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.

50 overs Australia 5 for 205 (Gilchrist 75, Symonds 73) beat India 203 (Yuvraj 47, Lee 3-22) by five wickets
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Brett Lee’s searing spell in the morning set the tone and the Adam Gilchrist-Andrew Symonds pair completed the dominance as Australia walloped India by five wickets with 18 overs to spare at the WACA in Perth. After Lee had caused India all sort of problems, they did well to muster 203, and when Australia lost three early wickets aupset was briefly on the cards. But then a whirlwind partnership between Gilchrist (75) and Symonds (73) left them bereft of ideas and completely battered.The two came together when Michael Clarke (2) had attempted to drive through the covers and edged a simple catch to Virender Sehwag at first slip (3 for 37). Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn had already departed to acrobatic catches; Rohan Gavaskar pulling off a reflex grab diving to his right and VVS Laxman stretching full-length at second slip (2 for 16).Gilchrist was dropped in the second over of the innings, slashing wildly at a wide ball from Ajit Agarkar, and what a costly miss that proved for the Indians. In the next over from Irfan Pathan he pierced the field with a similar slash and followed it up with a rollicking six over backward square leg. Agarkar and Pathan served up some wide half-volleys and he blitzed a few sizzling square-drives. Going down on one knee, Gilchrist used the full arc of the bat and pounded the fence with regularity.Once Symonds came in, India were bombarded from both ends. Barring Lakshmipathy Balaji, who bowled a very accurate spell in the face of brutal hitting, the rest sprayed it around and played into the batsmen’s hands. Symonds received half-volleys with plenty of width and smashed them freely through cover. Neither batsmen ducked when the ball was pitched short, and just swivelled back and swatted it away. Symonds took a special liking to Murali Kartik and deposited one of his flighted balls onto the rooftop at midwicket. The 15.1 overs that they batted produced 122 runs before Symonds pulled Pathan to midwicket and Laxman caught a sharp chance (4 for 159). Gilchrist hit 11 fours and a six and Symonds smashed 11 fours and two mighty sixes. Gilchrist fell soon after, top-edging a cut to Balaji at third man (5 for 165), but Michael Hussey (17), on debut, and Simon Katich (18) ensured that the target was reached without further alarms.Earlier in the day, India had been restricted to 203 largely due to a blistering spell of fast bowling from Lee (3 for 22). Clearing the 150 kph mark with ease, Lee troubled all the batsmen by mixing up his length while maintaining an accurate line. A few perished trying to jab and flirt with deliveries probing on the off-stump line. Sachin Tendulkar (5) got a peach of a ball that pitched on off and just seamed away a bit to clip the edge of the bat (1 for 20). Laxman (1) didn’t have too much of a clue in his short stay at the crease and edged a short ball fishing outside off (2 for 32). Sourav Ganguly, who might have regretted his decision to bat first, resorted to some wild swinging when he was peppered with the short stuff but fell victim as he poked at one that bounced steeply (4 for 57).Sehwag’s breezy 32, including some ferocious driving, and Yuvraj Singh’s 47 were primarily responsible for India posting a modest total. Yuvraj’s shot-selection was near perfect and he showed that the pitch wasn’t a vicious one by any means. He didn’t flinch when hit high on the arm by Brad Williams, and answered the very next ball with a glorious square-drive. He pasted Symonds to midwicket with a pull but fell soon after to the same bowler. He chased a wide one and handed Gilchrist an easy chance (8 for 142).Before this dismissal, Gavaskar’s off stump was cleaned up by a screaming straight one from Lee and Agarkar (9) was run out after a 39-ball struggle. The total was shored up by Kartik (32) and Pathan (20) who eked out some valuable runs, with Balaji (11) providing some good support at the end.Gilchrist and Symonds ensured that the total wasn’t even close to enough. No arguments about which team won the psychological brownie points before they clash again in the finals.

Middlesex’s plans for the 2004 season have been dealt a double blow with the news that Ashley Noffke and Anil Kumble won’t be joining them in 2004.Noffke will miss the entire season with a chronic back problem, having decided that he needs a complete rest to try and ease a long-standing complaint.And that was followed by Middlesex’s admission that their plans to sign Anil Kumble had been vetoed as the Indian board decided his international commitments were too great."We had sorted things out with Anil before Christmas but didn’t announce his signing because we were awaiting clearance from the board, Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s secretary told the BBC. “It was disappointing that it became public knowledge before any permission was given … but we perfectly understand the BCCI’s and Anil’s decision.”

Many psychological battles are raging ahead of India’s upcoming tour to Pakistan. While Sourav Ganguly has proclaimed that the Pakistan bowling attack is not as formidable as its predecessors, Javed Miandad and Rashid Latif have delivered counter-punches.Speaking at a corporate function in Delhi, Ganguly said, “They have a good bowling department. But just being fast doesn’t help. They should have quality. The present lot of Pakistani speedsters are not of the class of Wasim Akram who could swing the ball both ways. We have little to worry from them.” A few days back Ganguly had gone to the extent of saying, ” … even if we play [at] 60% of our game, we will win the Pakistan series.”But Ganguly has to contend with fierce salvos from the other side. Miandad has never been one to shirk a mental joust and the build-up to the series has him in the thick of things. When asked if the Pakistan team needed a bowling or fielding coach or a psychologist to assist them, Miandad said, “I don’t need anybody’s help now because I believe no one can perform miracle[s] in such a short time.”Miandad added, “All the cricketers have come through a process and now they don’t need training of a preliminary level.”Miandad is not alone in this regard. Latif, the former Pakistan captain, branded the Indian team as “under-achievers”. Latif told , “They are not the favourites for this series. If you look at their recent record, they have not achieved anything notable in Tests and in one-day internationals, they have choked in the big matches.”And he also said that the Indians, at times, tended to take a negative approach. “You can count the number of occasions when they have bowled out sides twice in a Test. Which is why they have not won many Tests or series. Plus they are prone to playing negative cricket.” He spoke about how India did not have the confidence to enforce the follow-on after scoring 700 runs at Sydney, “even though Australia was struggling with its bowling”.”In comparison, look at Pakistan’s record. It may be an unpredictable team but it has won more Tests and ODIs in the last four five years simply because it has had the bowling to bowl out sides twice. Secondly, Pakistan has no big superstar but plays like a unit with every player capable of turning in a match winning performance.”He finished with a flourish as he said, “Pakistan has another edge over them [India] — Inzamam-ul-Haq commands his place in the team on pure performance alone and not simply because he is the captain.”

Despite dominating for the first two days, Sri Lanka ultimately capitulated rather meekly. Here is what Hashan Tillakaratne, their captain, had to say after the disappointing defeat:

His take on the match: We dominated the first two days and I thought they fought very hard and played very good cricket from the third day onwards. We shouldn’t get rattled; we must get together and pull up our socks in the next two games. The batsmen are experienced enough to come back and make a big contribution.On where the match turned around: We could have got more runs on the first session of the third day. I thought we played a little negative cricket [during that period]. The one-and-a-half hours [in the morning session] we just relaxed a bit as we knew we had 130 on the board before we started the third day.Our bowling in the second innings was not all that good. The support bowling for Murali wasn’t all that good, and we gave them too many boundary balls. The Australians adapted very well to the turning track.On Sri Lanka’s capitulation on the fifth day: On the fifth day the wicket was bad, there was so many rough patches on that track. The first session was very vital. We lost five wickets for 90. From there it was very difficult to save a Test match.However, I think we made the pitch look difficult to bat on. We needed one of our top three batsmen to play a big innings so that the others could bat around him but that didn’t happen. I totally blame the batting for not saving the Test. You can survive on this track, [it’s] just that we were so casual in our approach and gave it to them on a platter.On his unusually aggressive approach with the bat: I thought of playing positively because we had lost six wickets already. If I had defended it would not have made a difference. So I thought I should try and take Warne on.

Bangladesh A won the deciding game of the five-match series after posting a challenging 240 for 8 in 40 overs. Zimbabwe lost wickets regularly and were all out for 188. Manjarul Islam played a pivotal role in both innings, first with his unbeaten 40, and then with two wickets that knocked the wind out of Zimbabwe A.Al Shahriar, opening the innings for Bangladesh, was at it again with his third consecutive fifty, and he partnered Alok Kapali in a third-wicket stand worth 46. Kapali’s all-boundary innings of 24 ended when Thinashe Panyangara trapped him in front of the stumps. Islam’s innings followed, and late order cameos boosted the team total.Trevor Gripper’s (35) dismissal highlighted the difference between himself and the other batsmen. After he fell, Zimbabwe’s batsmen all but surrendered, and only Richard Simms (36) showed the stomach for a fight. However, it required a greater collective effort if they were to win it. But Bangladesh’s spinners, Abdur Razzak, Jamaluddin, and Islam, denied them any chances, picking up two wickets each to restrict the team to 188.***Zimbabwe A levelled the five-match series at two-all with a 16-run victory over Bangladesh A after putting up 275 for 9. Faisal Hossain smashed an unbeaten 74 off 62 balls, but the constant fall of wickets left him short of partners at the end, and Bangladesh A got to 259 all out.Alester Maragwede, Zimbabwe A’s captain, elected to bat first. His openers justified the decision by putting on 67 within 10 overs before Abdur Razzak broke through, having Piet Rinke stumped. Brendon Taylor went on to 72, hitting eight fours and a six before being run out. Elton Chigambura then struck a half-century and struck a vital partnership with Richard Simms, who scored 49. Razzak was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh, with 4 from 54 from 10 overs.Bangladesh lost an early wicket, but Al-Shahriar struck his second consecutive fifty. A collapse followed his dismissal, but Hossain took over with his whirlwind knock and took his team close. His knock, which contained seven fours, earned him the match award.

There has been plenty of discussion about contracts and payments for Indiancricketers in the last few weeks and fancy numbers have been bandied aboutin various news reports. In all likelihood, the central-contract system will be in place by June and around 20 players will be selected for this purpose. Sadly for the domestic cricketers, however, the news of their impending pay rise was an exaggerated one.Professor Ratnakar Shetty, the joint secretary of the board, clarified this in Mumbai and said: “We had planned to implement the contract system before the Australia tour, but it didn’t work out. Then we went to Pakistan and there was no time.”The BCCI and the players have agreed on some basic principles,” added Shetty. “There will be not more than 20 centrally contracted players, in three grades, and the match-fee structure would be that those in the playing XI would get ‘X’ amount and the others would get half of that. The contracts will be valid for a year. If a player is injured in the period in which he is contracted, he will be protected by the contract.”If everything has already been agreed, then why hasn’t anything been implemented? “The legal document is yet to be drawn up,” explained Shetty. “This takes time because the lawyers from both sides have to put in their contributions. At the moment the contract that was presented by the players has been vetted by the Board’s lawyers and they have raised a few issues for discussion. We are at a stage when we are nearing the completion of thisprocess.”During India’s last tour of England, in 2002, a contract crisis of a different kind erupted with the players having to sign ICC contracts in which certain clauses required them to break existing personal contracts. At the time the lack of a player’s association was a moot point, as the original association was defunct, and this gave birth to the Indian Cricket Players’ Association.But, has this association actually played a part in sorting out the central contract system? “I don’t think they [ICPA] have had a role to play because it has been a direct interaction with the players,” said Shetty, who has been associated with the contract process for the last three years.”Initially we used to discuss only with Anil [Kumble], Sachin [Tendulkar], Sourav [Ganguly] and Rahul [Dravid] but, at the last meeting, which was held in October 2003 in Delhi, we invited Virender [Sehwag], Harbhajan [Singh] and Zaheer [Khan] also. Mr Dalmiya wanted to speak to the players and find out what the common points of interest were with regard to the contracts. So, it was these seven cricketers who were actually involved in the modalities of finalising the contract.That done, the time will soon come to decide which grade each player is to be awarded. “The selection committee will choose the 20 players who willbe awarded contracts,” said Shetty. “Then there will be another committeethat decides who fits in which grade. The value of a players, in terms ofhis performance in the previous season and his seniority would be taken intoconsideration when deciding which grade he falls into.”With no international cricket on at the moment, the players and the boardhave a window of opportunity to sit down and sort this matter out once andfor all. And, it’s likely that India will have centrally contracted cricketers for the first time in its history, by June, well in time for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, the senior team’s next assignment.Shetty also clarified that the recent news about domestic cricketers getting a massive pay hike – upto Rs 52,000 per match – was just a false dawn. Shetty said that player would recieve Rs 4000 per match day, an equivalent amount would go into his benevolent fund account.Therefore, someone playing in a four-day Ranji match would recieve a paymentof Rs.16,000. The same amount would also go into his benevolent fund account, and this sum accrues till his retirement, when he gets his total dues.”The board took a decision last year that 26% of the gross income of the board will be used for payment of cricketers. Of this, 13% will be used for domestic cricketers and 13% for international cricketers. Accordingly the payment scheme for domestic cricketers has already been implemented,” explained Shetty. “Of the 13%, 10.4% will be used for senior cricket and the remaining for junior cricket.”The formula that has been worked out for domestic cricket is Rs 4000 per player per match day. This they get in cash and an equal amount goes to the benevolent fund. This is a formula which has already been implemented.”Recent media reports suggested that senior players stood to gain more than their less-experienced counterparts, but Shetty put that myth to rest. “There is nothing like graded payment for domestic cricket. All members of the playing eleven – irrespective of seniority – will get the same amount and the non-playing members of the squad will get 50% of this.”

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Andrew Strauss became only the fourth player to score a Test century on debut at Lord’s to put England on top in the first Test. After New Zealand were bowled out for 386 shortly before lunch, boosted by a whirlwind innings from Chris Cairns, Strauss scored a memorable 112 on his home ground, and put on 190 with Marcus Trescothick as England closed on a healthy 246 for 2.Apart from that thumping thunderbolt of a knock by Cairns – 82 from 47 balls – in which time he went past Viv Richards for the most sixes ever hit in Tests, it was unquestionably England’s day. Stephen Harmison helped wrap up the tail with three quick wickets in the morning, and then Trescothick and the impressive Strauss put their side in control with a commanding batting display.It couldn’t have gone much better for Strauss, who joined several exclusive clubs. He became the first England player to score a hundred on Test debut since Graham Thorpe in 1993, and the first Middlesex player to do so for England at Lord’s (indeed no Englishman had ever scored a Test-debut century on his home ground before). He also became the second Englishman, behind John Hampshire, to score a debut ton on this ground, and the second Middlesex cricketer to make a century in his first Test match, after Pelham Warner against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1898-99.Strauss must have had a few extra nerves jangling when he came out to bat shortly before lunch. However, he was in good touch from the off and looked like an old hand. He was surprisingly assured for a debutant, driving well through the off side, and also quick to pick off anything on his legs. He was positive from the start, smacking Chris Martin through the covers, and then lifting him over gully for his half-century.His confidence then grew and grew, and Martin, in particular, came in for punishment as Stephen Fleming was left scratching his head for ideas to break Strauss’s impressive partnership with Trescothick. Strauss did have one spot of bother when, on 74, he was nearly run out by Mark Richardson at short leg after coming down the track to Daniel Vettori. He continued to make good progress towards his century, but became stuck in the nervous nineties – and also survived an enormous slice of luck at 91, when he inside-edged Martin firmly onto his off stump, but the bails miraculously stayed put as the ball flew for four.He spent all of 40 minutes scratching around in the nineties, but it was worth the wait when he stroked Martin through the covers to start the celebrations. Strauss punched the air and took off his helmet as the crowd rose to their feet. He even got a handshake from Fleming, the New Zealand captain and a former Middlesex team-mate. His adventure finally came to an end, though, when he clipped Vettori, via his pad, to Richardson at short leg with four overs remaining (239 for 2).Strauss’s enthralling entrance to Test cricket rather overshadowed the captain Trescothick’s innings, which was all about timing and placement. As usual, he didn’t move his feet much, but waited for the ball to come to him. He got going by punching Daryl Tuffey down the ground for four, and then cut Jacob Oram to the boundary in the next over. Not even Cairns could repeat his earlier heroics with the ball, as he was cut and driven with ease. Trescothick then signalled his half-century, and the hundred partnership, with a crunching cover-drive off Martin. Trescothick received the applause, but he was quick to thank Strauss at the other end.However, Oram finally put a smile on the New Zealanders’ faces when Trescothick nibbled at an awayswinger through to Brendon McCullum, the wicketkeeper, for a captain’s innings of 86 (190 for 1).Mark Butcher survived a few close shouts for lbw before the close, but he played an important part in helping Strauss before finishing on 22 not out at the end of a good day’s work for England, started by Harmison under early gloomy skies. Harmison struck on his fifth ball of the day when Oram nicked him through to Geraint Jones for 67 (287 for 6). But just when England managed to get rid of one big hitter, another one, in the form of Cairns, strode to the crease with intent.

He walloped Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones all round Lord’s with some outrageous and extravagant strokes. But the fun really started as he approached a lightning half-century, which he notched up from only 37 balls by flicking Jones over midwicket. Jones was then deposited into the Mound Stand for six, and then Cairns somehow squirted Harmison over point for another. That shot took him to 84 Test sixes, equal with Richards at the top of the list.The six which took him clear was probably one of the highest of the 85, over square leg. For good measure, he hit the next one into the crowd over point. Andrew Flintoff did get his man the third time, when Cairns went for another big one, but scooped it down to fine leg, where Harmison took a good running catch to close the innings.Cairns’s cameo was all the more important considering the tumble of wickets around him. Tuffey, the nightwatchman, was bowled all ends up by Harmison (324 for 7), McCullum inside-edged a Jones half-tracker into his stumps (329 for 8), and Vettori also played on, to Harmison, for 2 (338 for 9).

Sri Lanka Cricket has officially launched the bid process for the sale ofits broadcasting and sponsorship rights for a four-year period starting inJan 2005. Prospective broadcasters and rights brokers must submit formalbids by July 22.Taj Television, the Dubai-based satellite broadcaster which has held SriLankan cricket rights since October 2001, is the early frontrunner in thebid process, having already indicated a willingness to table a record offer,said to be close to USD $ 35 million according to board sources.But Taj Television is also likely to face stiff competition, especially fromSony Max and ESPN Star, the other two Asian cricket broadcasters, becausethe four-year period will include three India visits, for one-day tri-seriesin 2005 and 2006 as well as a full tour in 2008.A three-year rights offer in 2003 flopped because Sri Lanka were unable toconfirm any India tours. The board was forced to abandon the sale untilIndia’s involvement had been secured. England and Australia, the other twomajor money-spinners in the cricket rights world, are also scheduled to tourSri Lanka during the contract period.Sri Lanka Cricket is hopeful that the sale of the rights will safeguard itsfinancial future after a difficult two years. The board faced possibleinsolvency after WSG Nimbus, a sports rights company, successfully sued theboard for unlawfully cancelling its contract in 2001. The board faces apossible US$ 6 million payout.

Brett Lee has been included in Australia’s 14-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy and the Videocon Trophy against Pakistan and India in Amsterdam, AAP has reported. But Adam Gilchrist will be missing from the first tournament, as his wife is expecting their second child, and will only play in the Champions Trophy. Brad Haddin will take his place for the Videocon Trophy.Lee underwent ankle surgery after sustaining an injury during a first-class game in Sri Lanka in March, and was out of cricket for more than three months, before rejoining the Australian squad for net practice at Cairns. He is also expected to visit the MRF Pace Foundation in an effort to prepare himself for the upcoming Test series against India.Allan Border, a selector, had said that Lee would be hard-pressed to reclaim his place after Michael Kasprowicz had performed well against Sri Lanka at both, home and away. In any case, Kasprowicz has been named in the squad as well, with Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie taking up the role of the senior fast bowlers. Brad Hogg is the sole specialist spinner, while Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds and Darren Lehmann will provide backup.Fox Sports website quoted Lee as saying: “I have been working really hard since the setback in Sri Lanka. After the initial disappointment of that injury, I focused all my energies into getting back for the ICC Champions Trophy, which is really the only one-day tournament that has so far eluded us. I guess the whole break has given me a chance to reflect on the past five years and assess where my career is.”The ankle feels fine, my body feels fresh and I just can’t wait to pull on an Australian uniform again.”The team, led by Ricky Ponting, is a formidable one even without Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill, and the batting line-up – consisting of Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Lehmann, Symonds, Clarke, and bowlers who can bat – makes for an intimidating presence on the field.It’s not news that Australia have dominated most Test teams in recent years, but in one-dayers, the gulf is even bigger. Since January 1, 2003, the team has won 44 out of 53 one-dayers, and with Pakistan starting under a new coach, and India struggling to find form, Australia are pretty much favourites for the Videocon Trophy, which begins on August 21.Squad Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist (wk), Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Ian Harvey, Brad Hogg, Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath.