After losing by an innings and 77 runs to Barbados in their opening match of the Carib Beer Cup, India ‘A’ bounced back in their second game, thanks largely to their batsmen, who saw them to a first-innings total of 450.Although the game is unlikely to be won by the tourists, who batted two whole days out of four, the runs are likely to boost confidence in the batting line-up ahead of the four games remaining before the semi-finals.Leeward Islands, surprisingly, asked India ‘A’ to take first strike at Grove Park, Charlestown, Nevis. They would have regretted their decision at the end of the first day, when their rivals reached 164 for one after rain interrupted play several times and finally ended it with only 47.4 overs bowled.The position was due in large part to openers Gautam Gambhir and Akash Chopra. Chopra hit 79 and was the first wicket to fall, caught behind off fast bowler Carl Simon. Gambhir continued into the second day with Connor Williams for company and was unlucky to miss out on his century, bowled by Adam Sanford for 98.Captain VVS Laxman, who made a duck in both innings against Barbados, did not do much better here, managing just four. When he fell, shortly after Williams did for 41, India ‘A’ looked to have squandered the advantage. But young tyro Ambati Rayudu hit up 84 of the best and brightest, and Abhijit Kale made 80, holding the lower middle order together.India ‘A’ were bowled out for 450, made in 139.5 overs, towards the end of the second – also rain-interrupted – day. For Leeward Islands, Simon and offie Omari Banks picked three wickets apiece.

New Zealand cricket fans could struggle for live television coverage of the TelstraClear Black Caps’ forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka.Negotiations are continuing, and may continue right up until the day before the first Test match is due to start on Anzac Day, April 25.SKY Television producer James Cameron said today that heavy expenditure involved in bringing the World Cup in for New Zealand viewers had hit the coverage budget.However, he was hopeful that all was not lost in securing coverage.The cricket budget year ends on June 30.Cameron said there would be live coverage from New Zealand’s tour to India next season, and there would also be live coverage of New Zealand’s tour to England next year.There would also be cricket still available on SKY this year with highlights packages available from England, for the seven Test matches to be played there and for the NatWest Challenge and NatWest Series of One-Day Internationals.There was also a possibility that Australia’s mid-winter Tests against Bangladesh in Darwin and Cairns might also be telecast here.

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.

England v Zimbabwe, 2nd Test, Chester-le-Street, Day 3Congratulations to Riverside for its maiden Test match. A pity it did not last longer, but trigger-happy umpires had something to do with that. The crowd provided a good atmosphere, apart from the idiotic and irresponsible hurling of rubbish into the air during its Mexican waves.Dion Ebrahim has been given a long run in the Zimbabwean team without too much to show for it at times – certainly more than those enjoyed by more experienced players such as Craig Wishart, Gavin Rennie and Trevor Gripper. His one-day record, except against Bangladesh, is still poor, but he has played some gritty Test innings and might well have a Test century to his credit had he not been sawn off in the nineties in India just over a year ago.And sawn off he was again, twice, adjudged lbw, at the Riverside. An inside-edge in the first innings did not spare him from David Orchard’s finger; in the second, the trigger-happy Darrell Hair failed to appreciate that the ball was missing leg stump. Both errors were clear on television.But at least in the second innings Ebrahim had the opportunity to display his fighting skills with a gritty 55. Zimbabwe, their morale shattered by their first-innings collapse, had to follow-on and needed somebody to lay anchor and yet keep the score moving at the same time. Ebrahim did both superbly.He has suffered in the past from the jibes of other Zimbabweans who have resented the favouritism shown him by the selectors. One of the nicest of men, he deserved better than that and not even his detractors could claim it was his fault. Now, hopefully, he can show enough form and consistency in the future to justify his place.Grant Flower has had a disappointing Test series in England again, with only 71 runs in eight completed innings in the country. He had a good decision from Hair, given not out to an appeal for a catch at the wicket off his forearm, but next ball played a bad, diagonal-bat shot outside off stump to drag the ball on to his wicket.Just to emphasise Zimbabwe’s appalling fortunes, Heath Streak fell victim to cricket’s most unfair law: run out backing up exactly as he should have done, and then finding the bowler fortuitously knocking a straight drive – which he should have caught – on to the stumps at the bowler’s end. Is there nobody else out there who sees this as a law that needs to be changed? There is very rarely any doubt as to whether the knock-on by the bowler is intentional or not.It was good to see another fine second innings from Travis Friend. Now he must learn to do it first time round, under pressure. The same can be said for most of the team.As for the umpiring, it didn’t change the result, but it certainly shortened the match and destroyed it as a contest. Even the most respected members of the ICC elite panel have had bad matches. How much longer are we going to wait for the ICC to bite the bullet and allow technology to assist in eliminating avoidable errors?

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

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

Michael Vaughan has been appointed as England’s new Test captain after an emotional Nasser Hussain stood down at the end of the first Test at Edgbaston. Hussain keeps his place in the team for the second Test at Lord’s starting on Thursday, with England’s selectors naming an unchanged XI.Hussain, 35, explained that he had “grown tired” after four years as captain. This announcement comes less than five months after he resigned the one-day captaincy following England’s World Cup exit.Hussain told the post-match news conference at Edgbaston that he felt the time was right to hand over to Vaughan. “I feel it is coming to a slight change in era,” he said “I think Michael has shown in the last few months that he is a very capable leader and that’s what I have been waiting for. There are some good lads playing under him and the last thing they want is a tired leader.”It’s not the sort of job where you just take the cash and plod on and stand at mid-off. I’ve always felt it’s the sort of job where you have to give it everything. After last winter the stuff that went on off the field and on the field in Australia there were a lot of difficult times. I’ve tried to play these mental games but I found myself out there on Thursday not the kind of captain I wanted.”Hussain, who at times appeared close to tears, dismissed suggestions that he no longer had the full backing of his team-mates. “I never felt I had lost the team,” he insisted. “I never walked out on the field without everyone’s support. A lot of stuff has been written and spoken. I have always had 100% support. It has been nice to have had them [players] behind me.”The captaincy always affects your game. Every England captain will say that. As far as batting goes I am happy to take my chances. You get runs, you get picked, if not you go off to county cricket. I’ve taken the decision, now it’s up to others.”He insisted that he was keen to continue playing for England for as long as the selectors picked him. “I’ll play and get some runs but if David Graveney rings and says I’m not needed I’ll go off and do something else.”I had a chat with the chairman of selectors this morning, I left the coach out of it. Basically I just want to go back to being a batsman, picking my bat up and batting if I’m good enough to stay in the Test side. I’d love to carry on playing, I’d love to play 100 Test matches. I just want to be treated like how I’ve treated my players in the last few years.””I’ve had many highlights … any moments where we have won and been together have been good. Any little plan that comes off cheers you up.I have been thinking about this since the end of the World Cup. No one then knew who the real successor was – now we have seen Vaughan.”Asked how he would like to be remembered, Hussain said it was as “someone who tried his hardest at all times, someone whose players played for him, not someone who did it just because there was a few quid involved.”Hussain admitted that the wear-and-tear of the job had taken its toll.”Four-and-a-bit years in the job can be a bit repetitive and it tests you mentally. I just felt I wasn’t on the boil. I just felt it was time for someone else to do it.”He hinted that the split captaincy, with Vaughan leading the one-day side, had made his position harder. “It was very difficult for me – my style of captaincy had been about aggression. On my first day back it was very difficult for me to stand up there and do something different to Michael.”Review: The best England captain since Brearley
Wisden Comment

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.

Lt-Gen. Tauqir Zia, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has over-ruled the selection of his son to lead the national under-23 team in the Emerging Nations Cup, in the light of considerable media criticism which accused the selectors of neoptism.Junaid Zia, 19, was chosen as captain of the team by the selectors, headed by Aamer Sohail, to play in the triangular tournament featuring India and Sri Lanka in Colombo later this month.But the day after the announcement, Tauqir, who retired from the army lastweek, overturned the selection of his son, saying he was too young to leadthe side. Sohail quoted Tauqir in a statement as saying: “I respect the decision of the selectors, but in my opinion Junaid is too young to handle a team.” Sohail announced that Qaisar Abbas would now lead the side, and Junaid would be vice-captain.Junaid was also controversially picked for the current one-day series against Bangladesh, ahead of some other notable performers, a decision which also went down badly in the national press. Junaid failed to take any wickets in his first match at Multan, but took 3 for 21 in the second ODI at Faisalabad.Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistan captain, said he felt sorry for Junaid: “His selection was unjustified but I feel sorry for the youngster, it’s not his fault, it’s up to the selectors to realise that others are better than him.”

Grant Flower’s return has strengthened Zimbabwe’s squad, who return to Australia, to take part in the VB Series against Australia and India, starting next month. Flower missed the earlier Test tour due to a broken finger.Also returning is Douglas Hondo, who damaged a thigh muscle before the Test series against Australia started, and wasn’t able to play. Heath Streak will captain the side with Tatenda Taibu as his vice-captain.Streak said the one-day series was another opportunity for the talented young players in the Zimbabwe squad to develop their skills. He said, “we know that this tournament will be another step up in terms of intensity against the teams that met in the final of the World Cup in March.”Geoff Marsh, the Zimbabwe coach, welcomed Flower back to the side. “He and players like Heath Streak, Stuart Carlisle and Craig Wishart form a group with more than 500 one-day international caps between them. Add the talent of younger players like Taibu, Andy Blignaut, Raymond Price, Mark Vermeulen, Sean Ervine, Travis Friend and Douglas Hondo and we have a squad that is capable of doing well against two of the best one-days teams in the world.Zimbabwe open their tour with a match at Perth against Australia A on New Year’s Day with another match against Australia A in Adelaide on January 7, following a January 4 match against Western Australia. Their first VB Series game is a day-night match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 11.Squad 1 Heath Streak (capt), 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Mark Vermeulen, 4 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 5 Craig Wishart, 6 Stuart Carlisle, 7 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 8 Andy Blignaut, 9 Sean Ervine, 10 Grant Flower, 11 Travis Friend, 12 Douglas Hondo, 13 Blessing Mahwire, 14 Ray Price.