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FAISALABAD, Oct 1: Scintillating centuries by opener Salman Butt and stand-in skipper Naved Latif laid the foundation of Pakistan ‘A’s comprehensive one-day series victory over Sri Lanka ‘A’ here Tuesday.Pakistan ‘A’ cantered to a 92-run triumph in the second game of the three-match rubber at Iqbal Stadium, following their win by 51 runs in the opening tie at Multan last week.Salman (113) and Naved (116) helped Pakistan ‘A’ to a massive 326 for three in 50 overs. Sri Lanka ‘A’, in reply, were bowled out for 234 in 39.3 overs after being docked two overs for slow over rate.Electing to bat first on a easy paced strip, Pakistan ‘A’ sent the tourists on a leather chase as Salman Butt and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal began with an opening partnership of 108 in 18.2 overs.Kamran fell after making 56 off 57 deliveries, hitting six fours and one six.Naved, who was deputising for Moin Khan, continued his fine form by smashing 116 off just 101 balls while putting on 172 for the second wicket with Salman.Salman, the 18-year-old left-hander, perished after making a 129-ball 113 which included 10 boundaries.Man-of-the-Match Naved, who made 89 off 83 balls in the Multan game, slammed four sixes and 10 fours before he caught by Sri Lankan captain Thilan Samaraweera off pacer Chamila Gamage.The only redeeming feature in the Sri Lankan innings was the batting of Jehan Mubarak, Naveed Nawaz and Kaushal Lokuarachchi. Mubarak and Nawaz hit fifties while adding 111 for the third wicket.Mubarak top-scored with 68 off 54 balls, stroking 11 fours and one six. Nawaz contributed 63 off 74 balls with the aid of four fours and one six.Late in the innings, Lokuarachchi struck a breezy 40. His 32-ball cameo was laced with five hits to the fence.Qaiser Abbas, the slow left-armer, claimed three for 52 – including the left-handed duo of Mubarak and Nawaz – while paceman Umar Gul and Babar Naeem chipped in with two wickets apiece for 38 and 32 runs respectively.

England skipper Nasser Hussain cited poor batting on the second morning as a primary cause of England’s defeat in the second Ashes Test at Adelaide. The tourists were in an apparently strong position at the start of the second day, but failed to build on a promising start.”We had our chances on the first day,” Hussain said. “We put ourselves in a good position and then tossed it away to be honest. To lose seven for 30-odd on a pretty flat Adelaide wicket second day was pretty poor really.”Hussain singled out Michael Vaughan and Richard Dawson for praise for their performances in the Test.”Spirit is not bad in the camp. We know we are letting ourselves down, but we have some star players in our side, like Vaughan and Dawson. Those things lift us and hopefully there will be a few more of those moments in Perth.””We are really down to the bare minimum with players now. We have got to address the fitness situation of players and make sure that everyone who plays is fit and then just work at our own game.”We are playing against a fantastic side. You can’t take that away from them. We have got to try and win the small battle and not concentrate on the bigbattle.”In all three disciplines, they have shown if you play positive batting you get runs and if you put the ball in the right areas you get wickets, so I think we can all learn from this Australian side.”Meanwhile a delighted Australia captain Steve Waugh pointed to positive batting as a primary reason for his team’s success.”All round I thought we batted well, we scored quickly and put pressure on England,” Waugh enthused. “With our quality bowlers it does put pressure on their batsman in the second innings.”I was a bit worried with the rain coming and going; if England had hung on it could have been difficult,” Waugh admitted.”The dropped catches were not the best but we made enough chances to win the game. We haven’t really talked about it but in the last five Tests we’ve dropped about 20 chances.”Ricky Ponting was made Man of the Match award for his 154 – a career-best score against England and his fifth century in the last seven Tests.”Things are going really well,” said Ponting. “I’m batting as well as I ever have in my Test career. We were outplayed on the first day but we bounced back well.”

Scorecard

	Theo Doropoulos made a crucial 69 to steady Australia © Getty Images

Powered by half-centuries from middle-order batsmen Peter Forrest (81) and Theo Doropoulos (69), Australian Institute of Sports posted a challenging 274, and registered a 37-run win over New Zealand Emerging Players.New Zealand’s new-ball bowlers, Trent Boult and Brent Arnel, had Australia in trouble after the hosts had been sent in – three wickets fell in the space of six runs as Australia slumped to 3 for 30. A 131-run stand between Forrest and Doropoulos turned the game around, and though captain Moises Henriques fell cheaply, Steve O’Keefe’s 40 carried on the good work for Australia. Boult was the most effective bowler for New Zealand, finishing with 3 for 37.Unlike Australia, New Zealand got off to a solid start, but none of their top six went on to make significant score: all of them got into double-digits but no one topped 35. Their No. 7 Corey Anderson made up for his poor bowling by top-scoring with 73 but it wasn’t enough and they slumped to their first loss. Fast bowler Aaron Varun, one of the two Indian players from the MRF Pace Foundation in the Australian team, did most of the damage, taking three middle-order wickets.
ScorecardIn a match that was strikingly similar to the one between South Africa and New Zealand on Tuesday, the team batting first was again bundled out cheaply and the chasing side had some anxious moments before overhauling the target. The South African Emerging Players, though, triumphed this time, with their Indian counterparts having a day to forget.Sent in to bat, India folded for 80 – with 13 being the highest individual score – despite the presence of several impressive performers from the IPL. Wayne Parnell, South Africa’s captain at the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, took three middle-order wickets to derail India and offspinner Thandi Tshabalala cleaned up the tail to set up what should have been a straightforward chase for South Africa.However, with fast bowler Siddharth Trivedi and legspinner Amit Mishra taking two wickets apiece, South Africa needed a resolute 36-run stand for the sixth wicket between Imraan Khan and wicketkeeper Daryn Smit to see them home.

The efforts of the Old Trafford groundstaff once the rain finally ceased in the early hours of this morning (Saturday) ultimately proved fruitless as play was abandoned for the second day in succession just after lunch.With the rain unrelenting throughout Friday and well into the night-hours of Saturday, it was always likely to be a tough ask to get the ground fit for play and so was the case when the umpires, Barry Dudleston and Nigel Llong were joined by the two captains and coaches to snuff out any hope on day three.Hampshire skipper Will Kendall told the Hampshire web-site shortly after the inspection, “Full marks to the groundstaff who have worked very hard.”But some areas of the ground, especially at the Stretford End are very wet, to the point of being just plain muddy and with no wind or any sign of the sun, there was no point in waiting for nothing much to happen.”Peter Marron, the Lancashire head groundsman admitted that it would take “a heat-wave today” to dry the ground in time, but there is hope for a resumption on the final day (Sunday), as the groundsmen attempt to further improve the state of the ground – whilst everyone else heads home.

TelstraClear Black Caps batsman, Nathan Astle, has been ruled out of rest of the tour of Pakistan with a knee injury and he will be replaced by Mathew Sinclair.Astle had been experiencing increasing discomfort in his left knee since the one-day tournament in Sharjah and had a precautionary scan in Pakistan today.The scan was reviewed by specialists in Pakistan who diagnosed him as having a tear to the patella tendon.New Zealand Cricket Operations Manager John Reid says Astle will be returning home as soon as possible for examination and treatment.”Nathan will not be playing in the second One-Day International (day-nighter starting today) and will take no further part in the series,” said Reid.”We want to get him home for further diagnosis from our medical team and start him on rehabilitation as quickly as possible.”Sinclair will fly out to rejoin the side on Friday and will be available for the Test series.

Pedro Collins gallantly fronted a spirited West Indies effort at damage control on the third day of the second Cable & Wireless Test yesterday.Yet it was still not enough to compensate for the batting recklessness of the previous afternoon that committed them to an unequal struggle for the remainder of the match and their position remained as daunting at the close as it was 24 hours earlier.Although they restricted New Zealand’s second innings to 243, it left them with a target of 474, a total never before achieved to win any Test.Openers Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds nervously survived four overs at the end of the day but, on a wearing pitch and with their inconsistent batting, the West Indies would do well even to extend their purposeful opponents very far into the last day.Their most realistic hope of survival rests with the weather in the first month of the rainy season but the forecast is not favourable.For 28 overs on a sultry, overcast day, broken into four spells, Collins charged in with the George Challenor Stand at his back, harassing the batsmen with the stamina and nagging control, if not disconcerting bounce, of Joel Garner, the man whose name the end now bears.It was a responsibility thrust on his square shoulders by the absence for all but the first six overs of the day of Merv Dillon, the established leader of the attack.Dillon succumbed again to the lower back strain that obliged him to rest for a week before the match, restricting captain Carl Hooper to three green fast bowlers with 19 Tests between them.It proved a coming of age for Collins. The slim left-armer from Boscobel delivered exactly a third of the overs, making the ball move both ways as he added five wickets to the one he already had overnight for his best return in his 12 Tests, six for 76.But it would have required the kind of miracle Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh used to perform at Kensington to restore the West Indies to a position of near parity.A first innings deficit of 230 meant New Zealand had to be rolled over a second time round for not much over 150. At 88 for five, ten minutes after lunch, when Collins induced a second slip catch from Craig McMillan’s drive, it seemed possible.But, by then, Ramnaresh Sarwan had let two sharp chances off Collins spill to the turf, the second when Nathan Astle was 12, and Astle launched a blistering assault on the wayward Adam Sanford that changed the course of the innings.Sarwan’s first error denied Collins two wickets in two balls.The left-armer gained an lbw verdict as opener Lou Vincent padded away an inswinger 25 minutes into the day.Next ball, the left-handed Chris Harris pushed firmly to Sarwan’s right hand at short-leg where the most recent occupant was the sharp Wavell Hinds, but Sarwan couldn’t hold on to the catch that would have made New Zealand 11 for three.Harris was eventually trapped on the crease and lbw to Darren Powell at 48, soon after which Sarwan at cover spilled Astle’s firm, low drive off Collins to his right.It was not the happiest 22nd birthday for Sarwan, generally an outstanding fielder. What with his first ball duck in the first innings, he was unlikely to have celebrated it with champagne and an expensive dinner at Sandy Lane last night.Astle soon made Sarwan pay for the mistake.New Zealand were 69 for four when Hooper’s arm-ball finally removed the frustrating night-watchman Daryl Tuffey to a slip catch on the stroke of lunch.When Hooper mystifyingly replaced himself with Sanford immediately on resumption, Astle greeted the change by hammering the fast bowler for four boundaries in his first over, one in his second and two more in his third in which captain Stephen Fleming also helped himself to one.Sanford’s spell of three overs cost 35 and changed the course of the innings.Astle proceeded to gather a typically brisk 77 with 11 fours and Fleming, batting three places below the No.3 he occupied for his first innings hundred because of a stiff neck, got 34 as they put on 76.By the time Astle became another Collins victim to an edged catch, deflecting one angled across him to Brian Lara at first, and Fleming miscued a hook off Sanford that Wavell Hinds gathered in over his head in front of the Kensington Stand at square-leg, New Zealand were 181 for seven.By then Collins was on his haunches with exhaustion and the other bowlers, once more, couldn’t complete the job as the last three wickets yielded 62.Sanford did sneak one low through the left-handed Daniel Vettori’s defence to uproot the middle-stump at 205, and Collins’ bouncer with the second new ball gained him his first return of five Test wickets in an innings, courtesy of Robbie Hart’s gentle hook to square-leg.Unlike the West Indies bowlers, New Zealand’s can bat, as Tuffey and Vettori already showed. Now Ian Butler, the No.11, enforced the point with four handsome boundaries in 26 off 31 before he too fell to Collins.They were redundant runs for New Zealand already had a match-winning advantage. But it was further frustration for the weary West Indies who now face their two most difficult days of the season.

With Somerset in the depths of the relegation zone in the county championship and already doomed to Division Two of the NUL National League, the thoughts of their supporters will no doubt be looking for brighter things in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Final against Yorkshire at Lord’s on Saturday.The premier one day cricket competition is the only format of the game where Somerset have been consistent this season, and if they win at Lord’s and retain the trophy they won in September last season, 2002 will be deemed to have been a success by many of their fans, irrespective of the fact that next season they could be playing in the second division in both of the others.Somerset’s allocation of tickets for the Lord’s showcase final sold out at the County Ground within days of going on sale and were snapped up by supporters much quicker this year than they were in 2001.Despite their lack of form in the other forms of cricket the Cidermen have produced a match winning performance in each of the previous rounds of the C and G.Few who were present at Taunton for the semi final against Kent earlier this month are likely to forget how close Somerset were to going out of the 2002 competition and yet still managed to grab a victory from an almost certain defeat.The question that everyone is now asking is whether or not Marcus Trescothick will be fit to play against Yorkshire.The Somerset skipper has been having net practice with the rest of the team at Blackpool earlier this week, and from the time that the cast was removed from his broken thumb he has made it quite clear that he wants to return to the big stage at Lord’s to captain the side. However no decision will be made regarding the England opener’s fitness until just before the start of the match.Likewise a final decision as to who will make up the Somerset attack alongside Andy Caddick and Richard Johnson will also be left until the morning.Somerset coach Kevin Shine has taken a squad of fourteen to Lord’s, which includes five quick bowlers so it is likely that at least one or even two will miss out on a final spot.The full squad is: Jamie Cox, Marcus Trescothick, Matt Wood, Mike Burns, Peter Bowler, Keith Parsons, Ian Blackwell, Rob Turner, Keith Dutch, Richard Johnson, Matt Bulbeck, Andy Caddick, Steffan Jones and Simon Francis.The coach told me earlier: "We’ve played well in the C and G for two seasons so I don’t see why we won’t perform against Yorkshire. There is plenty of confidence in the side and we are certainly up for it."Chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "In a season where we have struggled in everything but the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, as the holders we are looking forward to the Lord’s final."He continued: "The players are confident for the final, and of course they will be heartened by the presence of both Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick, who we are very confident will play."

A discussion on the role of the third umpire in international cricket and atriennial review of on-field playing conditions will be top on agenda whenthe ICC Cricket Committee-Playing meets in London on May 23.The three-day meeting, chaired by Sunil Gavaskar, will consider thequestion of technology against a background of technical developments inbroadcast coverage and its affect on the role and authority of umpires.The scope of the discussion will include a full range of options, includingmaintaining the current situation, an increased use of technical assistancein making decisions, or a reduced reliance on technology.Australian umpire Darrell Hair, a member of ICC panel, will join themeeting on the first day to give an umpire’s perspective on the roleon-field and the third umpires, in relation to TV replay referrals anddecisions, the ICC said in a press release on Saturday.Key matters for discussion within full review of playing conditions willinclude use of lights and penalty runs in Test matches and fieldingrestrictions, number of players in a team and the Duckworth/Lewis systemfor One-dayers. Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis will be present for thisparticular appraisal.The standard playing conditions for all Test and One-day Internationalcricket are reviewed every three years by the committee, which has delegateddecision-making authority from the ICC Executive Board.All member countries have been invited to give their views andrecommendations at the meeting. Decisions reached will be effective for athree-year period starting September 1 this year. The Committee will alsoreceive an update on the progress achieved to date in the restructuring ofthe international panel of umpires and referees. Decisions relating to thiswill be taken at the ICC Annual Conference slated for June.All ICC full-member countries plus associates will be represented at thecricket committee meeting and among the delegates, besides Gavaskar, willbe: Allan Border (Australia), John Reid Jr (New Zealand), Zaheer Abbas(Pakistan), Brian Basson (South Africa), Sidath Wettimuny (Sri Lanka), KrisSrikkanth (India), Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe), Jackie Hendriks (WestIndies), Roquibal Hassan (Bangladesh), David Acfield (England), GeoffEdwards (Canada), John Everett (Scotland) and Harilal Shah (Kenya).ICC chief executive David Richards and cricket operations manager CliveHitchcock will represent the ICC management at the meeting.

The Bombay High Court has adjourned its hearing on the petition filed by Deccan Chargers against their termination from the IPL to September 24, and asked the BCCI not to float any new tender for a new franchise in Hyderabad. The franchise’s owners, Deccan Chronicles Holdings Limited (DCHL), had on Saturday, challenged the BCCI decision to expel them, saying there was no breach committed as alleged by the Indian board.On Monday, the BCCI counsel submitted an exhaustive affidavit that DCHL’s team of lawyers sought some time to read. Justice SJ Kathawalla granted them a week’s time, ordering status quo on the matter.”The BCCI filed a counter-affidavit today,” a board official told ESPNcricinfo. “Deccan Chargers wanted some time to go through [the papers]. The affidavit discloses that that we were never going to float a new tender for a franchise in Hyderabad in any case.” Justice Kathawala is understood to have made it clear to the court that he was not “staying the termination”.Even though the board was not surprised by DCHL’s decision to take legal recourse, the BCCI is believed to be disappointed at not being able to move on its plan to get a new franchise on board. “We have the new tender ready with a shortlist of new cities, but can’t do much at the moment,” the official said.

The Western Australian Cricket Association today announced its Chief Executive, Mike Allenby, will step down from the role with immediate effect.Allenby, who was appointed for a three-year term in 1998, will leave the WACA to pursue other business interests. Allenby took on the role at a time when the Association was facing a number of issues.He has been responsible for a number of significant changes during his term, including the restructuring of the events and cricket departments as well as an overhaul of the Association’s commercial activities. Allenby also played a pivotal role in the determination of the WACA redevelopment plan that is currently before the State Government for funding consideration.Some of Mike’s initiatives and achievements include:

• Implementation of the WACA’s strategic plan;
• Taking first class cricket to regional Western Australia;
• The portable wicket innovation;
• Initiated the Global Challenge Tournament.

WACA Finance and Administration Manager Rod Lillis has been appointed to cover the vacancy pending identification of a permanent replacement.”This is a crucial appointment for the WACA and the Executive (the WACA Board) will work hard to find the right person for what is now a very different job to that Mike was recruited for.” said WACA Chairman Charles Fear.”I have essentially completed the “change agent” role I was appointed to do” said Mike Allenby, “and it’s fair to say that the Executive and I have different views as to the way forward so I have decided pursue other interests””We would like to thank Mike for his work at the WACA and for his contribution over the past three years.” said Mr Fear “We wish him well in his future endeavours.”