistance for Leicestershire, but after Maddy was caught of Gary Keedy (3 for 43), they slumped from 238 for 5 to 314 all out – and the follow-on was enforced. And in his last game for Lancashire this season, Carl Hooper picked up 3 for 30 in Leicestershire’ second effort, which ended on 130 for 5, still 59 behind.Middlesex v Essex at Lord’s
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A combination of Ravinder Bopara, Graham Napier and bad weather saved Essex from further embarrassment at Lord’s today. After yesterday’s dismal batting performance, Bopara (48) and Napier (44) shared a ninth-wicket stand of 79 to give Essex some sort of respect with a first-innings total of 166 all out, but still not nearly enough to avoid the follow-on. And only five overs were possible in their second attempt, in which they crept to 21 for 0 before rain stopped play at lunch.Frizzell County Championship Division TwoGlamorgan v Derbyshire at Swansea
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After rain cancelled out yet more time in this match, Robert Croft again led the way … this time with the ball as he took 5 for 61 for Glamorgan, as Derbyshire were left hanging on at 190 for 8. As Glamorgan’s captain, Croft opened up with himself, and it proved to be a good move as he worked his way through the Derbyshire top-order, most of whom all got starts, but could not convert them to the big score needed. Derbyshire closed still 205 in arrears, but time and the weather may prevent a Glamorgan win.Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire at Gloucester
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Northamptonshire made a mockery of the Division Two standings with a dominating performance against Gloucestershire. Northants, bottom of the table, put the joint leaders through their paces at Gloucester as Andre Nel blasted out five wickets, including Mark Alleyne for a golden duck, after play resumed in the afternoon. Martyn Ball battled out a creditable 53, but it wasn’t nearly enough to save Gloucestershire from batting again. Resuming on a dispiriting 392 runs behind Northants, Gloucestershire reached 66 for 1, and will either need another downpour or a better batting display to save them from defeat.Hampshire v Durham at Southampton
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No play today due to rainSomerset v Worcestershire at Bath
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Due to the waterworks in Bath, Worcestershire had only 48 overs in which to continue their crusade to a third consecutive victory, against Somerset, who will be grateful for more of the same bad weather tomorrow. Following on at 19 for 0, Somerset made steady progress but lost three wickets in their second-innings total of 144, with Jamie Cox (35*) and Michael Burns (33*) well set, but still 156 behind Worcestershire.Click here for yesterday’s County Championship review

The Valley, Anguilla Having surrendered their cup title, Barbados will try to restore some pride over the next four days.They will be seeking a place in the semifinals of the International Shield when they oppose the Leeward Islands in a sixth round Busta Series match at the Ronald Webster Park starting today.Barbados, sixth among the eight teams in the standings with 24 points, face a tall order if they are to progress to the International Shield, which is contested by the top four teams at the end of the preliminary phase.They will need to beat the Leeward Islands this weekend and the West Indies ‘B’ next weekend and then hope that other results go in their favour.Leewards, second on 39 points, have always been one of the most feared teams at regional level, but recent history points to Barbados having a chance in the Leewards’ backyard.Last season, when Barbados were desperately trying to stay in contention for the cup, they toppled the Leewards at Grove Park in Nevis, with Ryan Hinds, known more for his batting, setting up the victory with a regional record match haul of 15 wickets.Two seasons earlier, Barbados beat the Leewards at Webster Park, with another left-arm orthodox spinner, Winston Reid, snatching a career-best eight-wicket haul in the first innings.The Leewards have had a tendency to have difficulties against spinners who turn the ball away from right-handed batsmen, and Barbados are likely to recall left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn in place of off-spinner Ryan Austin.Fast bowler Tino Best, who was asked to sit out the last match against Bangladesh ‘A’ following the return of four West Indies selectees, is also tipped to feature in Barbados’ first four-pronged fast bowling attack in a few seasons.Barbados will also be closely monitoring the other matches.They will be hoping that Jamaica, the cup champions-in-waiting, secure maximum points against fourth-placed Trinidad and Tobago.Barbados will also want bottom-of-the-table Bangladesh ‘A’ to deny fifthplaced Windward Islands and for seventh-placed West Indies ‘B’ to avoid defeat against Guyana.Standings:Jamaica 51, Leeward Islands 39, Guyana 36, Trinidad and Tobago 33, Windward Islands 30, Barbados 24, West Indies ‘B’ 12, Bangladesh ‘A 10.

For the last two or three seasons, Zimbabwe’s pace attack has consisted of Heath Streak – when fit – and two or three ineffective back-up seamers who seem to bowl at least two four-balls every over and have about as much chance of earning a wicket as Saddam Hussain has of winning the Nobel Peace Prize.Perhaps this is rather harsh, but a look at many of the opposition totals during that time shows clearly the weakness of the Zimbabwean `attack’ – South Africa 600 for three in five sessions in Harare is one example. But now two young players in Andy Blignaut and Douglas Hondo are progressing beyond the cannon-fodder stage to take their place alongside their captain as bowlers of genuine international quality.Douggie Hondo in particular has started his first tour of England with a bang. He took a bagful of wickets against the British Universities in the first match and then, against Worcestershire, three in one over to turn the course of the innings.Douggie is not the quickest of bowlers, but he moves the ball predominantly away from the bat and can coax surprising bounce out of flat pitches. He has had some experience of English conditions before, after playing two seasons for Lydney in 1999 and 2000.Douggie is a very laidback character: “nothing fazes him,” said one of his team-mates. “He’s the Bob Marley of the side – his hairstyle, not his smoking habits!””It started off very cold,” Douggie says of the Universities match at Edgbaston, Birmingham, “so it took me a long time to warm up and get into it. But when I started hitting line and length, it was no different to any other match. I bowl a bit fuller here (at Worcester).”At Worcester, Zimbabwe lost the toss and had to field on a pitch that had already been used and showed definite wear at one end. “It was doing quite a lot,” he says, “but we started off bowling too short, so we didn’t get the batsmen fishing around for it. But whenever we pitched it up, it looked like something was going to happen. Sometimes things just don’t click together, but when they did we got the wickets. `Blidge’ (Andy Blignaut) bowled well in spells and so did the two spinners (Raymond Price and Grant Flower).”Geoff Marsh keeps things simple for his team and his game plan for the Worcestershire innings was simply, “Take all your chances and get one run-out. Bowl in your channels.” Douggie’s channel was off stump, moving the ball away towards the slips.Douggie bowled without effect for quite a while. Worcestershire were coasting at 187 for three. Then Douggie struck, seaming the first ball of the over away off the pitch; Kadeer Ali played defensively at it but only succeeded in edging it to wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu.New batsman Andrew Hall took a single and Ben Smith, on 53, blocked the third ball of the over. Douggie again got the fourth ball to seam away off the pitch, Smith pushed at it and again Taibu accepted the catch. Gareth Batty came in and departed first ball, beaten and bowled all ends up by a pinpoint yorker. “Don’t give a batsman a chance when he comes in,” Douggie grins.Not surprisingly, Vikram Solanki, Worcestershire’s top scorer with 74, impressed Douggie the most with the bat. “He looked the most solid of all the players,” Douggie says. But Solanki did throw away his wicket unnecessarily, stumped as he leapt down the pitch to try to hit Raymond Price out of the ground. “Pressure,” says Douggie. “That’s what we were trying to do, keep him under pressure.”Did he bowl any differently to Solanki? “The same,” says Douggie, but then admits he did adjust his length a little. “He started looking to drive (off the front foot), so I tried to force him back a bit and he wasn’t quite there.”The pitch continued to move around throughout the day, and Zimbabwe in turn struggled, finishing the day on 69 for three. Most of the movement for Douggie was off the pitch: “I’m more of a seamer, but I swung a few.” The Worcestershire pace bowlers appeared more dangerous than the Zimbabwean seamers, even Douggie for much of his 13-over spell – he took three for 53.But Douggie did find himself struggling a bit with the variable weather during the day. It began bright and sunny, but clouded over on and off throughout the day, and when it was cloudy it was quite cold. “It made me struggle a bit when it got cold,” he says. “I had to warm myself up to bowl. I become a bit more chirpy when the sun is out.””They kept the pressure on us,” Douggie compliments them. “And we stuck it out – kind of!” Grant Flower, who scored a century against the Universities, struggled to make 18. “You have your days; everyone has their days,” Douggie says philosophically. Zimbabweans will be hoping that their genial assassin will have more `days’ on this England tour.

Young NSW batsman Michael Clarke will be aiming to score a century and lead his team to first innings points after a counter-punching partnership with Brad Haddin revived his team’s fortunes against South Australia today.The Blues finished day two of the Pura Cup cricket match at Adelaide Oval on 6-275, needing another 85 runs to take first innings points, with former Australian under-19 captain Clarke unbeaten on 94 and Don Nash on six.”Anyone who gets into the 90s wants to make 100 but that’s the least of my worries, we’re just looking to pass SA’s score,” Clarke said at the close of play today.In reply to SA’s 9(dec)-359, Clarke and Haddin came together with the score at 5-151 and NSW still in some danger of failing to reach the 210 needed to avoidthe follow-on.But an aggressive Haddin scored 55 in 61 balls, in an innings that included six boundaries and a six, before being caught at deep cover attempting to loft another boundary from leg-spinner Peter McIntyre.Clarke and Haddin shared a hard-hitting sixth-wicket stand of 110 in 89 minutes to take NSW to 6-261.Clarke’s 217-minute innings included 15 boundaries and he said the partnership with Haddin was enjoyable.”Brad was hitting the ball very well, I’ve opened with him in some of the one-day matches and he communicates well, he’s good to bat with,” Clarke said.He said a declaration some time tomorrow morning was likely if the Blues could overtake SA’s total.Opener Brett van Deinsen was also aggressive in his innings earlier in the day, hitting 11 boundaries and a six in his innings of 60.But Michael Slater, demoted to No.3 in the batting order, continued his shocking run of form, managing just 10 runs in an unusually subdued 46-minute inningsbefore being trapped lbw attempting to pull Paul Rofe.McIntyre and Rofe each finished the day with two wickets.Earlier, SA all-rounder Bradley Young scored his highest first-class score of 122 before SA declared its first innings, with NSW left arm paceman Nathan Bracken taking four wickets.

He may not have been in the most prime form when playing for India, but returning to domestic cricket was akin to a homecoming for VVS Laxman, and he proved it in full by striking a century on the first day of Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda on Tuesday.Winning the toss, the hosts put Hyderabad in to bat, and they must have been pleased when the first wicket fell with 19 on the board. Thereafter, although wickets fell regularly, Laxman dominated the crease with his unique brand of strokeplay.Putting on 95 runs for the fifth wicket with D Vinay Kumar (41), Laxman played a striking knock, hitting 101 before being caught behind. His century must come as a clarion call to the national selectors who, although dropping him from the one-day side, will find it hard to resist pencilling his name into the Test squad against Zimbabwe.For Baroda, Zaheer Khan took five wickets, and he too called attention to himself, particularly after many commentators argued for his presence in at least one of the recently concluded one-day series against England.Hyderabad were bowled out for 290 in 79.1 overs, and Baroda then proceeded to play out eight overs before stumps, reaching a score of 21 for no loss.

Watkinson has played down suggestions that he is in line to succeed Duncan Fletcher, after accepting the position of assistant coach for this winter’s tour of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Watkinson, who played four Tests and a solitary one-day international between 1995 and 1996, is currently the Lancashire coach. While he is unlikely to go to the Caribbean next March because of his county commitments, his specific role this winter is to look after the bowlers. And he’ll certainly have a job on his hands considering the amount of cricket coming up, along with the injury-prone nature of the typical English bowler.”Duncan is looking for an assistant coach who can give him allround support and who can offer specific knowledge with bowling,” said Watkinson. “This is going to be a tour of seam and spin, and my background gives me strengths in that regard.”But he insisted he was not going to be treading on anyone’s toes: “I am not looking at it as a road to get to someone’s job, but it is nice to think you are held in some regard. I’m treating it as a one-off because it is a quieter period in my job with Lancashire. The club is happy about it and is supporting me and will make all the suitable arrangements.”When Duncan rang me about it, it caught me cold, but I am very pleased and looking forward to it – I suppose an added factor is that two of Lancashire’s bowlers are on the trip.”England have not had a fulltime bowling coach since Graham Dilley’s stint during the 2002-03 Ashes series. Troy Cooley took on the job part-time this summer, but he will be joining forces with Rod Marsh at the Academy in Loughborough.

Two brilliant knocks from Khaled Mashud Pilot and Anisur Rahman had posted Rajshahi Division well into a commanding position after day-3 of Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 3rd National League. Their opponent Khulna Division is fighting to evade the looming innings defeat with 147 for 4 at the close of the day.Rajshahi had amassed 536 runs for 8 wickets when their swaggering skipper Khaled Masud decided to declare the innings against a Khulna first innings total of 239. Masud hammered the second double century (201 not out) in the League (Minhajul Abedin got the first one) with good support he got from Anisur Rahman (107) and the Shamimul Haque (43).Masud, the skipper and wicket keeper of Bangladesh National team, has added more 144 runs to his overnight tally. To reach the double figure he sent the ball 18 times to score boundaries and chose the aerial for a single occasion. Thanks to his fifth wicket stand with Anisur Rahman that procured Rajshahi 155 runs.With Shamimul he summed up another 108 runs in the next wicket and declared the innings soon after he reached his double hundred.Khulna Division suffered a middle order collapse after a good start. Sajjadul Hasan (45) and Nahidul Haque (43) set in motion auspiciously as they gathered up 88 runs in the opening stand.However, after Nahidul’s departure Khulna middle order crumbled miserably as they lost the next 3 wickets in quick succession. At stumps they were pulling out all the stops on 147/4 with Hasanuzzaman (31) and Asadullah Khan (19) on the crease.

Essex gained a draw from this match that had seemed so unlikely at the start of play and they were indebted to a magnificent unbeaten century from Paul Grayson who single-handedly dented Lancashire’s hopes of the victory that would have eased their relegation fears.The Essex opener batted for eight-and-a-quarter hours to reach 186 when the visitors finally called off the chase. He had faced 372 deliveries and struck 21 boundaries in a display of admirable composure and self-restraint that composed additional virtues of studious defence.This was the 31-year-old’s fifth championship century of the season and formed the bedrock of his side’s successful survival attempt. They had begun the day still needing 77 runs to make Lancashire bat again and when skipper Ronnie Irani was out in the third over of the day, the home side’s task looked invidious.But Grayson possessed other thoughts and he found an immediate stubborn partner in James Foster with whom he added 63 runs before the Essex wicket-keeper gave Andrew Flintoff the first of his three wickets on the day.At lunch with only five wickets remaining, then home side were just nine runs ahead and although Lancashire were inspired by the capture of Graham Napier’s wicket within half an hour of the resumption, further progress became altogether sporadic.All the time, Grayson remained unperturbed and an invaluable partnership of 86 in 28 overs with Ashley Cowan proved significant. Cowan finally fell to Flintoff, but by that time, Essex were 109 runs ahead.Tim Mason occupied the crease for 11 overs with Grayson to frustrate the visitors’ attack with skipper John Crawley ringing the changes frequently but time was ebbing away rapidly when Chris Schofield removed Mason as Essex had neutered their opponents’ earlier imposing position.Lancashire called off the hunt at 5.20 to leave Grayson accepting all the plaudits for his outstanding resolute performance.